Huacachina, the only desert oasis in South America! We arrive today and I went out on a sandboard/dune buggy tour. The dune buggy ride was more like a rollercoaster as the dune buggy felt as if it were free falling down the near vertical sand dunes and ready to roll over at multiple turns. The buggy sped along the flat dunes so fast that the sand whipped into your face and stung like pins and needles and made it impossible to keep your eyes open without wearing sunglasses.
Once we reached the top of a huge sand dune several kilometers away we got out the sand boards and tried our best not to fall on our arses constantly or gave up and just tobogganed down the dunes if all else failed. Halfway into the sandboarding afternoon a girl stopped at the bottom of a massive dune and the girl behind her went to early which resulted in a pretty gnarly collision and left everyone a bit shaken. Luckily they came out of it without any major injuries.
We watched the sun set on the dunes before heading back to town which was a pretty awesome sight. Back at the hostel I unloaded the sand from my pockets and shoes which could have actually filled a beer jug. Tomorrow night we are heading to Cusco, but before that I plan to climb the dunes to get a photo of this desert oasis.
