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Published: November 11th 2007
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So after a tearful goodbye to Lima we were on our way out of the smoggy, noisy and crazy city. We jumped on our Cruz del Sur bus and made our way south for 5 hours to a small oasis called Huacachina. As we drove down the coast we drove through a few small towns including Pisco and Chinca which were left devasted following the earthquake in August. There were aid tents everywhere and the streets were filled with rubble and dust. Churches that had been standing for hundreds of years tragically did not survive the quake and will undergo years of reconstruction.
We finally arrived at our destination after a short trip in a "Tico" taxi from Ica bus station. These are not designed for 3 people with 4 bags and both of us felt like we were more out of the car than in! Unfortunately we arrived in the dark so we were unable to appreciate the oasis and amazing sand dunes. We would have to wait until the morning.
Wow Wow Wow!! That's the only way to describe the way we felt when we first saw the dunes in the morning. The sand dunes tower over
the resort of Huacachina and the oasis glistens in the bright desert sun. We had booked a white knuckle sand dune ride in a buggy for the morning. We left very early as the desert was baking and venturing out there later in the day would be like sitting in a bakers oven! The sun and wind burn is making us look more like locals everyday. This experience was just out of this world. The views were incredible and the sand was so soft, plus we were driving at 40mph over steep dunes. The driver stopped numerous times at larger dunes and handed us our boards and off we went sandboarding. Again an amazing experience. Ross was usually first to jump on his board and go over the top. He's now mastered carving! However, half way down you would get stuck in the dunes because there was so much sand and not enough wax (cheap candle) so the best way to get down was to slide down on your belly (on the board)....amazing!!
To escape the desert sun we ventured to the local wineries and sampled some pisco. We visited both a modern and a traditional bodega. Wine
Sand Buggy
No matching clothes this time! making appears to be very much like the process for making whisky, although not distilled for the same length of time. We decided that we both very much liked Pisco, and we enjoyed the odd Pisco Sour.
With the exception of the dune buggy ride and the bodegas there is very little to do in Huacachina. We visited in low season and it was very quiet, which we preferred. The locals were very hospitable and the place felt very safe at night. If we were to do it again, we would only stay for one day. There are lots of agencies to book these tours with and they all offer the same packages for the same price.
We are off to Nazca next to see the famous Nazca lines, can't wait!
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Emma Jay
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oh man!
wow wow wow indeed! this all looks incredible!!! I SO wish id done that!!! sandboarding is so fun hey?! DO COLCA CANYON!