Sandboarding on the Ica sands

Escrito por Cmanrique

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The Ica desert is the perfect place for practicing one of the adventure sports offering the greatest adrenaline rush: sandboarding. Those visiting it, can turn into sandboarders and slide over its dunes on wooden planks while enjoying the beautiful view of the Huacachina oasis, the only one in South America. Its name comes from the Quechan words “huaccac china” or “woman’s cry,” because according to legend, the tears of the town’s princess, who stopped crying when she met her beloved, the warrior Ajall Kriña, are deposited there.

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How to get there?
The trip from Lima to the city of Ica takes an average of four hours. From there, one must travel an additional three miles to arrive in the desert. Travel agencies such as Perú Nasca Tours, will take you there and organize trips in dune buggies – from nine in the morning until five in the afternoon – which take visitors to the dunes located to the northwest of La Huacachina, where amateur sandboarding is practiced, and professional sandboarding competitions take place (these tours include the rental of the sandboard and a lesson from the instructor).

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Where to stay?
If we are captivated by the scenery, we can stay at the Hotel El Huacachinero, famous for its restaurant which includes the best of the local gastronomy, among which the Dry Soup, the Pork Carapulcra, desserts like tejas and the chapanas (a manioc flour sweet), and the indispensable pisco, stand out.

Another good option is the Hotel Mossone where, from its terrace – with bar service and large pool – we can see the majestic sunset over the huacachinero oasis.

Back in the city, and in front of the Plaza de Armas (Main Square) is the well-known Sol the Ica hotel, with wireless internet connection and conference room for business conventions. You can eat at the hotel’s restaurant or sample the most delicious stews from the area at the local restaurant El Caramba (Prolongación Ayabaca 862) while enjoying the best Black Dances shows.

Other attractions
In addition to sandboarding on the Huacachina dunes, the city of Ica – which enjoys a yearlong sunbathed climate – has various touristic attractions, among which the most notable ones are its cathedral and the Plaza de Armas (Main Square), the Adolfo Bermúdez Jenkins Regional Museum and the Tacama Vineyard (45 minutes from the city), where international award winning wines and pisco are made.

Those wishing to make a more extensive tour, can also visit the Paracas National Reserve in the province of Pisco (3 hours south of the city of Ica), where curious rock formations and communities of sea lions can be observed. And, three hours in the opposite direction, you can sight, by small plane, the Nazca Lines, figures carved in the sand over two thousand years ago.

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