Dec. 29 - Sand for Christmas
Sandboarding in Huacachina
I spent a few days in the area of Ica, Peru. The city of Ica is dirty and busy and felt a lot like Lima. I wouldn’t recommend it. Best part of the stay there was a day trip to oasis of Huacachina. The town around the oasis is an overdeveloped tourist trip so I wouldn’t recommend staying here, but there’s two very fun day-trip activities: dunebuggying and sandboarding.
Most folks do sandboarding on their stomach, but I wanted to do upright. Here's a video of me completely eating shit. I got so much sand in my eyes, but surprisingly, it didn't really hurt and I was able to wash my eyes back at the hostel. However, I did spend the next week pulling sand out of my hair.
Arequipa
I'm now in Arequipa, the 2nd largest city in Peru and the "Legal Capital of Peru" because the Constitutional Court resides here. The town is full of beautiful colonial architecture still adorned with Spanish influence. I’m staying in the central part of the city which is full of gringos but still manages to avoid feeling touristy. Arequipa sits in the ring of fire and is surrounded by 16 active Volcanos. The Ubinas volcano is the most active with ash and gas consistently spewing from its caldera.
Christmas and Hanukkah
While out partying on Christmas Eve I found a fellow jew! We made some delicious latkes a few days later. The parents would be proud.
Colca Canyon
The major natural attraction of Arequipa is Colca Canyon; twice as deep as the Grand Canyon, Colca is home to several small Andean towns as well as the Andean Condor.
The Andean Condor is the largest bird in the world with a wingspan of up to 11 feet and they can live up to 70 years. Although they are endangered in most of South America, Colca Canyon has been a refuge that allows the birds to thrive. At some points in the year, visitors can see up to 40 condors at a time gliding along the canyon walls. Unfortunately for me, it’s nesting season, so we were only able to see 1. My photos were garbage so here’s some Google image searching:
I decided on the 3-day tour of Colca Canyon instead of 2-day because it’s a nice balance of hiking in the morning and enjoying the canyon in the afternoon.
The first day was a 1200 meter descent along 6km to the small village of San Juan de Chuccho. Here I got a chance to try Alpaca meat. It’s chewy and kinda tasteless so not a strong recommendation. There’s no roads here, just narrow trails for humans and mules. We spent the evening relaxing, talking, and drinking overpriced beers.
Day 2 we walked the 3 hours to the Oasis: a haven of lush green foliage amidst the otherwise arid landscape. Our hostel had an awesome pool fed by mountain streams. Only downside: there were a ton of sand flies which are 10 times worse than mosquitos. 5 days later and I’m still itching all over.
Because of the lack of light pollution, there is a lovely view of the stars. Unfortunately, my phone camera did not do it justice.
Day 3 was an early one. We started our 1100m ascent up the steep canyon walls at 4:30am. The climb takes between 1.5-3 hours but it's lovely to hike through the sunrise. We spent the remainder of the day on a bus touring the various sites of the national park including llamas, alpacas, and a viewpoint where you can see several of the volcanos that have shaped and continue to shape this part of Peru.
