Paracas & Huacachina: Desert Oasis in Peru

Contents of this post4 chapters

• 1ICA
• 2Huacachina – Desert Tour
• 3Next stop: Cusco
• 4Frequently Asked Questions

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We set off for the small town of Paracas, located about 3 hours southeast of Lima. For this journey, we used a bus for a few Euros, which even had nicely adjustable and padded seats. Perfect!

As we departed, Max placed his newly purchased black sunglasses in the side compartment. There was a couple sitting next to us. A woman with slightly curly, reddish hair, wearing glasses, and aged between 40 and 50. Beside her, a slightly younger, slender man with a colorful cap.

When we finally arrived in Paracas, we lined up at the luggage counter to collect our backpacks. Suddenly Max realized he had left his sunglasses on the bus. The couple now standing behind us seemed very nervous, but we didn't think anything of it at first. The search was in vain. When I asked the couple whether they had perhaps seen the sunglasses, the woman waved her hands around hastily and avoided any eye contact. The man, on the other hand, showed me the grayish pair of glasses he was wearing and insisted that I take a closer look at them. Something was definitely off here, but unfortunately we couldn't search them. So we left it at that and collected our backpacks. Shortly afterwards the woman came back over and said in her slight French accent: "The glasses were in the side pocket, right?" We agreed. But apparently that was just a brief remark from her. That made us even more suspicious, though. At least it was only "the sunglasses."

Eventually, we moved on, this time without the sunglasses.

The next day, we had a beautiful sunny weather for a boat tour to the Ballestas Islands. We had never seen so many birds gathered in one place in our lives! The large rock protruding from the water was completely covered with these beautiful creatures! In between, we could also spot a few penguins and sea lions. It was an incredible day and definitely a MUST SEE!

After the tour, we took a leisurely walk along the harbor at sunset.

Paracas was a really beautiful place and definitely worth a visit!

ICA

We were really only going to Ica to take the desert tour from there. But now this stay will probably stick in our memory a bit longer. Our hotel had a huge common room with a pool table, a TV room, a kitchen, and a ping-pong table. The room was surrounded by windows with a fantastic view of the city. We often sat there to work. One or two windows were open, and at some point a pigeon flew in. For a long time it tried again and again to get back out, constantly bumping its beak against the glass. All right! We were sure of it: this pigeon had to be helped! We tried to carry it out with a broomstick. At first it looked very promising, but toward the end, not so much. The pigeon got scared and flew straight to the opposite side. There it smacked into the window at full force and then fell to the floor. Oh God. It lay there motionless. Is it still alive? Maybe it's unconscious? No idea??? Google to the rescue. As instructed, and full of hope, we laid it down in the shade and checked on it every now and then. When it still hadn't moved after 2 hours, it slowly dawned on us that we probably weren't the best pigeon rescuers.

Huacachina – Desert Tour

In Huacachina we did a dune buggy tour with sandboarding. Pure action! The driver of our jeep really stepped on the gas. We sat right up front and raced up and extremely steeply back down. The whole time I had the feeling we were about to tip over or slide out on the sand. Max was a lot more relaxed about it. Sometimes the driver went right up to the edge of the cliff and slammed on the brakes. Heart attack! At the very top of a huge sand dune, we grabbed the sandboards. When I looked down, I was sure I would definitely not survive sliding down the dune on a board and that I'd rather not do it (...and I'm never afraid of heights otherwise!!!). A few other group members felt the same way. It didn't take long before Max was already lying ready to go. He was the very first one to slide down the huge dune. When he reached the bottom in one piece, he shouted motivating things like "It's not that bad" and "It's sooo much fun!" Finally, I summoned all my courage (it probably doesn't look so dramatic in the photos and videos, but once you're standing up there!...) and headed down. And it really was fun! I think that's exactly the most impressive thing about traveling. You do things you never believed you'd do, or you overcome fears that ultimately lead to an unforgettable experience! And if you also have a travel partner as great as mine, nothing can really go wrong. After sliding down almost every dune many times, we finally watched one of the most beautiful sunsets in the middle of the desert landscape. Endless beauty.

Next stop: Cusco

Good to know:

Here, too, we realized that you should at least master the basic words in Spanish. Not many people in South America speak English.

Luckily, we've been learning Spanish for more than half a year now, so we can already communicate quite well. I have to admit, though, that Max is a bit ahead of me, but I'm right behind him :D!

A few hackson how we learned a new language (and what we would have liked to know right away):

1. Most people use Duolingo or Babbel, but I have to say that these apps didn't really motivate us. Both of us useMemriseAn app that remembers your progress in learning and quizzes you again after a certain time. Plus, you see short video clips in which the locals speak the words with their own accent.
2. There's also a brilliant app called Italki. There you can book an online tutor for as little as 5 dollars an hour (it's easier on the platform to find a teacher who teaches you a new language in English). You can also categorize your goals (speaking only, learning grammar...). Personally, we only use it to have conversations!
3. In addition, I can recommend the app tandem . It's a platform where you can communicate with people from all over the world. The model is designed so that you teach them your language and they teach you theirs. Some just want to speak in their native language, which is even better for us. Plus, you also have the opportunity to call people there, which is great practice for learning a new language as quickly as possible, and it's free. The app is free,even though it doesn't seem like it at first (only premium members pay, and that's not really necessary)!

We speak as much as possible in the other language. We read texts, watch YouTube videos or movies with subtitles, listen to stories or foreign radio, and create fun pictures out of the most difficult words. Having fun is what matters most!

For tourism boards, I develop content that visually tells the story of Paracas, Huacachina, and Peru's coastal desert. More about possible productions and collaborations can be found on the page for collaboration.