Ica and Huacachina Oasis

We arrived at Ica and drove through he town and out into the desert. Up a slight rise between two sand dunes the road dipped and there was a forest of green palms. Here was an oasis in the middle of no where. with a large shallow lake in the centre with a few buildings around it, mostly hostel and hotels.

It was also a centre for sand boarding and dune buggy rides with many of the buggies parked in the streets around the oasis.

We only stopped for a night and were soon back on the Pan American Highway heading south through a lot more desert with some flat stretches and some more dramatic scenery.

We stopped at Nasca to go up a tower to see the lines. The best way to see them is from he air on a clear day but weather conditions are fickle and the air above the desert is turbulent when you are flying in a small aircraft.

 

The view of the car park and some lines towards the left of the picture.

The tower itself, rather rickety and only ten people allowed up at a time which is not enforced but the tower creaks with just a few people on it.

 We stopped off at the Chauchilla Cemetery and parked the truck under a purpose built sun awning.

 A couple of owls that we saw on our way into the site.

One of the bodies preserved in the museum and the rest were in the open.

The rest of the day it was along the coast and we turned inland to climb into eh mountains to visit Arequipa for a few days and to acclimatise to altitude.