Ica, Nazca, and the General Adventures

My group in the sand dunes.

Oasis of Huacachina

My second week of classes is over, and I am using my long weekend to rest and recuperate.  This week has been an exciting, yet tiring week.  To start off, last weekend I decided to go on a road trip to southern Peru to Ica and Nazca with friends from my study abroad group.  It was a blast!  We woke up at 4:30 AM on Friday morning to catch the early bus out of Lima.  The bus was very nice, but the ride was definitely long.  Around noon we arrived in Ica where we had made reservations to go sandboarding.  When I first heard about sandboarding I thought that it was just going to be on some random small dunes in the desert, but oh how I was wrong!  After dropping our stuff off at our hostel in Ica, the group drove to Huacachina where we were going to meet the dune buggy for our excursion.  The landscape immediately changed from a flat, rocky desert floor to humongous sand dunes that made you feel as if you had been transported to the middle east.  Then after we round one of the sand dunes, we suddenly come upon an oasis.  It was one of the coolest sites of the trip.  We quickly got connected with our buggy and once everyone had gotten strapped in, the driver took us up into the sand dunes. I feel like a more appropriate name for the is the sand mountain range.  The ride was crazy, like the Indiana Jones ride at Disneyland, only more intense and real.  We would careen up to the top of the dunes, and then there was the moment where it looked like you were about to drop of the edge of a cliff before you went rocketing down the other side!  After about 15 minutes of the dune buggy, we stopped to sandboard.  There are two ways to sandboard, one is like snow boarding and the other, which is way more fun, is to sled down on your belly.  What an experience!

The Miradors

The next day we left Ica headed in a less touristy bus to Nazca.  Nazca is famous for huge 2000 year old lines which depict things like monkeys, cranes, and the ancient royal families.  They have lasted so long because the climate is so dry and also because they are magnetic, which helps to keep the sand and dust off of them. When we arrived in Nazca we came to our hostel, which was called Hospedaje Brabant.  It was a nice hostel with a terrace on the roof, but the cool surprise was that the owners are Christians.  When I walked in the door, I heard praise music in Spanish, and asked one of the women there about it.  She then told me that they were Christians and that have a small Bible study (church) in their homes every Saturday night and invited me to come that evening.  I was so stoked.  It is amazing how God brings people to encourage you in places and in ways that you never expect.  I love it how fellowship with brothers and sisters in Christ is so strong no matter where you go.  There is a special connection that you feel when you come in contact with another believer that makes you feel at home, even when those brothers and sister live a continent away from you and are people you have never met.    I can't express how blessed I felt to be able to join them for that Bible study that night.

This picture was taken of the view outside our front
 windshield during the sand storm

The following day my group woke up and went to the local street side market before we went out to view the lines on the desert floor.  It was another experience that I have never had before.  The street was lined with vendors selling just about everything from crabs that are still moving in their boxes, to full chickens lined up on tables, to mounds of fresh fruit.  I have been to third world countries before, but had never gotten the chance to see something like that.  After the market we decided to use the miradors to view the Nazca lines.  A mirador is a tower that is several stories tall, that was built to allow people to view the lines (because you can only see the lines when you are above them).  I was able to get some pictures from the first mirador we went to, but then after that a sand storm hit and I didn't want to damage my camera.  The sand storm, while unfortunate for the purpose of viewing the lines, was actually pretty cool.  The desert floor around us  whited out, or I should say tanned out.  You could only see 10 to 20 yards ahead of you, and the wind was also super strong.  If you jumped straight up, it would push you backwards!  In the middle of the sand storm, we took refuge in a museum dedicated to the lines.  It  talked some about the history of the lines and the story of how they were preserved, but the most interesting part was a mummy that they had on display.  The mummy was over 2000 years old and still had hair, skin and its tattoos.    Talk about tattoos lasting forever!  That night (Sunday) we boarded the bus and made the long trip back to Lima where we arrived just after midnight.  We loved the sun, the blue sky, and fresh air, but we were ready to be back in our own beds.

The next day we all had to get up early (the late night made this hard, but we struggled through it)  for matriculation.  I got all the classes I was hoping for, but the process was long and a little inefficient.
The last week has been amazing, but to give my self some time to recuperate, I staying in Lima this weekend.  Tomorrow is the festival of Santa Rosa of Lima.  I am interested to see what that is all about.  I will try to give my next update in the next couple of days.  My goal is to do at least 2 a week.