We really aren´t backpackers at all

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Our next stop was Huacachina, an amazing small town just off Peru’s south coast. The town is literally an oasis town, a lagoon in the middle of the dry, hot, desert of sand dunes. Our main reason for going to Huacachina was the promise of some incredible sandboarding. On arriving at our hostal (with a pool, yay!) we quickly booked into a dune buggy/sandboarding tour. Without any explanation as to what we had booked ourselves in for, we jumped into the jumbo sized dune buggies, ready for a bit of adventure. As soon as we got up into the heart of the sand dunes, the driver set out to give one of us a heart attack. The driver screamed around the sand dunes at outrageous speeds, zooming up to the top of a dune, slowing, and then to our utter disbelief, he allows the buggy to hurtle down a seemingly vertical slope. No wander all the dune buggies have roll cages! After the first petrifying five minutes, I came to the realization that I was stuck in these buggies so I might as well try to enjoy the rush and stop thinking “we’re gona flip.”

When we booked the tour, Andrew was clever enough to ask the question “will someone show us how to do it,” to which he received the reply “of course!” So when we pulled up to our first slope, we patiently awaited further instruction. When it was not forthcoming we realize we were on our way, grabbed a board lathered in oil and stared down. I decided what the hell, strapped in and slid all the way to the bottom. No probs, this seemed pretty easy to me. After a bit more dare devil driving we arrived at a slightly larger slop to which I thought what the hell, strapped in and slid down, almost at the bottom and I manage to get the tip of the board stuck in the stand and fall hard managing to whack both my head and my bum in the process. After recovering, I limp my way over to the next slop to which I decide its time to copy the other girls and go down on my stomach. The rest of the trip we raced from slop to even larger slop and the majority of the group followed the theory that the closer to the ground you were the less likely you were to hurt yourself in a fall, so it was stomach boarding all around. Little were we to know that the biggest body thumping crash of the day was to be from a guy lying down on his tummy, he came off midway down and finished boardless at the bottom after a series of thuds, bangs and crashes. There was a collective “I’m glad that wasn’t me” amongst the rest of the group. We were also glad to make it back to the hostal in one piece after a couple of the buggies raced back.

The rest of our time in Huacachina was spent relaxing back at our amazing hostal complete with pool, deck chairs, hammocks and outdoor bar. We certainly aren’t roughing it over here!

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Photos

Is that a mirage?
No its Huacachina in the middle of the desert

Why would we possibly need roll cages?
These dune buggys teared around the sand dunes under the control of their adrenaline junky drivers. Scream worthy stuff, better then a rollercoaster

Stuck in the middle of nowhere
In amongst the endless sand dunes

Are you serious?
Everyone looking down the next slope

Am I doing it right?
Andrew in the middle of a 180 that he managed to pull of before hitting the sand

Mr cool dude
I think I´m getting the hang of this boarding stuff

A hard day at the office
Covered in sand having survived a day hurtling down the sand

Travelling in style
Our amazing resort style hostal. We certainatly arent true backpackers.

Mr McCaw
One of the crazy birds living at our hostal. This guy enjoyed maximum attention, which he achieved by being the loudest thing around