Ica, Huacachina, Paracas

I went on a really fun trip this weekend! Kris and I, along with a couple of guys from school who are also international students, took a 4.5 hour bus ride to Ica. It is a small town in the south of Peru. After eating lunch in Ica, we took a 10 minute taxi ride to Huacachina, an even smaller "town" that consists of a lagoon in the middle of a desert. Huge sand dunes surround the little lagoon and small hostels/hotels and restaurants line the lagoon. We stayed at Hospedaje Salvatierra for 20 soles per person per night (around $7 USD). Although cheap, it was really nice! 

Our hotel had a pool!! 

3 of the 7 beds in our room

View of the lagoon from our back door - quite a surprise

After putting our stuff down we went SANDBOARDING! For 30 soles each (about $10), we got into a dune buggy and were driven all around the desert. It was like a roller coaster on wheels - SO FUN. 

All of us in the dune buggy

Crazy dune buggy ride!

Beautiful view of the sand dunes and the mountains

Sandboarding was suprisingly not that difficult - you strap yourself into a board that is pretty much a snowboard with velcro straps. Then you head down the hill! At first we tried the actual "sandboarding" way on our feet ( only fell a couple of times :) ), but after that we tried the more fun way - laying on the board on your belly and zooming down the sand dune! We started out with a not-so-steep hill then continued on to steeper and longer dunes. I don't have any pictures of me sandboarding yet because they're on a friend's camera, but I'll upload soon!

The first hill we boarded down

After getting covered and sand we dune buggied some more as the sun started to set. I had never been in the desert before, but of course there was a beautiful sunset with a great full moon. Perfect way to end the adrenaline-filled afternoon!

View of all of Huacachina 

Our hotel/pool at sunset

Post-sandboarding Cusqueñas in the pool - por qué no?

We woke up very early on Saturday morning and took the hour long trip to Paracas, a National Park and Wildlife Reserve. Our hotel provided us with a bus service there and back, as well as a boat tour at Paracas and some time on the beach, for 55 soles each. Less than $20 for a beautiful morning filled with tons of wildlife!  

Paracas

Kris and I on the boat, ready for the tour!

We saw TONS of birds

A sort of Nazca Line type cactus - they have no idea how it got etched in the sand (many years ago)

Our first sighting of sea lions!! 

Love sea lions :)

Penguins! So adorable.

I can't emphasize how many birds were there...

More sea lions cuddling :)

This place was called "Maternity Island" - a ton of sea lion mothers with their babies - check out all of these sea lions!

Tour boat

Raul (Spain), Victor (Colombia), Miguel (Spain), Robert (Germany), me, Kris - beach at Paracas

We got back to the hotel by noon with big appetites. Kris and I went to this very delicious pizzeria while all the other guys went to a hamburger joint. Very glad we made the pizza decision - it was one of the best meals I've had in Peru so far! 

After lunch we found a taxi driver that agreed to take all 7 of us (yes, 7 in one car) on a bodega tour. The bodegas (wineries) are around Ica and we went to three of them for 10 soles (less than $4) each! At each bodega, we got a small tour and lots of free samples. 

Heading into the many bodegas...

Tacama - the first bodega. Although this was the biggest, we didn't like it that much. The tour didn't give much information, there were bugs everywhere, and we only got to sample 2 different types of wine!

Sitting area at Tacama

The group at Tacama wine tasting 

Lots of grapes!

Grape fields & mountains - charming!

We liked the second bodega a lot more - El Catador, which translates to "The Taster." The guide was very easy to understand and we had a lot more samples at this one! They also grow mangos, figs, and pecans at the bodega, so we got to sample their homemade marmalades and chocolate-covered pecans. Too bad we came one weekend late for the yearly Grape Stomping festival when a bunch of beauty queens come and stomp grapes and drink pisco. Still fun, though! We ended up buying a bottle of "El perfecto amor" - Perfect Love wine - it was very sweet and fruity!

El Catador

Tons of grape remains 

Huge ceramic canisters for fermenting wine and pisco

The third bodega, Bodega Lazo, was by far the strangest. A bunch of those ceramic things were in a dusty barn-type room with tons and tons of antiques scattered everywhere. Old telephones, paintings, animal remains, instruments - everything! A sweet old man named Jose who kept calling me Emilia gave us a tour of the room and lots of fresh samples. 

Bodega #3 

The balencia (spelling?) stick - Jose puts this into the big ceramic canister and pulls out fresh fermenting wine and pisco - then fills up our sample cups 

Jose and I post tour!

After returning to the hotel in Huacachina, we swam in the pool for a while then walked to a small restaurant just outside of the lagoon. On a poster outside they advertised "tacos" with a picture of hard shell tacos. I had a craving and was a little disappointed when my "chicken taco" was literally a crepe filled with chicken. Oh well, I'm learning! 

Post-dinner we played Jenga and went to a discoteca but I didn't stay very long. We had been up since 6 and had a very full day! 

Jengaaaaa

Thomas (Austria), me, Kris, Victor, Miguel

I woke up Sunday morning and laid out by the pool for a while before heading back to Ica. We paid less for the bus on the way back which meant a change in quality... The bus made lots of stops and people got on and off all the time (versus no stops on the way there). With the extra stops and extra people and Sunday afternoon traffic, it took over 6 hours! They showed movies but with Spanish dubbed over the English so I just slept most of the way. 

I loved Huacachina and definitely want to return with people from Kusi Wasi now that I know what to do and where to go. It's Monday morning and we're waiting in a room right now to register. Registration starts at 9 and a bunch of us from the house came at 7 to try to get a good spot in line - but I'm still number 71! Let's hope I can still get all the classes I want so I'll have Thursdays and Fridays free for a lot more weekend traveling. :)