On a recent trip to South America my list of must do’s included a visit to Peru. In Peru I had to do some adventure activities, of course. On arrival into Lima for a few days visit checking out the capital I decided to visit the desert oasis of Huacachina, which is a few hours bus ride south of Lima.
Usually it is a stop for backpackers on the way south or north, but as I was limited with time I chose to do a day trip with Peru Hop. After a mid-morning stop to visit Paracas a beach resort in Peru famous for the Paracas National Reserve and Ballestas Islands it was on to Huacachina. More on the trip around the islands later.
We arrived around lunchtime into Huacachina where we found a sleepy isolated oasis in the desert. I managed to have a quick lunch and explore the town before the adventure activities started.
The main reason why I ventured to this town was to cross dune buggies in the desert off on my travel bucket list.
Before making regular stops at the top of the dunes to go sandboarding down stunning peaks we were taken on a thrill seeking adventure through the desert at breakneck speed on this beast.
I managed to strap my chair to the back of the buggy before setting off, just in case I wanted to use it during the trip, but as we got to the top the driver parked close to the edge so I was able to just climb out onto the sand and sandboard down the cliff before climbing up the next.
Sandboarding is one of the most amazing experiences in life, flying down the side of huge sand dunes in the desert while being totally independent, which I love, as there was no extra wheelchair help or any changes to the activity. I was thrilled with the locals having such positive attitudes to me having a go. But the most amazing part of the adventure was watching the sunset in the desert – it’s a memory I will never forget.
After sundown it was back to the town before the long exhausted bus ride back to Lima. This was very much a travel bucket list item ticked and now I move on to the next adventure around the world.
