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Huacachina has to be seen to be believed. The night bus from cusco meanders through the coastal roads to arrive in a large expansive desert at the town of Ica. A short drive away, the desert oasis of Huacachina appears as if a mirage in the middle of huge sand dune mountains. With sand buggies at every corner it gave an inkling about the activities on offer.
We booked in for two nights at bananas hostel, which although relatively expensive also included two activities in the cost. Also there were Kev and Helene, a great couple on a similar gringo trail who we'd met along the way a few times and Kyna and Elliot a Scottish couple we had met in Arequipa. One of the activities on offer was sand boarding where they drive you in a 14 seater sand buggy across the sand dunes.
We didn't really know what to expect having never done anything similar before. The buggy took off like something out of mad max and hit the sand dunes at speed. It was a lot of fun, feeling like a long roller coaster, flying over dune hills and driving down almost vertical inclines. We were all having a good scream (yes even me, mr adventurous himself) only beaten by a South Korean woman who I thought was enjoying it a bit too much.
We arrived at a pretty ominous height ready to sand board down. In my head I thought I was going to have to emulate Shaun White/close my eyes and hope for the best. As it turned out the technique of choice was more bob skeleton than snowboarding, heading face down at speed. At least this didn't require half as much technique, just a lot more as they say in Latin America, cojones.
First up was a Korean guy who wanted to video himself using a selfie stick. That didn't go well. When it came to my go, I adopted the best method possible, just go for it. After about 5 seconds of flying down the sand and arriving safely at the bottom with sand in every orifice, it was Alice's turn. Like a true pro she nailed it with ease.
After a few more and slightly bigger hills we returned on the sand buggy through sunset and back to the hostel.
The following day, fresh from our experience the day before, we set off to sand board ourselves. Walking up sand dunes is not as easy as it looks and after walking for what felt like a lifetime we arrived at the top, a lot higher than we imagined. Kev, with his gung-ho attitude was off first and after about 15 seconds of flying down the sand dune safely made it the bottom. After Elliot it was my turn. With the gopro on and all the gear no idea, off I went. It was a lot faster than I thought and phew I was happy to make it the bottom. Afterward we had a go at actual sand boarding which I was terrible at. All the while Alice and Helene has befriended a ten-year old local and were practicing sand boarding on their own.
The evening was finished off with a BBQ and then after a relaxed night we got up ready for the bus to Lima. It had definitely been different to anything we had done before and a great stop off between Cusco and Lima.
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