WHAT: Pumping up your level of adrenaline while cruising the dunes during a buggy tour WHERE: In the endless dunes near Huacachina, the tiny oasis town of Ica. HOW MUCH: The tours are sold around 40 PEN each (about $12,- USD). On top of that comes the entry fee of 3,6 PEN ($1,- USD). I'd recommend you to stay at Desert Nights. Not only is their location and service pretty fabulous, they also include a free dune buggy tour in your stay. HOW LONG: The tour takes about 2 hours. It leaves in the afternoon and makes sure you can enjoy the sunset too near town on the way back.
I’m just gonna start this piece breaking the bad news. I thought the town of Huacachina was a real tourist trap. There. There you have it. And I really hate typing this too.
Blame my romantic expectations, but I was hoping to find a small and quaint oasis with waving palms, the most turquoise water and very few tourists. All of it was honestly mainly true, apart from that last bit. I didn’t really have that pristine feeling over here.
Locals don’t live near the oasis anymore, the precious ground has been bought up by hotels, loud, bumping music can be heard all night long, tourist shops pop up everywhere, and trash (even in the desert) is very present.
It’s that paradox of travelling. As a the tourist you’re always seeking the ‘real’, and want to avoid the ‘touristic’, despite existing at the very epicentre of the contradiction. So, what else to say about it. It’s a tough thought to digest.
But not all is bad news. Though the level of noise of the dune buggies are quite a disturber of the piece and that pristine feeling, the dune buggy tour (the #1 activity of this town by far) is a fun way to spend your day in the desert. Especially if you’re limited in time I would suggest just to do this tour and continue your travels to better places.
The dune buggy tour is the most spectacular and efficient way to explore this vast region. During the initial ride up to the sand dunes the driver shows off his exhilerating driving skills on the high dunes. It’s almost as if you’re in a rollercoaster: steep ups and downs and driving hard on the sideways of the large dunes. You can imagine this trip is not meant not for the faint-hearted.
Expect a lot of screaming.
And posing :).
After the hair-raising ride we did a first try of sand boarding, at a small hill. As I’d expected an equivalent of snow boarding, I was surprised to experience that you’re not really standing on the boards while sliding down. I mean if you want to, you can try it out, but since the boards are just very simple, wooden boards with pieces of fabric on it to tie to your feet on to, this isn’t as easy as it looks.
If you’re excited about the idea of sandboarding and have a little surf or snowboard experience, rent one with bindings in town (possible for example at Desert Nights) and bring it along for the ride.
Back to the simple boards. You might want to start out your slide just simply sitting on them. If you feel this is going well, then head first is the next level.
Once you’re a bit used to the idea and technique, a larger hill is to be conquered. Unfortunately I forgot to take a picture of the sliding. But it proofs how excited I was during the sand boarding :)!
So here’s a picture of the area of the sliding instead:
After the boarding fun time is due, the last bit of the tour brought us back to one of the higher dunes. An incredible spot to enjoy Huacachina’s golden hour.
As for what tour you should take; I wouldn’t say it really matters. All of the operators basically ride the same track. You’ll see all of the buggies gathering during the breaks because of that.
If you’d like to spend a night in this touristy town after all I’d recommend you to stay at Desert Nights. Not only is their location (the direct foothill of the dune) and service pretty fabulous, they also include a free dune buggy tour in your stay!
