Huacachina

Having arrived in Ica we jumped in the first taxi available and headed to the Oasis town of Huacachina. Sam chatted with the taxi driver and got his business card with the promise to ring him if we were keen on visiting the local vineyards. We decided to stay in a hostel called El Huacachinero and on arrival we were very impressed! It was more like a hotel than a hostel and we felt we could finally relax. Sam was slightly concerned that the man greeting us at the reception desk had an uncanny resemblance to the Williams sisters, father and tennis coach.

It was only five minutes later that Sam realised he had left one of his bags in the taxi. With no money and no telephone, the only choice was for Sam to get a taxi back to Ica to get money and call our previous taxi driver, Antonio. Sam got in the taxi with caution, and was slightly alarmed when an attractive, young Peruvian girl decided that she would escort him into town. The journey was started with small talk in a mixture of English and Spanish, but soon was halted when the young girl realised that Sam was here with his girlfriend. Sam was worried about either being mugged or groped! After a awkward telephone conversation with Antonio, the taxi driver, Sam and the young girl headed back to the hostel, unsure whether the bag was to be returned. 50 metres before arriving back at our hostel the girl jumped out and the driver informed Sam that she was crazy!

Forty minutes later, the bag was returned with all its belongings inside. We could now finally relax with a beer in the darkness of the night, eager to picture the landscape around us.

The next morning we suddenly realised the enormity of the sand dunes around us!

For the rest of the day we wandered around the oasis and chilled by our hostel pool. In the afternoon we jumped aboard the sand buggies to do some sand boarding - one of us with fear, the other with excitement!

The sand boarding down the dunes was fantastic. Much to E-J’s annoyance Sam was a natural to the boarding, managing to stand up most of the way down. The locals also referred to him as crazy!!

E-J decided it made more sense to slide down on her tummy and frustrated by her lack of nerve made the comment 'I am turning into my mother!' Sam constantly reminds E-J of this!

After several different sand boarding attempts down steeper dunes, we finally travelled to a point where we could watch the sun set over the dunes.

We then spent an enjoyable evening with a Belgian couple and an entertaining Brazilian whose comments of "You drive like my grandmother" only encouraged the Sand buggy driver to drive like a mad man!

Two more days of relaxing ensured we felt refreshed and revived. Sam managed to anger the German tourists by the pool, by soaking them, whilst attempting to swim underwater, this then quickly turned into laughter when Sam smacked his head against the end of the pool!!

After a disappointing early morning photo session due to the low cloud, Mario Testino (E-J) set off on her second intensive forty-five minute hike up the massive dune, determined to get the idyllic, panoramic view of the oasis. After inhaling more sand than air, hot, sweaty and exhausted, she got what she wanted and watched the sun set from the crest of the dune, whilst Sam more sensibly enjoyed a beer by the bar.

Sam's Comments: Sand boarding was great fun, however encouraging a Belgium lad to board down the massive dune, was not a great idea when he informed me that he had broken his back two years ago in a snow boarding accident!!

E-J’s Comments: I’m slightly disappointed in my weedy reaction to the sand boarding, so I have decided that at our next destination I will do something more death defying. Also, I’m slightly concerned by how unfit I am with my attempts to climb a sand dune, with a technique similar to that of a dog, god only knows how I’ll manage the Inca trail!