Dune Buggies in Paracas, Peru (and more sand boarding)

Excursions are one of the most memorable things about traveling. Each area is unique and offers a host of fun and exciting activities. In Paracas, one of the best excursions is to rent a dune buggy and sand boards. At just 85 soles per person ($30), it's a cheap 2 hour thrill. We took ours at sunset. The driver picked us up on the main drag. Unlike other rides in Peru, we were informed we'd need to buckle up. The 5 of us passengers piled into the 10 seat rig as the driver revved the engine and tore off down the street. We criss-crossed sandy backroads until we arrived at something that felt like a national park of sand dunes. The guerra, two month grey blanket in the sky, cast a shadow over our excursion, but we were happy to be out in the wild, tearing around sandy corners and whooping as the buggy caught air on the hills. We had no idea what to expect, whether each jump would be a huge thrill or a let down. It felt like being on a giant roller coaster, one that hops off the rails and catches air. My two-shouldered seat belt was too large and didn't have an ability to adjust, so I was left holding on for dear life as we smashed down after the jumps. My forearms were sore from holding tightly to the straps.... and to be honest, I might be getting old because my neck and back felt sore for a few days afterward (or it might have been that the shocks and leafsprings were shot... either way).

After about 30-40 minutes of tearing up the sand, we stopped at the top of a hill and the driver pulled out the sand boards from the back. I was thrilled that we had been able to drive to the top of the hill, rather than hike up it, but I still had a freshly peeled blister on the back of my foot from our last 6 hour hike in the dunes, so when the driver offered me a board, in Spanglish, I informed him that my ankle had pain and sadly I'd be opting out of this round. He told me I should do it anyway. I waited until everyone else had whooped down the hill and decided I just couldn't sit out on the fun, so I velcro'ed up and did it anyway. It was just as exciting as when we did it in Nazca. I like sand-boarding. It's like snow boarding, only slower, and you have to hike back up (there's no lift), but these boards were professional, slick, and had better bindings, so it was a smooth operation. Everyone had a blast.

Posted with Blogsy