We arrived at Nasca earlier than expected, 6am, and we were approached by a couple of touts trying to sell flights over the famous lines as soon as we stepped off the bus. One of the guys could offer us a flight that morning, he also had a hotel so could offer us a room to clean up before we departed. We took him up on the room but reserved judgement on the flight until we got a couple more prices.
After a much needed scrub in the shower we had a chat with the owner of the hotel and managed to broker a good price for the flight and got him to let us have the showers for free, so after only 2 hours in Nasca we were on our way to the airfield for our 45 minute flight over the lines.
Neither Mel or I had been in a light aircraft before, so that on its own was going to be just as
much of an experience as seeing the lines. We took care of all the formalities when we arrived at the airport and then made our way to the plane. We were joined by two really nice Irish girls and an older woman who didn't speak to any of us. I was a little apprehensive as I'm not a great flyer anyway, but I got to sit up front with the pilot and watch him work his magic, which I have got to be hon
est looked like a piece of cake. Before we knew it we were bombing along the runway and were up in the air soaring over the Peruvian desert.
We were all given a map before take-off, so we knew the order in which we would fly over the lines. The lines were very impressive and it is hard to image how they were created without being seen from above. Our favourite was definitely the curly-tailed monkey, with the hummingbird coming a close second.
The flight went really quickly and we were soon flying back over Nasca and approaching the landing strip. After the trip we made our way into Nasca for brekkie. 30 minutes of wandering around the town made us realised that all the stories about Nasca were true, apart from the lines there is nothing there, so we grabbed our backpacks and jumped on the bus bound for Ica.
The bus to Ica from Nasca was only two hours and a taxi to Huacachina 10 minutes. We checked into a really nice hostel with a pool, and as the weather was hot and it had been a long day, we slipped on our swimming gear and chilled out by the pool for the afternoon.
Me being me would not be beaten, so I ran back up the dune, which was a feat in itself to try again, and I fell again, so this process continued until I could no longer run back up the dune due to the amount of sand in my pants. So we decided to move onto the next dune. Mel went first this time and much to everyones surprise took a pretty evil tumble, that bad that everyone went quite until she got up and put her hands in the air laughing her head off. We were all a little relieved to see her smiling. During the next 15 to 20 minutes on this dune we both started to really get the hang of it, and even one of the experinenced snowboarders commented on how quickly we were picking it up. It was great fun and we really couldn't pull ourselves away, but our buggy driver was getting impatient and he wanted to move on.
The final dune we came to was the big one. We had heard about this dune and had seen several peoples injuries obtained from riding it, mostly really bad sand burns, but an Israli guy had died on this dune about a month before. Apparently he had tried to do it on
his feet and had fell when he had built up such speed and broke his neck. The dune was about 250m and so steep that you couldn't see the slope until you stood right on the edge. We were taking no chances and lay down on the board. Mel went first, she lay down and pushed herself away, going slow at first but then quickly speeding up. We could all hear her screams as she descended down the dune and eventually came to a stop at the bottom, where she just lay in a heap for about 30 seconds before picking herself up and jumping up and down in glee at the bottom. Next was me, and I could not quite believe the speed I got up to on the way down. In seconds you are at the bottom with huge amounts of adrenaline pumping around your body.
After a much needed scrub in the shower we had a chat with the owner of the hotel and managed to broker a good price for the flight and got him to let us have the showers for free, so after only 2 hours in Nasca we were on our way to the airfield for our 45 minute flight over the lines.
Neither Mel or I had been in a light aircraft before, so that on its own was going to be just as
much of an experience as seeing the lines. We took care of all the formalities when we arrived at the airport and then made our way to the plane. We were joined by two really nice Irish girls and an older woman who didn't speak to any of us. I was a little apprehensive as I'm not a great flyer anyway, but I got to sit up front with the pilot and watch him work his magic, which I have got to be hon
est looked like a piece of cake. Before we knew it we were bombing along the runway and were up in the air soaring over the Peruvian desert.We were all given a map before take-off, so we knew the order in which we would fly over the lines. The lines were very impressive and it is hard to image how they were created without being seen from above. Our favourite was definitely the curly-tailed monkey, with the hummingbird coming a close second.
The flight went really quickly and we were soon flying back over Nasca and approaching the landing strip. After the trip we made our way into Nasca for brekkie. 30 minutes of wandering around the town made us realised that all the stories about Nasca were true, apart from the lines there is nothing there, so we grabbed our backpacks and jumped on the bus bound for Ica.
