Paracas and Huacachina
Paracas Nature Reserve covers a large desert and marine area
Huacachina is a village nestled amongst sand dunes built around a small oasis
Paracas and Huacachina are two small but incredibly fun places.
We took a boat trip out into the Paracas marine nature reserve and saw sea lions, penguins (at a distance), and dozens of birds.
Later, we hired a dune buggy for 2 hours for around £20. We were guided around Paracas, over small sand dunes, to various beaches and were able to see some incredible wildlife – the value of this activity seemed unparalleled throughout our trip. If you are brave enough, I would strongly recommend visiting the dessert area of the Paracas nature area this way rather than in a minibus.
The following day we took a day trip to Ica. In the morning we visited a winery and then in the afternoon went onto the dunes of Huacachina. Having driven on sand dunes the previous day I was slightly disappointed that this time we were only to be driven.
However once the buggy tour across the sand dunes started I was quite glad someone more experienced as in control. The drivers are not at all shy, they drive at impossibly acute angles and took us on what felt like the best roller coaster experience I have ever had; it was well worth emptying an unfathomably endless supply of sand out of our shoes for the next 4-5 days.
The way we planned it we then returned back to Paracas which in hindsight was not the best option, we would have quite liked to stay the night in Paracas before then travelling onwards via a short transfer to Ica, which is the most common route, but either way we thoroughly enjoyed our time in Huacachina!
