South America part 3 sand and air

Huacachina

The bus took us to our next destination, Huacachina, a desert oasis in the south of Peru. The town is built around a lagoon and surrounded by dunes. This was the first time we weren't able to get the hotel we wanted as it was sold out. We ended up at a basic hotel that was clean and quite with good food.  This town was a bit of a backpacker town so there wasn't a lot to do outside of the dune buggy tour.

The buggy took us out into the dunes before sunset and we had the option to stop and sand board down the dunes. I passed as I was afraid of hurting myself, but it was fun to watch everyone slide down.

climbing on the buggy

a dune

Selfie time

The sand

our driver texting on his phone

the hazy view

the oasis

after our adventure 

Nasca

The next day we got up early for a transfer to the Nasca airport. It was about an hour drive away. We had reservations, but they really seemed to mean nothing other than to give us a ticket. Our flight time came and went by a few hours before we got the chance to board. We had to leave everything at the flight counter and we had to be weighed. We were seated based on our weight in the tiniest plane I have ever been in, 6 passengers and a pilot and co-pilot. It was a 30 minute flight and the pilots explained what we were seeing and then we would do a pass on the right and then again on the left so everyone could see and take pictures. It was not for the feint of heart or stomach. The plane would fly in a tight arch  with the wing almost perpendicular to the ground to allow for the best viewing. Poor Greta was sick the entire time. We got to see a lot of the lines. 

before we begin

This is exciting

our pilots

The astronaut

The monkey

humming bird

The road below

The spider

The road built over some lines and part of the tree. This is where tour busses stop and people climb the multi story tower to see the lines. 

Cauchilla Cemetery

After our flight we had time before we had to meet the bus for our first overnight bus experience (more on that later). We decided to visit the Cauchilla cemetery to see mummies and then to visit the Cahuachi pyramids. The cemetery had been looted by grave robbers, but has been protected since the late 90's. Some of the graves have been restored and it is fascinating to see the very well preserved mummies with red hair.   The trip to the pyramids was over a bunch of dirt roads and unmarked desert. Luckily our driver knew where to go. They are made of adobe 

Grave

mummy

the path to the graves

the colorful hills

pyramid