Sand Skiing in Huacachina
We broke up our marathon of overnight buses with a brief overnight stop in Huacachina; the desert oasis to blast around the sand dunes in a buggy and get some practice turns in on the skis before our Euro ski season later this year.
Huacachina - the desert oasis
We arrived in Ica on the 18hr overnight bus from Cusco about 10am. The bus wasn't the most comfortable we have had, which wasn't a great coincidence for the longest journey we've had to do, but we survived (just). I ended up getting ill and throwing up a few times, and the locals were causing a ruckus. Headphones have not made their way into Latin America culture; everyone on the bus just blasts music, videos, Tik Toks on full volume in any public space.
On our arrival into Ica we took a short Tuk Tuk ride to Huacachina. Huacachina is a very random little town on the outskirts of Ica that is perched right among the sand dunes. With a lake in the middle and a township with a circumference you can circumnavigate in no longer than a 10min walk, Huacachina was built for tourism.
Despite the rather rough overnight journey, we felt great. We were back at sea level. The first time we had been back at sea level in over 1.5 months (not since Patagonia). We thrived relaxing by the pool and enjoying some heat from the sun.
Money talks in tourism
We took about trying to find a tour for the afternoon. After a few circuits of the local operators, it became apparent there was something amiss. None of the operators fully disclosed, but none of the buggies were allowed to operate that day. We later found out there had been an accident the day before involving a tourist, and the local authorities had enforced a mandatory cool-down period the following day(s) as a result.
Laura later found out with some further research that a tourist was actually killed in a dune buggy accident the day before. Truly tragic.
In hindsight, luckily we didn't know at the time or we would have seriously reconsidered. At the time, we were privy to none of this information and were determined to lock in a tour for that afternoon because we were leaving the next day. We eventually came across a tour that was run by professional sand-boarders. They were understandably shady about the dune buggy operations when we enquired, but assured us all would work out. We haggled them down to 50% of their original offer, paid the cash and agreed to return later that afternoon.
After a few hours by the pool, we pulled ourselves away from the EUFA Champions League Final (not really, we were glad to have an excuse to get away from the increasingly drunk and passionate football fans) and returned to our tour operator. Predictably, there was some difficulty in getting going. We had to reschedule to the next day because of the enforced cool-down period.
After 20min of discussions, compromise and planning the tour operators suddenly had a change of tune; we're going. The buggies are running and we're heading out, let's go. Vamos!
Sand skiing and dune buggying
After a short hike into the dunes out the back of town we were loaded into one of the dune buggies. Seatbelts on, we were suddenly flying across the dunes. Up and down the dunes catching airtime over the top and bottoming out on the dips. It was genuinely crazy and in hindsight, we can definitely see how there must be a lot of accidents.
After about 25min of blasting around the dunes, we were out for our first practice ski. After applying some candle wax to our skis (literally, just a candle rubbed on to the underside) we had to show our guides what we were made of. After a few practice runs, we were off in the buggies again in search of larger and steeper slopes.
The sand skiing was, of course, very similar to skiing but rather difficult to get the handle on. The friction was very high and you have to keep your body weight quite far back, but we got the hang of it after a couple of runs.
The sand skiing was a lot of fun. The guides, being professionals, were absolutely frothing it and encouraging us to do more, go faster, do jumps, cut back etc etc. They were the ultimate hype guys.
We kept going late into the evening, catching some final turns as the sun disappeared behind the dunes. ONE MORE RUN the guides kept encouraging! Vamos, vamos!
Laura charging.
Yeoowww. The poor guide took a heavy hit on the follow-cam.
After returning back to HQ, the guides quickly proceeded in feeding us Piscolas (Pisco Sour & Cola - just like a rum and coke). Within 20min we had finished 2 bottles of the 46% spirit and there was no sign of them slowing, as they went around the group getting everyone to stand up and take shots. We managed a sneaky escape and sourced some food from an Italian restaurant in town. Predicting our options were limited and expensive, we were actually quite delighted with our dinner selection.
We returned back to our hostel; the Wild Rover (IYKYK - the ultimate party hostel in South America) for some more drinks and partying later into the evening.
The next morning we had a bus to Lima to continue our Peruvian pilgrimage further north.
Member discussion