Huacachina
2nd-4th April 2025
The Nazca Lines
Approaching sunset our coach pulls over at a steel viewing platform alongside the Panamerican Highway on Peru’s west coast. As we wind towards the top of the tower, the Nazca Lines fan out below us. Most startling is the Lizard carving, which has be crudely cut in two by the highway at a time the significance of these ancient carvings was clearly not fully appreciated. Other carvings visible form our vantage point include the Nazca Tree, Hands, Cat and the geometric lines that crisscross the otherwise barren terrain.
Huacachina, A Desert Oasis
Maya, Selma and Signe, aka the Danish Chaos Trio who we had previously met scuba diving in Galápagos, and not seen since, just so happened to be in Huacachina the night we arrived. Coincidentally it was Maya’s birthday and we made sure to celebrate the occasion! There was a camel in the night club… I think. The following morning, with a slight hangover in tow, we were whisked off in another coach to a Pisco wine farm for a tour and tasting. Returning to the Huacachina oasis we reunited with the trio and got kitted up to venture out into the dunes near 4pm. As the heat of the day subsided we clambered into a stripped out Nissan patrol with homemade roll cage. With balaclavas in place, we hung on and tore off through the dunes, the roar of the engine only being surpassed by the shrieks of the buggies passengers as we plunged off the edges of the endless rolling dunes.
Our dune buggy driver took us to the top of steep dunes where we could chaotically ski, snowboard and bodyboard down with various degrees of success and hysterical laughter. As the sun began to set, we took a perch and watched the enchanting sight of the changing shadows and golden light dancing across the incredible landscape. Naturally on brand with our earlier boating mechanical mishaps, the buggy drops off a dune and picks up a flat tyre on the drive back in darkness, and although offering to take shifts on the hand pump we limp back with periodic shifts of our driver hopping out and adding air furiously.
Next, we head back to the Pacific ocean…
Desert biking, assault courses and penguins.