Hi all!
First I would like to apologize for taking so long to write this well overdue post. Having to sit down and reflect on my experience here in Peru is apparently a task that I have yet to learn and master. In order to make a mense, here is a super special post relating to the trip I took two weekends ago, i.e. July 9th to 11th.
If you only have time to make one trip (besides Cuzco), go to Huacachina. In my opinion, the desert and the sun are things that just cannot be overlooked. We left late Friday night on a bus heading for Ica, a little city in the middle of nowhere surrounded by sand. From Ica, we taxied to an even smaller place called Huacachina -- basically a tiny oasis with a few hostels. As soon as we got there, I could feel the touristy vibe coming through. Later that night, we met at least a dozen of European and American travelers who were also seeing the desert for the first time. Honestly, it was a very warm and welcoming place. People there are very in touch spiritually with nature and don't seem to be hastled by our day-to-day troubles such as climbing ladders and keeping busy. They just take things as they come. On Saturday, we booked a 4 o'clock dune buggy ride, not even fathoming what that implied. It's only once we were strapped into the gigantic metal contraption that we understood how crazy this was going to be. To ride a dune buggy is to be on a rollercoaster for about two hours. Fast. Loud. Adrenaline-filled. What a ride is all I can say really. Then, in the middle of it all, our guide stops on top of a very steep dune, takes out a few sketchy looking boards and tells us to lie on top of them. Apparently, we were about to go down this miniature mountain head first. After a lot of convincing and peer-pressure, I finally conceded to sandboard down a less scary looking part of the dune in question. Luckily, I survive the whole thing only to learn that I have 4 more times to go. The second one was fairly easy as I even got to do it standing up. By the third one, I felt in total control of my body and physical abilities. I was now a sandboarding pro. Unfortunately for me, our guide, who firmly intended on traumatizing the squeemish tourists that we were, had a few tricks up his sleeve. So on we go, dunebuggying quietly through the beautiful desert, when suddenly we stumble upon this - seriously - vertical dune. We drove down it a couple of times, each of them filled with free fall jumps. Then, after our third descent, our guide brings us back up and stops the buggy. Oh no, is this really what I think it is? Yep, we were to sandboard down this wall of sand. As you might have guessed, I am not brave nor stupid enough to attempt such a stunt so instead I jogged down the hill twice (which in my opinion was also a lot of fun). At one point in our dune tour, we got to stop and witness the sunset. How happy I was that we had booked an afternoon ride and not a morning one. Sunsets are priceless moments that never stand still. Everytime you look up, the light and colours have changed. Really something to see once in your life!
On Sunday, we drove to Nazca, a little shack of a city two hours away from Ica. The first thing you would notice is how dry and desertic it looks. Water is obviously a rare thing in this place. The reason for our visit : the Nazca lines. If you don't already know about them, you should most definitely look them up. Basically, they are giant and ancestral carvings in the middle of a rocky plain. There are 14 different shapes such as a spider, a monkey, a hummingbird and (my personal favorite) an astronaut! The whole point of the trip is to get on to a tiny little plane and fly over them. A tip from me to you : bring Gravol if you know you're sensitive to motion sickness. I thought I wasn't until I got into that flight. The pilot twirls and flips so you can get the best view and pictures of the incredible lines. Good for your Facebook albums, not so good for keeping your food in. Nevertheless, the stop in Nazca was highly interesting seeing as we got to see this educational video beforehand in order to better understand the history of these marks. Finally, if you were to do this trip, I would recommend flying with Nazca Travel Air. You can never be too careful when it comes to South American planes and, in my opinion, they are reliable.
As a last side note, I'd like to mention that on that day the FIFA final match was playing. I missed the first half while flying through Nazca, but got in front of a screen just in time for the overtimes. All day long, I had worn my Torres spanish jersey in hope that it would bring them good luck. What a great moment it was for me to be sitting in the middle of nowhere, in South America, and to be able to watch my team win the World Cup. No words can express that kind of joy.