There was only one reason to journey to Ica. The town itself had nothing of any interest, but it is 
just on the edge of the desert and not far from the town is a little oasis village called Huacachina, which is famous for one thing, sandboarding.
just on the edge of the desert and not far from the town is a little oasis village called Huacachina, which is famous for one thing, sandboarding.The bus to Ica from Nasca was only two hours and a taxi to Huacachina 10 minutes. We checked into a really nice hostel with a pool, and as the weather was hot and it had been a long day, we slipped on our swimming gear and chilled out by the pool for the afternoon.
We got up the next day and booked our sandboarding trip. They eit
her depart at 10am or 4pm, we opted for the 4pm trip as you get to see the sunset over the desert. We spent the morning and early afternoon lazing by the pool and at 4pm the dune buggy pulled up outside the hostel. The dune bugger drivers do have a reputation of being slightly tapped, and they did not disappoint, we went screaming over the dunes and at times all four wheels of the buggy left the floor. The drive really shook you about and after 20 minutes of flying up and down sand dunes you were glad to get out and start the real highlight of the trip, the boarding.
her depart at 10am or 4pm, we opted for the 4pm trip as you get to see the sunset over the desert. We spent the morning and early afternoon lazing by the pool and at 4pm the dune buggy pulled up outside the hostel. The dune bugger drivers do have a reputation of being slightly tapped, and they did not disappoint, we went screaming over the dunes and at times all four wheels of the buggy left the floor. The drive really shook you about and after 20 minutes of flying up and down sand dunes you were glad to get out and start the real highlight of the trip, the boarding. The first dune the drive stopped at was only about 30-40m high, but at that point neither of us 
were brave enough to try it on our feet, so we lay down on the boards and shot of down the dune. We were both really surprised at the speed we reached over such a short distance, but totally loved it. The next dune was not as big, only 25m high, so we decided, as did everyone else in the group, to try it on our feet. We had a couple of guys who were good snowboarders so they went down no problem, next was my turn and I managed to get half way down before falling spectacularly and getting covered in sand. Next was Mel, who took to sandboarding like a duck to water, first time down and she didn't fall over, she was a natural. While Mel was surfing the dune I was still picking the sand out of my ears!
were brave enough to try it on our feet, so we lay down on the boards and shot of down the dune. We were both really surprised at the speed we reached over such a short distance, but totally loved it. The next dune was not as big, only 25m high, so we decided, as did everyone else in the group, to try it on our feet. We had a couple of guys who were good snowboarders so they went down no problem, next was my turn and I managed to get half way down before falling spectacularly and getting covered in sand. Next was Mel, who took to sandboarding like a duck to water, first time down and she didn't fall over, she was a natural. While Mel was surfing the dune I was still picking the sand out of my ears! Me being me would not be beaten, so I ran back up the dune, which was a feat in itself to try again, and I fell again, so this process continued until I could no longer run back up the dune due to the amount of sand in my pants. So we decided to move onto the next dune. Mel went first this time and much to everyones surprise took a pretty evil tumble, that bad that everyone went quite until she got up and put her hands in the air laughing her head off. We were all a little relieved to see her smiling. During the next 15 to 20 minutes on this dune we both started to really get the hang of it, and even one of the experinenced snowboarders commented on how quickly we were picking it up. It was great fun and we really couldn't pull ourselves away, but our buggy driver was getting impatient and he wanted to move on.
The final dune we came to was the big one. We had heard about this dune and had seen several peoples injuries obtained from riding it, mostly really bad sand burns, but an Israli guy had died on this dune about a month before. Apparently he had tried to do it on
his feet and had fell when he had built up such speed and broke his neck. The dune was about 250m and so steep that you couldn't see the slope until you stood right on the edge. We were taking no chances and lay down on the board. Mel went first, she lay down and pushed herself away, going slow at first but then quickly speeding up. We could all hear her screams as she descended down the dune and eventually came to a stop at the bottom, where she just lay in a heap for about 30 seconds before picking herself up and jumping up and down in glee at the bottom. Next was me, and I could not quite believe the speed I got up to on the way down. In seconds you are at the bottom with huge amounts of adrenaline pumping around your body.When we had all had our turn we managed to persuade our drive to take us back to the top for another ride, after which we watched the sunset over the desert before making our way back to town. This had been a real, and an unexpected, highlight to Peru.
The following day we awoke early to have breakfast before making our way to the country's capital city Lima.
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