I have always wanted to see a desert – a massive expanse of sand and dunes – it seems like a magical place and a photographers dream. While travelling through Peru, I was finally able to explore a desert via the tiny oasis called Huacachina. Located just off the coast near the city of Ica, Huacachina was once a luxury resort town that is now laying in ruins.
Huacachina has a permanent population of about 100 people but many thousands of tourists visit each year. Most of the accommodations have seen better days and there were a lot of closed up shops in the oasis. The main reason tourists still pass through it is the easy access to the expansive desert. It was worth staying for a few days to see the incredible desert.
We explored the surrounding sand in a few different ways – on a dune buggy (yeehaw!), on a sand-board (think a wooden snowboard) and on foot (still sand in my boots…). The dune buggy was by far my favourite, it was a definite adrenalin rush to tear up dunes and roll down the other side. I wasn’t sure if I felt safer that we had a roll cage, or if I was worried because we had a roll cage! It was a great, accident-free day and I got some amazing photos.
Sand-boarding was much harder than expected. As a seasoned snowboarder, I had high expectations of myself but the velcro-strapped on board was difficult to manoeuvre in the sand. Still, loads of fun and I highly recommend a brief visit if passing through the coast of Peru.
