The most fun, I didnt plan to have...happened yesterday!

After my time in the mountains (Huras, Peru - about 8 hours north of Lima). I headed south - with the end goal of making it to Cuzco and Machu Picchu but with a few great stops along the way. I had heard of Huacachina, a desert oasis just a bit in from the Pacific Ocean coast. Its fame is spread over all Peru - thanks to its apperance on the back of the 50Soles bill. I almost decided mid-bus trip to pass it up and keep on the move to Nazca, but luckily I didnt change my mind.

Huacachina is about 2km from the town of Ica (which is an actual city). It is this crazy little oasis, the former playground for the Peruvian elite. Now it is just a tourist destination - pero CON RAZON!

My Lonely Planet had mentioned the sand dunes and the potential sandboarding. However I wasnt sure that it would be for me. Was I WRONG!!! I took a dune buggy tour, which turned out to be the thrill of a lifetime! It was like a roller-coaster but with the added adrenaline that there was actually nothing but gravity stopping us from tumbling/flipping down the dunes! It was crazy wonderful! I laughed and screamed harder than i have in a longtime!

And then if that was not enough of a thrill, we got to go sandboarding. It was like snowboarding - but on sand. I tried it standing up two or three times, but i was kind of a chicken so I went down on my stomach on the board (like sledding!)all of the rest of the times. But the crazy thing was, was that the hills were almost vertical drops. So I thought I might die...but luckily...i didnt!
It was SOOOO much fun! I now want to try snowboarding when i get home.

These are not my pictures. I wasnt able to download the pictures I took - but I will try to get them up soon!