Huacachina, Peru

21st August – 22nd August 2017

The earliest start of the trip so far was needed when leaving Lima. Breakfast was at 4.15, with back locker at 4.45, ready to leave at 5. During the welcome meeting, Rianne asked for two volunteers from the last leg to help load back locker; because no one else volunteered, me and Celine said we would do it. At 4.45, I was regretting that decision but when I went out to do it there were enough people already there helping, so I didn’t have to. Once our bags went in the back locker, we knew we weren’t seeing them for a while as we were told to pack an overnight bag in our day bags for the first night of sleep, which was a little annoying as I had spent time organising my backpack the night before and I had to undo all that for my day bag.

After a few hours of driving and some much needed sleep, we stopped for a coffee and toilet break. We had an extra-long break, because apparently we made it out of Lima in good time, plus Rianne had to do a truck tour for the new people.

Back on the truck, I was given a new amigo (someone to look out for before we set off driving to make sure that no one is left behind) – she is called Emelia and is Dutch. When we set off driving again, we only had 70km to go to get to Paracas to get a boat to the Islas Ballestas – some islands which are like a pretend Galapagos apparently.

We arrived at the port at about 9.30 and had to order our food for lunch before we went, so that it would be ready when we got back. I was not prepared for cold weather when we got there, so i had to borrow an extra layer from Dan – it was much needed. We got on the boat just after 10 and had to sit in twos – I sat with Claire who is from Australia.

The boat took us to different islands off the coast. The first place we stopped was next to a sandy island with a candelabra on the side of it. The guide on the boat said that the candelabra is a mystery and has been there for over 500 years and hasn’t faded because there isn’t usually rain there – I’m not sure I believed him though when he said it hasn’t been touched since.

We carried on a bit further in the boat, until we came to Islas Ballestas. On the way, we saw a group of dolphins and sea lions swimming around. The islands were quite fascinating to see because of the way the rocks had formed and because of the amount of birds there were living on them.

On the first island we saw, we watched a group of penguins jumping about on the island before jumping into the sea. We also saw lots of species of different birds and saw lots of sunbathing sea lions. The boat carried on around the different islands where we saw the same kind of animals.

It was interesting to get so close to the rocks and see the detail that has formed naturally. We couldn’t go on the islands because it isn’t allowed but the guide was telling us that people do go on there to work and live there for 4 – 5 months at a time. They maintain the islands and clear up all the bird poo to sell it as fertiliser.

We ended the boat trip at the island by driving under one of the archways which is the archway where you make a wish as you drive under – I hope mines comes true! It was then a 40 minute trip back to the port.

Back at the port, we had to find David and Rianne and the restaurant for lunch. The people from the restaurant had brought the menus to us in the morning, so we weren’t exactly sure where we were eating. We wandered down the street just hoping to find the right place and luckily we stumbled across David and Rianne who were already in the restaurant. For lunch I had ordered stuffed avocado (stuffed with chicken and carrots and a mayo type sauce) which was really tasty but not very filling. I wasn’t too bothered though because I had snacks on the truck.

After lunch we went back to the truck to carry on driving. I wasn’t feeling great when we got back on the truck, so I was hoping to get some sleep but we had to sort out truck jobs and cook groups and the tent list, so I couldn’t; I took a paracetamol instead though because I knew we had a busy afternoon ahead and didn’t want to feel ill for it. I got lucky on this leg of the trip because I got an easy job, a great cook group (with Celine as chef, me as sous chef and then Luce, Dan, Char and Amelia) and I got a tent to myself!

We arrived in Huacachina much quicker then expected, so had some time to chill at the hotel for a bit. The view was gorgeous and the weather was gorgeous, so it instantly made me feel better! We sat by the pool for about an hour before we were booked onto the dune buggies.

At 4 o’clock, we put our overnight bags in a jeep and we all piled in to two buggies and went off into the desert.

On the buggies, we were sat in rows of four and had to make sure our belts were fastened well. The driver started off quite easy for us and took it relatively slow over the dunes, but then he started literally flying over the dunes and bouncing us about everywhere. We stopped on top of one of the dunes for a photo stop with the pretty views all around. We carried on a bit further before stopping again to do the first sand boarding session.

