Peru. Huacachina

 The settlement of Huacachina is located around a lagoon lined with lush vegetation and is situated in the driest desert in the world - the Atacama Desert... This oasis, nestled among the tallest dunes of South America, is the only natural oasis on the continent... Here, we spent an entire day actively exploring, walking along the dune peaks, riding on dune buggies, sandboarding down steep sandy slopes, and stayed overnight in a hotel on the oasis shore...

 After a night bus journey from Arequipa, in the morning we arrived in the city of Ica, from where we took a taxi directly to the settlement of Huacachina (Huacachina). After checking into a hotel and having breakfast, we went for a walk around the outskirts of the oasis...

 Having climbed a nearby sand dune, we had a view of the oasis from above...

  On the other side of the dune, there was a view of the Atacama Desert...

  On the other side, there was a view of the city of Ica, as well as the paved road leading to the oasis...

  We decided to walk around the oasis along the tops of the dunes to get the best view of the surrounding area...

  Having crossed over to the opposite dune, we saw the oasis from a different perspective... 

  From here, there were also very nice views of the desert...

 Near the oasis, there was a parking lot with a large number of tourist off-road vehicles - dune buggies.

 Also, from the hill, it was clear to see how some of them were crossing the expanses of the desert...

  The sandy landscapes of the dunes were a beautiful addition to the overall travel experience... 

  After descending to the oasis, we relaxed in the shade of palm trees by the lake...

  In the evening, we had a two-hour desert tour on dune buggies awaiting us, which we booked with a local operator for 30 soles (7.5 euros for two people)...

  The desert trek also included sandboarding down the steep slopes of the dunes...

  

 We went sandboarding down the slopes from three different locations. Because I had enough strength to climb back up after each descent, I went down the first dune three times. The second dune was too steep to climb, so after going down, I waited with others for the buggy to pick us up. From the third dune, I went down twice...  

  After reaching the top of one of the dunes, we stopped to watch the sunset...

 In complete darkness, we made our way back to the oasis. Upon returning, we had dinner by the oasis shore and took a leisurely stroll along its banks. That's how our day in the desert concluded... The next morning, we set off for Paracas to meet the Pacific Ocean...