Blogs from Huacachina, Ica, Peru, South America - page 7

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South America » Peru » Ica » Huacachina December 10th 2010

Back to the desert: Huacachina and Trujillo I’m gonna cram a few small travels in one entry here, despite them being quite far away from each other geographically. I’ve been moving pretty fast over the last few days and spending alot of time on buses (something like thirty hours over the last four or five days) because i’m excited to get to Ecuador and Colombia and have some time to catch up after my long stay in Cusco. The somewhat rowdy bus journey from Arequipa to Ica was followed up by a very short mototaxi journey across a short stretch of desert sand dunes to the oasis Huacachina. It’s basically a resort town built around a lagoon surrounded by desert as far as the eye can see and massive sand dunes. It looks a little worn ... read more
Riding the dunes
Laguna Huacachina
Chan Chan

South America » Peru » Ica » Huacachina December 3rd 2010

We had stayed at Loki in Lima and were a little disheartened to be leaving as the city had surprised us by being really modern with all the comforts of home on our doorstep. It was the first place we had seen proper Christmas decorations, and our taxi driver informed us that the celebrations in the city were big. We had only heard negative remarks about the city previously- we were already looking forward to returning. We were told it was a 5 hour bus to Ica, then a short taxi ride to the small town of Huacahina, which is situated around a lagoon, which in turn is surrounded by sand dunes. Our reason for visiting this place was firstly because it looked and sounded like paradise, and secondly because we could do some wild activities ... read more
Huacachina
pelican
dune buggies lined up

South America » Peru » Ica » Huacachina November 30th 2010

We were sad to see Jo leave Cusco after having such a brilliant time, so after cheering ourselves up with HUGE Pisco Sours and a scrumptious meal at 2 Nations (Aussie Peruvian fare including stuffed alpaca and quinoa risotto!) we got the chilly night bus west, across the Andes, to Nazca. Went straight to the tiny airport and got ourselves an early morning flight to see the famous Nazca lines. We were a bit scared because there had been 3 fatal plane crashes in 2010 but did our research beforehand and went with a reputable company (Aerodiana!). We went up in a 12 seater cesnar and both got a window seat. We took off (shakily as aways in a small aircraft) and the pilot took us to see the main and best preserved geoglyphs in the ... read more
Huacachina (6)
Huacachina (12)
Arequipa (2)

South America » Peru » Ica » Huacachina November 12th 2010

After all of the high altitude antics (6 weeks!) we decided it was definitely time to get back to sea level for some relaxation. Huacachina seemed like the perfect place. Situated in the earthquake scarred region of Ica, Huacachina is an oasis in the middle of a desert, and we're not talking metaphorically, it really is an oasis in the middle of a desert. Despite intending to do little more than enjoy the sun and surroundings for a few days we have actually been quite busy. We have scaled the dunes (harder than it sounds), spent a very entertaining afternoon touring Pisco distilleries, also harder than it sounds, we were showed around the second distillery by an actual lunatic and if you ask Ellie that stuff can taste like paint stripper. Pisco Sours = could drink ... read more
Huacachina
Us
Our Sandbuggy

South America » Peru » Ica » Huacachina October 12th 2010

We arrived at Huacachina at night, so didn't realise what we had come across. We stumbled tired and stiff from a longer than expected bus ride, ordered beer, pizza and after an encounter with a impassioned Peruvian woman who decided she was in total love with me and then proceeded to weep into my beer over her drug addict ex wife, we stumbled back to Hostel Rocha where we were staying. I was still asleep when Adam walked in the next day and told me it was beautiful outside and I needed to take a look. I blearily stumbled outside and what I saw was beyond what I could have ever hoped. Our pool sparkled in the hot hot morning sun, with a beautiful bright pink flowering tree dripping over it. A puppy called Lu Lu ... read more

South America » Peru » Ica » Huacachina September 21st 2010

Huacachina is an oasis, literally. We were so excited about this, specially since we've never been to a real oasis before. The thing is though, it lies only 5 km (or so) outside of Ica and the paved roads goes right next to it. But, nevertheless it feels like you really are in the middle of the desert. It has a very nice surrounding, it's quiet and there are different options to keep you occupied during the day. We decided to jump straight into what we wanted to do there. So, first we went on a Pisco-tasting tour at a local winery. The Pisco wine, spirits and so on are famous throughout whole Peru. The guide we had, was actually a little bit more interested in practicing his English than telling us about the wine production. ... read more
Photo 3
Photo 4
Made for speed

South America » Peru » Ica » Huacachina September 19th 2010

We took the local blus, Flores, an hour south to Ica. We then took a 10 minute cab ride to Huacachina, a desert lagoon oasis. This used to be a destination for elite Peruvians but has since been taken over by backpackers (and consequently the maintance of the town has decreased a bit). The town is centered around a lagoon and takes about 10 minutes to walk around. We checked into Hotel El Huachinero - which is a hotel, but they have one 10 bed dorm room for backpackers. This was great because we got all the amenities of the hotel for 30 soles a night (around $10). In the morning we decided to hike up the sand dune just out the back gate of the hotel. Man, did I underestimate how difficult this would be. ... read more
Hiking up the sand dune
sandboarding
dunebuggy

South America » Peru » Ica » Huacachina September 14th 2010

After arriving in Arequipa, we got ourselves organised and found a supermarket. Found the essentials like peanut butter, avocados and tuna!! Trying to keep the budget down we make full use of the kitchen at the hostels even if sometimes the chef doesn´t like us in there much! We organised a rafting trip, both of us being whitewater virgins, it was loads of fun. I suppose to a hard core rafter, they were very gentle grade II and III raids, with a heaps fun grade IV thrown in for a short distance. After the grade IV, the rest was pretty sedate compared to it, but it was defintily lots of fun! Even finally got to crack out the ´waterproof´feature on the camera!! The next few days in Arequipa were very lazy indeed, wandering the whitewashed buildings, ... read more
carrying the boat
geared up, ready to go
launching the vessel

South America » Peru » Ica » Huacachina September 10th 2010

We arrived in Ica, direct from Paracas at around 1pm and hopped straight into a taxi for the short ride, not knowing what to expect of either Huacachina or the sand dunes which this little town is famous for. The town itself has a great travellers vibe and is set around an idylic lagoon with a handful of local restaurants and hostels. It has only been established in the last 5 - 10 years and was bourne as a direct result of the huge sand dunes and the fact you can sand board and buggy ride over them. We both hope it remains natural and undeveloped, although not convinced it will be the same place in another 10 years time. The temperature was considerably hotter than Lima and after a quick explore of our new surroundings, ... read more
Scott on sand board
Vic on sand board
Amazing sand dunes with scott

South America » Peru » Ica » Huacachina August 14th 2010

oasis famous for its enormous dunes surrounding it... read more
Zuzi and the buggy
the desert was endless
Zuzi and the desert




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