Ica and Huacachina

After waiting for a couple of hours, this is Peru after all, our bus finally took us back to Pisco. We ate a weird fruit called Tuna – looks like a big fig, but BRIGHT red inside with little seeds. Not a new favorite but worth eating the whole thing. Then we drove a couple hours through desert interspersed with vineyards to Ica. We stopped at a spot reputed to have yummy Pisco Sours. We decided one wouldn’t be enough to give it a fair evaluation, so we had several. Wondered around town a bit and then drove to Huacachina. Now this is a real oasis. I mean like in the movies. The pond’s murky water is reputed to be therapeutic, we’re going to take their word on that. And the dunes surrounding it are huge! In between there’s a narrow string of houses, restaurants, and hotels. Upon entering town we asked a guy on the street if there was someplace to camp, he, being Peruvian, jumped in the back of the van and took us to a wonderful spot, Bananas. Armanda and her boyfriend Antonio run a pool/bar/camping spot that also does boogie rides into the dunes. I’d been looking forward to sand boarding – a great opportunity to get sand into every nook and cranny- so we took a couple from Armanda and hiked into the dunes. Wow, the sand is super fine and super hard work but very fun. A few runs and we decided to just drink the beer I’d brought and enjoy the surreal scenery around us.

We got back to the van and collapsed into bed at 7 sans dinner. This prompted some comments about how much we sleep from Armanda. The next day we lounged around. I fixed the radiator fan that had a bad ground and blew a fuse. I also replaced the passenger side headlight only to discover that the dove that flew into the van yesterday morning shattered the drivers side one. We made a plan to go out into the dunes with Antonio in his boogie. Try saying that with a straight face.

Just before sunset we headed out in the sand buggy with beer, sand boards and cameras. Ah, V8 power made the sand boarding a LOT easier. And what a ride, dropping off dune edges and catching lots of air. Antonio was a great driver and we were never out of control – after all he’s been doing this for 10 years. He would lower his Oakleys just as we got to a fun part, and afterwards turn around with a huge grin and ask if we had fun.