Nazca Lines and Boarding the Dunes

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So we got on another overnight sleeper bus, this time with a company called Cruz del Sur, and OMG was this a plush ride with a steward to see to your needs, blanket and lumbar pillow provided and a nearly fully reclining seat that´s extra wide and extra cushie. Even Demi slept through the night!

Woke up at the bus stop in Nazca at 7am and caught a cab. The cabbie insisted we go to the official overflight booking office, after we specifically requested he take us directly to the airport, which turned out to be a small hostal right around the corner where his buddy shows up with a worn paper folder and insists that he is ¨the official coordinator for Nazca line overflights¨. Even told us that the airport was closed until 9am. Well Demi let him have a piece of her mind and we were out of there pronto on a cab to the airport, which was very much open, and booked our flight in a nice Cessna 210 Turbo Centurian. Were in the air in 15min and had a nice 1hr flight with excellent headset commentary and specific directions on where to look as the plane did hard bank to make the lines (on the ground--Duh) easier to pick out from the roads, rocks and various aroyos dotting the landscape. It was great! Cheers to Demi for insisting we do it. She´s awesome! Had the biggest ear-to-ear grin going the whole time we were up there. That´s my girl. That was the best part for me. Well, the lines were pretty cool too.

So, with that accomplished, we grabbed some chow and jumped on a bus for Ica. Turned out our ¨chicken bus¨ (local bus) stopped alot and was quite warm -- especially when not moving! But it did show some very graphic and violent movies to it´s captive audience of both adults and children. Wow, never in the states. No F´n way dude!

So we get to Ica, grab a cab to Huacachina and find a nice swanky place to take our money for a lovely room witha balcony overlooking the lagoon of this true oasis in the sand dunes. We got some boards and giked the dunes to get some runs in but found it to be pretty tough and just did more sledding that stand-up boarding. Would have been better if we shelled out for real snowboard gear but was fun and a good workout hiking the dunes. The popular thing to do is have these massive dune buggies (14 seaters with big V8´s) haul you up the big dunes and then you board down and repeat the process. We just walked the dunes and then drank beer on top before bounding down in bare feet on the wonderfully warm powdery sand. Big fun for sure dude!

Then it was off to Huanchaco via Lima on the night bus again, but that will have to wait for another time.

Love and hugs to all,

Ron and Demi

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