Trips with Vicky and Dale, part II

For part II of our travels with Vicky and Dale, we picked up Britt, left Bacchus with Maria-the-wondermaid, loaded up the Rav-4, and headed south on the Panamerican highway.

Most (wealthy) Limenas only take the Panamerican as far as the beach towns south of Lima; places like Punta Hermosa, which is popular with surfers, and Asia, which is more popular for its nightlife than for its wide, expansive sand beach. The high season for these resort towns runs from Christmas to Easter, during the Peruvian summer. The rest of the year, these places are pretty empty.

And the truth is that the desert and coast are far more interesting and beautiful as you head further south, beyond the beach towns to Paracas, Ica, and Nasca. We had done this trip back in January, when we first arrived in Peru. We liked it a lot, and there were things we missed the first time that we wanted to do this trip,.

Our first stop was the desert oasis of Huacachina. Huacachina is located next to the town of Ica, about 25 km inland from the Pacific coast, and about 3.5 hours south of Lima by car. It contains a small pond surrounded by formerly fancy hotels, with graceful arcades, and set against a backdrop of very high sand dunes. It was briefly a destination for wealthy Peruvians, in the 1920s-30s, when the water was said to have curative properties and the hotels prospered. Now, it's more of a place for gringo backpackers, generally 20-somethings, looking for fun at an affordable price. The weather is warm and mostly sunny. There are numerous hotels and hostels offering decent food, a range of rooms from reasonable to cheap, and generally a swimming pool.

The main attraction of Huacachina is the opportunity to go on dune buggy rides and to try sandboarding (basically, snowboarding with soft sand instead of snow). This is way more fun than it may sound. The dune buggy rides are like a roller coaster, only better in my opinion. you realize as you reach the top of the first hill that the dunes go on and on for miles. The dune buggy drivers know them well and will tear around the hills and curves at full speed. It's a ball! From time to time, they stop on top of a hill so that you can try your hand at sandboarding. There are 2 methods: 1. use it like a snowboard, or 2. ride down on your belly, using it as a sled. Dale and Addison tried both options. Britt and I stuck to #2. Vicky took photos. We all laughed a lot and got faces full of sand. I highly recommend it!

Doing the dune buggy boogey.

Huacachina oasis, seen from the hotel terrace.

Moonrise over the dunes.

The dunes go on and on for miles.

Walking back up was really hard work. The sand was soft and hills were steep.