13/08/2019 – Huacachina, Peru

We had a lovely comfortable sleep and a lie in. Then we had coffee and cereal in bed whilst replying to emails on our Workaway account, trying to figure out the logistics of which opportunity we can do when. At first we had applied to Workaway for financial reasons, but after spending some time looking at what is available there are some exciting and interesting things around! We did some admin on the computer, showered and got out the house by lunchtime. We waved a mototaxi down and did the 10-minute journey to Huacachina. Huacachina is a small oasis and village in the desert, that used to be natural but is now manmade, and is a tourist hub.

Huacachina

As we got nearer we suddenly noticed the towering mountains of sand either side of the road, like the desert had quickly crept up on us. We went to a café called casa de bamboo, a trip advisor recommendation, where we had a falafel lunch. We were waiting to hear from a host on Workaway with an opportunity on Easter Island in Chile. Whilst we were having lunch we heard back, and so quickly booked our return flights, as we had found a bargain and the dates coordinated well with the host. Josh is particularly excited as he had wanted to go there but we thought we wouldn’t be able to afford it! After the excitement at lunch we went to find the oasis, it didn’t take long as the village is tiny! We walked around the small lagoon, a little puddle of water surrounded by palm trees, and lots of backpackers ready to party. It is a little bit worse for wear, and not as idyllic as it once was, but after doing a bit of reading this is what we had expected. Still definitely worth a visit whilst we were passing! Josh took a few photos of a heron, after which we were approached by a geezor doing a last minute deal to fill the last two spaces of his dune buggy. We signed ourselves up, and waited for 16:00 Spanish time for our departure.

We got walked up the sand dune to a carpark of buggys that look like toy cars, like a hot wheels toy! Josh and I were in the front next to the driver. The seat belts were harnesses and there were roll top bars over our heads. However, I think the obvious lack of health and safety is what made it even more scary/exciting! They even let a toddler sit on her mums lap in the back of the buggy, which surprised us! We went driving through the dunes, some of those hills are pretty steep, it was fun!

Front seat riders

We stopped at a certain point for pictures, seeing only huge walls of sand in every direction, the noise of the cars engines and guests screaming in the distance. Then we went for another drive before being offloaded and handed a small snowboard type shape piece of wood. Our boards were waxed and then we were individually launched on our bellies headfirst down a little sand dune, it was fun, like sledging (kind of). Then we got launched down a slightly bigger dune and THEN we looked over the brow of a huge dune! Only at this point were we shown how to brake with our feet. We were launched down, not being warned about the speed bumps that had been grooved out at the bottom, each of us hitting them at speed with surprise. It was so funny, we got the giggles and sand got absolutely everywhere!

Then we went for another scary drive before stopping at a viewpoint to watch the sunset. It got so cold so quickly when the sun went down. We drove back to our starting point and walked back down to the lagoon. Josh and I emptied our shoes and socks of the desert sand before wandering back to the road and catching a mototaxi back to our hostel in Ica. We walked to the main square, picked up our laundry that we had been over charged for – frustratingly a local who was talking the laundrette man as we paid got the giggles when she saw how ripped off we had been! Then we went to the small, warehouse like supermarket and bought some supplies. We walked home and had a much needed shower to get rid of the sand that had got absolutely everywhere! We made an omelette dinner, had a muna tea and got into bed.