Located 10 minutes from the city of Ica in the middle of mountainous sand dunes Huacachina, Peru is an oasis in the desert…literally. A small town built around a naturally formed lagoon Huacachina is known for it’s party vibe and awesome sandboarding.
Upon arrival in Huacachina the first thing you see are the many, many sand buggys filling the narrow streets with sand dunes looming in the background, waiting to be explored.
Now I’ve never been sandboarding, but what I envisioned for the USD$20, two hour activity was not even close to the epic adventure we had.
Eight of us jumped into a buggy and were asked to make sure our seat belts were securely fastened. Thinking this was like any other safety task we drove through the town and headed out.
As soon as we hit the dunes the buggy became a rollercoaster ride of bumps, speed, steep climbs up on one side of a dune and terrifying plummets down the other. Our driver liked to live on the edge. Where other buggys slowly made their way around the steep sand cliffs, our driver decided to go straight off the edge of them.
Arriving at the first dunes, we were given our sandboards, told to wax the base, and instructed on how to slide down the first dune. From above it seemed enormous, though in reality it was only about 10 metres in height. First attempts are always done lying on your stomach, so one by one we took the plunged and slipped over the edge.
After the first dune we slid down three more, each getting larger. Those with confidence and balance stood on their boards, whilst I with no balance at all chose to remain on my stomach, sliding down face first.
Returning to the rollercoaster buggy we made our way further into the desert towards the largest sand dunes I have ever seen. Cliffs of sand with almost vertical drops greeted us as we peered over the edge, not believing we were supposed to throw ourselves down them.
But that’s exactly what we did. The final dune was at least 150m high and the only way down was on our stomachs. Unfortunately this didn’t stop an accident from happening. One guy decided to risk it and not use his feet for breaks, resting his whole body on only the board beneath him. As he gained speed however he lost control and rolled the remaining way down the dune. At the bottom, he didn’t get up.
The twenty or so of us remaining at the top looked on in horror as the minutes ticked by whilst others rushed to him. Eventually he was able to get up and walk to his buggy, but that left those of us still at the top with huge concerns about what we were actually doing. But with the buggys sitting at the bottom and no other choice but to take the ride, we all did.
The final dune was absolutely the fastest. No matter how deeply I tried to push my shoes into the sand I didn’t slow at all and luckily was just able to keep control. But the exhilaration I felt at the bottom and the pride I had in myself for actually going through with it was amazing!
Leaving the dunes behind we headed back towards the oasis of Huacachina as the sun was setting in the sky, an absolutely epic day complete.
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