The Only Oasis in South America - Huacahina

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Rocking into Huacachina, the name given to the only oasis in South America, is like arriving in a mirage. Suddenly the grubby looking city of Ica disappeared around the road and sand appears. As the final buildings are passed they are replaced in the distance by mountains of sand and once the windy road has passed a couple of kilometres in an area surrounded by overpowerering dunes, they break and a village appears and breaks in these building reveal the gorgeous little oasis in the middle.

I wandered the lake with my gear before checking into a hostel and booking myself onto a 4pm trip. This trip was one that I had looked forward to from the minute that I heard of it and I was not disappointed. Promptly at 4pm my transport arrived at the hostel in the form of a huge dune buggy. I was sitting joined int he buggy by a group of people from Lima, a couple of which spoke good English which was very handy for me and my lousy Spanish.

From the outset the dune buggy was better than any rollercoaster I have ever been on, our driver launched us at ridiculous speeds up and over the dunes. The difference between this and a rollercoaster (other than the obvious ones) is that the buggy has no rails and sand looks the same - you have almost no idea when the next lunge is going to throw itself in your face and there is no way to tell when the driver will decide to hurl the buggy to the the left or to the right. This ridiculous rush was broken up into section for one of the most fun things I have had the pleasure of doing in my life - sand-toboggoning.

This was meant to be sandboarding, but something got lost in translation, although it wasn't in any way shape or form a problem. Between the skull shaking, pulsating intensity to which we were through up and over the dunes we stopped atop several dunes and removed the crude wooden boards form the back of the vehicle. We grabbed one of the straps meant for feet with our hands and jumped head first down the dunes, rocketing down up to 60 vertical metres at gradients that if in Europe would probably be regarding as for insane people and experts.

The trip was for two hours and took place as the sun set over the seemingless endless desert for a spectacular epic. We stopped for some photos before bombing our way back down to the oasis, the sight of which under the setting sun was truely spectacular.

After a night out with a group of miscellaneous travellers from just about everyone which concluded with beers atop a 60m sand dune, overlooking the oasis, a superb way to end a short exhilerating time in a surreal, stunning place. Onwards to Peru's capital, Lima.

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