Sand

 After our marine adventure and excellent lunch, time to hit the desert!  About half an hour away is the tiny (100 people) desert oasis Huacachina:






The dune buggies were large, holding 12 people, and you were (thankfully) strapped in tightly.



They were an absolute blast!  An incredibly rough ride up, down and around the steep sand dunes, and I was convinced more than once that we were going to tip over, but of course we didn't.

And we got to do two runs of sand boarding, face down as you go sliding down a dune.  Fun but not as fun as the dune buggies.



All that was left was watching the sunset, which was pretty but boring.




The end?  Nope, a 4-1/2 hour bus ride back to Lima, which luckily I dozed through, then a 20 minute walk to my studio from the drop-off.  A 20-hour day and I was exhausted but still buzzed!
















Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

First Impressons of Buenos Aires

Image
 1.  My hotel is in the city center, which is more upscale than the off-of-center I was staying in in Bogotá.  Think taller (but not too tall) buildings and wide avenues, etc.  BA is often described as having more of a European feel than most Latin American cities, and based on just a day I'd concur.  The obelisk, the "center" of BA: 2. The Hotel Avenida is very old-fashioned, so old-fashioned that it has the kind of elevator that requires you to close not only the interior but exterior doors before anything happens, and comes to a jolt when it gets to the requested floor.  And lets you curse the clueless who didn't shut the doors when the elevator doesn't come. It's the first time I've stayed in a hotel with one of these.  My feet have never been cleaner! 3. It was easy getting around in Bogotá, numbered Calles ran west to east and numbered Carreras ran north to south.  A typical address "Calle 18 #5 56" so that was on Calle 18 and nearest cross...
Read more

Another cathedral, another art gallery, another lunch

Image
 I went to the Cathedral da Sé, but I'm kinda done with cathedrals, even if this one is "the third largest Gothic cathedral in the world."  They are all (by design, I know) a bit samey, and I feel just a wee bit guilty impinging on anyone's expression of their faith, misguided as it may be (dismissive, moi?). Anyways . . .  The only thing interesting about cathedrals/churches is the odd bits, like this 3D (wax? plaster?) sleeping/dead Jesus from the church of Saint Efigênia: On to the Instituto Cultural Tomie Ohtake!  Who?  Japanese/Brazilian artist I had never heard of, and neither have you.  My second (after Buenos Aires) successful Subway Navigation (free for "idosos" - old people, yay!), and in a neighborhood of interesting buildings.  The building houses the Instituto in the first two floors and the rest are I dunno, offices or something.  It's hard to get a decent pic of the wonderful building, here's my best: And the sensuous metal curves o...
Read more

Settling in + El Cerro, Day 2

Image
 The Hotel Virrey is basic, but the room is bigger than my bedroom, and everything works, so that's great.  It's located between La Candelaria (the historic center) and the city center, so it's very convenient to the tourist destinations. The free breakfast is fantastic, over-scrambled eggs, rice, ham, cheese, all kinds of fresh fruit, cereals, yogurt etc.  plus of course tea/coffee/fruit juices.  Way better than I expected! And I already learned a new fruit, ciruela roja, which is like a small plum.  Travel is broadening! The neighborhood itself?  Down-market is probably an accurate description. In the afternoon I went to el Cerro de Monserrate.  Bogotá is built in a valley on the west side of a tall (500m) ridge, on top of which is a church and restaurants, etc.  There's both a funicular and the Teleférico (cable car), and to get to them is a half-hour uphill walk, an hour (seemingly) in line for the ticket booth, then half an hour wait for the ...
Read more