Surfin' Safari

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I was woken this morning by the chatter from the menagerie of birds that were kept at the hostel. I had had a great nights sleep, considering the bed felt like it was made out of reinforced cardboard, mainly because I had the entire six bed dorm to myself. I was surprised to see so many people when I went down for breakfast, considering my dorm had been empty. I was greeted by the dear little lady who had checked me in yesterday, and offered scrambled eggs which I took gladly. I had heaps of time before I had to catch the coach to Ica, so I had a very leisurely breakfast. I had so much time in fact that I had long enough to find somewhere in the sleepy town of Nasca to Skype Tina and tell her I was still alive after doing the Inca Trail.

Having packed what few things I'd taken out of my backpack and paid for my accommodation, I was taken to the Cruz del Sur terminal by Fernando. As we drove, I saw a lot of cars with DAKAR emblazoned on the sides. I asked Fernando, as best I could, what all the cars were for and he told me that it was for the Dakar Raleigh that was passing through town. I was amazed that such a huge international event had come to Nasca, as I had always associated it with Africa. It also explained why I had seen so many four by fours last night outside the Nasca lines Hotel.

Having thanked Fernando for his help and hospitality, I picked up my ticket for my journey to Ica before kicking back with an ice-cream sandwich. Before long I had boarded the coach and was relaxing into my seat to relax for the two hour journey. As we made our way through the barren desert I was amazed to see small pocket of lush greenery, around which small villages and communities had sprung up, no doubt making the most of natural water source to grow their crops. Although I didn't feel tired as I took in the scenery, I still succumb to the gentle rocking motion of the coach, which put me to sleep within the first hour.

I woke from my slumber just as we had started to enter the city of Ica. It was an interesting place, and much like the rest of the South American towns I'd visited or been through appeared half finished. It appeared to be a very average city, with nothing particularly distinct about it all, which was clearly why much of the backpacking community made it's way straight to Huacachina. I was absolutely ravenous when I collected my bags, and bypassed the many cat calls of 'Taxi' to find the nearest street stall. I bought a hotdog and chip sandwich and a couple of small chocolate bars to keep me going, and hopped aboard the first taxi I came across. For S/.5 (£1.21) Rudy drove me the short distance to the desert oasis of Huacachina. I attempted to engage him in conversation, but as ever I managed to understand more of what he was saying rather than the other way around.

I arrived at the Bananas Adventure hostel, which resembled more of a Hawaiian bar than a hostel. It was a funny little place, with small wooden shacks on either side of the hostel which acted as their four bed dorms. I was shown to my room and after bagging a bottom bunk, went straight out to explore the town.

Huacachina was exactly as Lonely Planet described, a small town that surrounded an oasis in the desert. It was a beautiful little town, if you can call it that, and I could see why backpackers lost themselves here for days. As I wandered along the banks of the oasis, my main aim was to find a fridge magnet for my collection. Although there were many stalls selling much of the same tourist tat that I had seen throughout Peru, I found only one with a single Huacachina magnet. Satisfied that I had my token gift I returned to the hostel to blog whilst relaxing with a beer, before my dune buggy and boarding excursion.

At 4.30pm I made my way to Hotel Hauachinerio, which was the meeting point for my trip, and I wasn't sure quite what to expect when I hopped aboard the dune buggy. As we sped through town towards the dunes I could tell we wouldn't be hanging about, but at the same time hoped that on this excursion I'd at least get my monies worth. As we began to climb the dunes I was pleased that I was strapped in tight because our driver, Ricardo, clearly had a lead foot. I wasn't complaining though and the huge grin on my face was clear for all to see! Thankfully the heat had subsided a little as we stopped to take photos of Ica across the dunes, because the beads of sweat were already running down my face.

Once we had taken a few shots we made out way to our first dune. It looked rather tame, as Ricardo started handing out the boards and began to wax up the bottom of them with half a candle. As it was our first dune, we were would be surfing this one lying face down on the boards, as one of the other guys on the tour demonstrated. It was a lot steeper and a lot faster than I expected when I stepped up for my turn, but it was so much fun! Once we had all gone down, Ricardo took us to our second dune where we would be surfing. Keen to get stuck in, I went down first after a short safety briefing on how not to break any limbs. It's safe to say that dune surfing is nothing like ordinary surfing, because I went head over heels within the first five metres. Determined not to let it get the better of me, I scrambled back up the dune to give it a second try.

My second attempt wasn't great, and I feared that my weight might have something to do with my speed. Trudging back up the dune to Ricardo, he relaxed my board and pointed me in the direction of a taller, steeper dune. Trying to look as confident as I could, I strapped the board back onto my feet and tried once more. Even though I still managed to tumble down half of the dune, I was able to get a little more time stood on the board. Having a better idea of my body weight, and what I needed to do to stay upright we made our way further into the desert. As soon I had my board and it had been waxed up, I scrambled straight to the top of the dune and with almost effortless ease surfed all the way down the dune. I felt a huge sense of achievement and once I had mopped my sweaty brow, I went straight back to the top to try again.

We wen up dune after dune, until Ricardo explained that the three consecutive dunes that lay ahead would be our last for the day. The first was ridiculously steep, and everyone went down this one on their stomach. The final two however were far easier, and I surfed down these with ease. I had had an awesome afternoon, and as Ricardo took us back to Huacachina I could honestly say that I wanted to do it all over again. As we watched the sunset from the top of the town, it was even clearer as to why this oasis was such a draw to tourists. Having thanked Ricardo I headed back to the hostel to shower, because every inch of mu body was covered in sand.

I had worked up a hell of an appetite after my adventure on the dunes and was more than ready to eat. Feeling clean and refreshed I walked to the opposite side of the oasis, where I had scoped out a restaurant earlier in the afternoon serving Bisteck A La Pobre. The picture of the dish looked delicious, but as with all these things, the size of the portion on my plate didn't quite match up to the picture. My plate was filled with rice topped with a fried egg, chips topped with a thin steak and two halves of fried banana. It was an interesting combination, but didn't last long as I practically inhaled it much to the amazement of the waitress. I was so hungry in fact, that in an attempt to fill myself up I ordered an enormous plate of chicken fried rice. I had clearly burned more calories than I realised during the afternoon, and was almost disappointed that I couldn't stay longer so as to get back in shape before I arrived in the states.

I wandered back to the hostel and went straight to bed to get ready for my early pickup. Huacachina obviously went into party mode when the sun went down and I wanted to make the most of a quiet dorm whilst I could.

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