We all got out and got our boards handed to us and then had to climb up a pretty steep dune (which I really struggled with) to get to the top, ready to sand board down it. I was at the back of the queue, so watching everyone else go first didn’t help my nerves as I got closer to the front of the line. The man took my board off me and waxed the bottom before I lay down on it. We had to lie down head first, make sure our legs were apart and either side of the board and then hold on tight; and of course, me being me, I also had a tight grip of my go pro to film my expression. It was definitely an interesting experience and one I absolutely loved!

I loved it that much that when we got to the second slope in another part of the dunes, I was second in line – even though the second slope was a bit steeper. The second slope looked like it was a vertical drop which flattened out very quickly, but it wasn’t so bad when we were on it.

Once we had finished each slope, we would wait at the bottom for everyone to have a go, and then the two men would drive the buggies down to meet us – this wasn’t too good for me after the first slope as I had left my water bottle and phone on the seat (not realising that this happened) and they do not drive carefully, but luckily they strapped things in.

After the second slope, we drove to a third slope which was steeper still! I was near the front of the line again and still kept hold of my go pro to film my reaction. The worst part for me was the setting off as it was never as bad as it looked, once you were on it. It was such a good experience and definitely worth being covered from head to toe in sand.

After the sand boarding, we went to a high up sand dune, to watch the sunset. We made it just in time before it disappeared behind distant mountains. It was so beautiful to watch, but because we all left the hotel in the scorching heat, mid-afternoon, none of us were prepared for the massive drop in temperature.

Luckily, once the sun had set, we got back in the buggies for a final time of the evening and head to our home for the evening (another part of the desert). It was quite strange that the drivers knew exactly where they were going, even though every dune looked the same to us.

Once we got there, some other men had already set up tables and a fire with a barbecue and had started cooking our dinner. We were reunited with our overnight bags, so could put some extra layers on and find a patch of sand to sleep on. I put my roll mat out, but didn’t get my sleeping bag out straight away (following David’s advice because of the damp). The toilet for the evening was a red tent-like thing (which didn’t close because the two pieces of door wouldn’t meet) with basically a hole in the sand and a toilet seat on top – it was very interesting and not a place I visited often.

After we had picked our patch of sand, we all sat around the fire and had some kebabs for starter. They then cooked chicken and sausages and had so much salad and potatoes that we could help ourselves too. We also had free, unlimited amount of pisco (a South American spirit) and sprite which made the evening quite different. I’m not sure whether people were drinking it so quick because it was free, or whether they thought it would give them warmth as an alcohol blanket (which was my excuse) but it was going down very quickly and there were a few drunken people at the end of the night. At one point Naomi fell onto the barbecue – luckily she had gloves on and the barbecue had cooled down a fair bit because this was after dinner, so she didn’t hurt herself. Later on, I stood up and just sat on Rianne – but I’m blaming that one on the uneven sand and not the pisco. It was a really good evening though and a chance to chat to different people and a great way for the new ones to begin the tour.

I’m not sure what time it was when I went to my sleeping bag, but it was definitely the right time for me. Naomi had stopped drinking after she fell and she went to bed before me. I told the rest of the group that I was going to check on her, but I never returned – my sleeping bag was calling me. David’s advice about the sleeping bag was great because the cover for it was already covered in lots of droplets of water, so at least I was getting in a dry sleeping bag. I pulled it right over my head, tightened the elastic and slept. I must have been warm enough because I only woke up once (at 2.30) and as soon as I had re-tightened the elastic, I was back to sleep. I didn’t really appreciate the stars like I should have done but it was a cool experience!

I woke up again at 5.55 and had a peek out of my sleeping bag. People and bags were scattered all over the place and people were beginning to wake up. I pulled my sleeping bag down a bit further and watched the sun rise, which was beautiful. As soon as it came up, I was instantly warmer which was handy because everything was so damp and because it was damp, we had sand stuck to literally everything. We packed up and got ourselves back on the sand buggies (with a fair few sore heads) ready to return to the hotel for breakfast.

What an amazing experience Huacachina was!

To travel is to live, Katie x