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Buggies in the amazing oasis of Huacachina, in Peru 0:59
(CNN Spanish) - They have spent more than four hours traveling by car from Lima. The clouds are increasingly thick and gradually cram the sky in southern Peru. The landscape changed completely and now you can barely see the sun. Only a sea of sand with undulating dunes is visible.
In the bowels of the subtropical desert of Atacama, in the department of Ica, the destination is the famous “Oasis of America”.
As if it were a story taken from "The thousand and one nights", an incredible oasis is seen on the horizon. It is the oasis of Huancachina.
A handful of houses, hotels and restaurants surround this greenish water mirror of just under a hectare.
In the distance, as if guarding this amazing oasis, buggies ... Dozens of them.
First thing's first
Once the palpitations are restored and the excitement of seeing this extraordinary phenomenon gives us a break, we soon know the story behind it.
The place has been an attraction that brings together Peruvians and foreigners from all over the world for more than a century.
The Mossone hotel, a picturesque neocolonial style building, is part of the living history of the place and proof of what was the golden age of this oasis in the early twentieth century.
A few years ago the lagoon began to dry up and a handful of supportive dreamers, we refer to the Oasis group and the Salvemos Huacachina Foundation, got down to work to solve the problem. “It was possible to present a project to pump the subsoil water so that the water does not dry out,” says María Elena Cabrera, president of the Huacachina lagoon commission. Thanks to its initiative, today the lagoon continues in good water level and attracting thousands of visitors.
Of course, here also the legend also said present. The story tells that an Inca-born princess named Huincca China had agreed with a deity that would never fall in love with a human. But one day a hunter saw her, fell hopelessly in love and began to follow her. While trying to escape, the young woman tore her dress and the scraps became a large sheet of sand, which represents the desert. He also dropped his mirror which, when split, became a lagoon. This is how the maiden became a mermaid and still lives in the depths of the lagoon.
Visitors can enjoy it by sailing in small rowing boats, pedal boats, and those who are more encouraged - and do not fear mermaids - can do so even by swimming.
The guardians of the desert
But the desert, far from being monotonous and without attractions, offers as much interest as the oasis itself.
“Tourists visit us not only because of the oasis but also because of the adventure sports we drive here,” says Luis Challcha, buggies driver of the Mytriperu company proudly. In high season, up to 100 of these vehicles can fill these fantastic dunes that range from 100 to 500 meters high. The engines roar around the place but fail to silence the screams of tourists experiencing a roller coaster-style adventure.
But the extreme desert experience does not stop there. When the engines turn off, the adrenaline becomes inflamed with the practice of sandbording. This discipline is all the rage among tourists who love action and adventure. The soft sand of the Huancachina desert could not be better for surfing its dunes. It is possible to do it in handmade boards made especially in wood. The experience is simply extraordinary.
The day is over and the sun goes down in Huancachina.
Inspiring dozens of fables and stories, the oases are already, in themselves, magical and unmatched. But Huancachina, in Ica, Peru, has this double appeal. Its lovely lagoon and this new passion that generates its dunes.
Huacachina means: the woman who cries for her lost love, in Quechua language. But, perhaps, to those who will drop a tear, it will be those tourists who were lucky enough to visit it and should already leave.
Peru Destinations