Sailing The Humboldt Route - V261

Lima, although a sprawling desert city, is the capital and largest city of Peru. The Historic centre of Lima is listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site due to its large number of historical buildings dating from the Spanish colonial era. In particular, visit the Plaza Mayor with the 16th century Cathedral and the Presidential Palace. The numerous churches are also popular as they date from the 16th and 17th centuries. Read more about Lima (Callao), Peru

Lima, although a sprawling desert city, is the capital and largest city of Peru. The Historic centre of Lima is listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site due to its large number of historical buildings dating from the Spanish colonial era. In particular, visit the Plaza Mayor with the 16th century Cathedral and the Presidential Palace. The numerous churches are also popular as they date from the 16th and 17th centuries. Read more about Lima (Callao), Peru

The Islas Ballestas are a group of small islands in the Pacific Ocean, 8 km off shore from Peru. The islands are nicknamed “The Poor Man´s Galapagos”. The nearest mainland port is Paracas, 18 km distant. The islands are barren rocky formations and are an important sanctuary for the guanay guano bird, the blue-footed booby and the tendril. Read more about Islas Ballestas, Peru

Pisco lies on the Pacific coast of Peru, 200 km south of the capital Lima. The small city is a gateway to the ruins of Machu Picchu, 500 km due east high in the Andes. Pisco is served by the port of San Martin which is 35 km out of town on the Paracas Peninsula. Named after the liberator General San Martin, this area is significant in Peruvian history as the birthplace of Peru's struggle for independence. Read more about Pisco (San Martin), Peru

Matarani is a major port on the south coast of Peru. The port is an important element of the current plan between the governments of Peru and Brazil to integrate an Atlantic-Pacific corridor between the two nations. This route will give Brazil access to the Pacific without going through the Panama Canal. Matarani lies on an interesting stretch of coastline, with curious rock formations and strange volcanic landscapes. Read more about Matarani, Peru

The seaside resort city of Arica in the north of Chile lies just 18 km south of the border with Peru. Known as the City of Eternal Spring - as it is sunny virtually every day of the year - it is located on the coast of the driest desert in the world. It has a great beach where visitors can enjoy the sun and take a swim. A tour or rental car enables visitors to explore the Green Uta valley that cuts through the desert, with water from rain and melting snow higher up in the Andes Mountains, and is also filled with the history and remains of ancient life. Read more about Arica, Chile

Iquique is a city in northern Chile, capital of Tarapacá Region, on the Pacific coast. It is located on a rocky peninsula in the rainless Atacama Desert with its unbelievable landscape that has a lagoon in the middle of the driest desert in the world, and overlooks the Pacific Ocean. You can find beautiful topography in the Isluga Volcano National Park, with high mountains and attractions like native flora, geysers, lagoons and rivers. Water sports include scuba diving, windsurfing, water skiing, and fly fishing in the ocean, while on land, buggy riding and sandboarding can be tried at Dragon Hill. Read more about Iquique, Chile

Antofagasta is a port city in northern Chile, about 1,130 km north of Santiago. The last decade has seen a steady growth in the areas of construction, retail, hotel accommodations, population growth, and remarkable skyline development, mainly due to becoming a major mining centre. However, with its 20 km of beachfront and mild, dry climate it has also developed as a year-round beach resort. Outside the city limits one sees a stunning vast empty expanse of desert that approaches the beach. Read more about Antofagasta, Chile

Isla Pan de Azúcar (Spanish ‘Sugarloaf Island’), is located 900m off shore from the Pan de Azúcar National Park in Chile. The Chilean coastline has very low rainfall and little green vegetation. It is part of the Park, and if you land on one of the mainland beaches you’ll see more than 20 species of cacti, and recreational beach shelters accessible to visitors who come off the nearby Chile Route 5 highway (part of the Pan-American Highway). Read more about Isla Pan de Azucar Chile, Chile

Coquimbo is a port city and capital of the Elqui Province, located on the Pan-American Highway, in the Coquimbo Region of Chile. Tourism has recently started to develop, particularly as an access point for popular beach towns to the south, such as the fisherman’s cove of Guanaqueros, and Tongoy, with its famous 5km beach of white sand. Then there is La Serena, the capital of the region, with multiple attractions from architecture to beaches and shopping. Coquiimbo itself is a source of legends of hidden treasures, due to the fact that in the past centuries it was assaulted by pirates. Read more about Coquimbo, Chile

San Antonio, Chile, is a Pacific port 63 km south of the port of Valparaiso. San Antonio is the largest freight handling port on the western coast of South America. The city lies on hills and coastal dunes north of the mouth of the Maipo River. It was seriously affected by earthquakes most recently in 1985 and 2010. Read more about San Antonio, Chile