The road from Paracas went mainly through desert with areas of agriculture where water was available. We stopped near Ica to sample and learn about the production of Pisco - a popular spirit famous for being the basis of the Pisco Sour.
We then drove a short distance to Huacachina, a small oasis village, surrounded by high sand dunes. Our group loaded into a dune buggy and we were driven up into the dunes. Our driver took us fast and steep. We bogged down in the sand and had to manhandle the buggy free. At several points we stopped so some of us could try sand-boarding down the dunes before the buggy then followed at speed. From the tops of the dunes we could see nothing but more dunes - "the middle of the desert".
We ended the very busy day driving on to Nazca across vast high desert plains (the end of the Atacama) then down through the mountains into the town of Nazca.
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