The Spirit of Peru

We waited at our generic-looking gate waiting to board our flight back to Lima. Ten minutes before boarding time, a flight attendant wheeled a "Star Perú" sign over to the gate, and whipped out what can only be described as a tiny amp with a microphone attached. He then began making announcements through his tiny amp and eventually we boarded the flight with our tickets, which were basically receipts that we were given at check in. It has been decided that Star Peru is the Spirit Airlines of this country.

 Once everyone was settled, a flight attendant did a head count of the passengers on board (yes that's right, head count...as if we are on a school field trip) and we are ready to go. Next stop: sand dunes in Paracas.

 Our driver, Fabio, picked us up at the airport. We booked him through a travel agent and we also met him the night we arrived, as he is the one who met us at the airport and brought us all of our vouchers and tickets for our stay. He took our bags from us and lead us to his car. Normally the taxis here are large white vans, and we were surprised when he led us to his tiny blue town car. "Normally we take van but since we driving three hours this car is much better," he said. And so we believed him. We buckled up and were ready to go. He backed out of the spot, turned the corner of the airport parking lot and we heard a loud CLUNK. Followed by a quieter clunk..clunk..clunk......clunk..........clunk. Annnnd the car stops. He gets out, looks at the car and says, "get out car is broken". We get out and watch as he pushes the car into a spot. So much for this car being good for a three hour drive. He tells us we will take a taxi to his house to get his van and we will then drive to the desert. Naturally, we agree to the taxi to Fabio's house and we are on our way.

 The driving here is unbelievable. Each road is a 2 way street, however if there is no oncoming traffic, it instantly becomes a 2-lane, one way street. That is, until another car shows up and everyone squeezes back into one lane just barely avoiding numerous head on collisions within seconds. We drove for miles like this passing nothing but sand and asparagus fields (if only we could snatch those up and bring them back with us. For now I will resort to paying $5.99 a bundle. Oh well.)

 When we finally arrived, we were picked up by a van of people who were also going sand boarding. Of course, we were the only ones in the whole group, including the guide, who spoke any English. Tali asked the guide how long the tour was and he kept saying "yes...four people in a car". So much for that. We arrived at the sand dunes and indeed we were instructed to put on goggles and move to the sand buggies...four per car. It should be noted that these buggies were really just metal car frames - no walls or anything of the sort. We got in and, without direction or warning, were buckled up and took off. We drove up, down, in and around the biggest sand dunes I have ever seen. There were some points that seemed as if we were going straight down a wall of sand at a 90 degree angle and at points it felt like an actual roller coaster. I wish I could describe how beautiful it actually was (or that I could upload a picture from this tiny mobile device that I am writing from) but since I can't you will have to wait for pictures later. You know what they say about patience. #itsavirtue

The guide stopped the car on top of one of the massive dunes and told us to take our shoes off and get out. The sand was so incredibly soft and clean and was an actual pleasure to walk on. We were then given sand boards and instructed to get on and slide down. We could sit, stand or lay on our bellies. We then had to hike back up the massive mound of sand to do it over again. (Try hiking up a hill of sand next time you see one..not a very easy task. Though its been nice having regular amounts of oxygen at our disposal).

All in all it was an incredible experience and it was most definitely worth the nauseating 6 hour round trip drive. We are now back in our cozy hotel which we'll be in for the next 2 nights. It is by far the best one yet, if not only for the fact that the hot water knob actually budges. Goodnight from Peru!