Endless fun in the sand dunes of Huacachina

After the adventurous flight over the famous Nazca Lines, we headed to Huacachina, a small village built up around a natural oasis in the middle of the desert.

The village is home to just 100 year-round inhabitants, but sees thousands of tourists every year because of its unique location and the sand dune tours that the hotels and hostels provide. We stayed at Banana’s Adventures Hostel, which is the most luxurious hostel I’ve ever stayed at. For just 150 DKK each per night, we got a bed in a four-bed room with breakfast included + a free sand buggy and sand boarding tour. On top of that, the food at the hostel was extremely cheap and delicious with many vegan options.

We arrived at the hostel in the afternoon and headed straight for our tour to the surrounding sand dunes. For the next hour, we had the time of our lives driving fast around the sand dunes in the buggy, getting a huge shock every now and then when the driver drove fast down a huge dune! It was nerve-wracking and extremely fun!

Halfway through the tour, our driver stopped to teach us how to sand board while laying down, sitting down and standing up on the board. We went down several small dunes, before taking our skills to the test on a big dune. We all chose to lay down on the board head first, which gave an extremely thrilling experience, although it was a liiiittle painful with scraped knees. It was worth it though!

The driver dropped us off right above the oasis, where we watched the sun set over the sand dunes before making our way back to the hostel for an evening of great food, drinks and chatter. I had doritos with guacamole and vegan risotto, which was my best meal in Peru!

All in all, the afternoon spent in and around Huacachina was absolutely awesome and I didn’t want to leave the place the next morning. If I ever get the chance to come back, I could easily spend a week there – mostly for the amazing food!