June 13th - Huacachina (Ica)

Hello again,

This morning, the sun actually almost made its way through the clouds over Paracas. I had my breakfast by the beach, and even had some eggs this time, and then packed my things and checked out of my little hotel room. I had planned to catch a cab, but a collectivo came by just at the right time, so I hopped in. A collectivo is a minibus, the size of a VW, with about 16 seats built in. They are privately run and used all over Peru for transport of people, groceries, market goods, chickens, goats, whatever people need moved. So, I jumped in with my luggage, and we drove around town and then through the fish meal plant (the major employer in the area) until the bus was full of assorted friendly faces and the smell of papas rellenas for the market and fish meal for livelihood, and then headed off for Pisco.

I found my bus station, just a few blocks off the plaza, and for less than $1, bought a ticket for Ica, two hours away. I spent most of my time on the bus finishing a novel (The Kite Runner) but did chat a bit with my seat mate, who was running a tour from Lima to La Paz. She had 10 brits with her for the trip, and offered me a free ride from Ica to Huacachina with her tour. They all took off to go sandboarding, and are planning to go on to Nazca tonight. I have a much more leisurely schedule in mind.

I checked into a peaceful, sweet, quiet hotel with a lovely garden and a swimming pool. I have a private room. The bath is down the hall, but so far it's all mine. And I'm paying $10/night. It's pretty amazing. Huacachina is a tiny circle of buildings surrounding a desert oasis. The oasis lagoon is about 200 by 75 yards, with palm trees all around it. Immediately around the outskirts of town are giant sand dunes, which go for miles. The main activities here are sand boarding (like surfing down the dunes) and dune buggy riding. The locals are also glad to rent paddle boats to tool around in the lagoon. Because of the setting, there are lots of interesting birds, so I'm putting my book to task again. I didn't bring it with me - tomorrow maybe I'll publish a list of birds I've seen so far (for those weird people like me who'd want to know).

After checking in, I went for a walk around the oasis, and met two sweet sisters from Lima, in their 50's or so, who asked me to take their picture by the lagoon. Then we chatted a bit, and they both wanted their picture taken with me. Then one of them reached into her purse, and no kidding, she gave me a Watchtower (in Spanish of course). She read me a Bible verse and then I went on my way. It was very surreal.

Since then, I've done more exploring, had a nice lunch, read for a while by the pool, and later by the promenade, and spent a while sharing my 'Art of the Andes' book with the Internet place proprieter's niece, Maria, who is 3. It was fun, and my Spanish is actually pretty good when talking to a 3 year old!

Tomorrow, I'm taking a city tour of Ica, which is supposed to include a couple of local bodegas (wineries - they're Ica's main industry), and also am hoping to see some local museums.

I'm so glad to be here, where the sun is shining and the air doesn't smell like fish meal!

Hasta pronto,

Karen