One Gal, One Backpack, and an Open Mind: 'You pay 25 sols or no backpack'...

Finishing my story... I had just returned from Ballestas Island on Sunday. A wonderful start to the day and nothing but great visions of beautiful scenery and sand-boarding ran through my mind as I boarded the 15 passenger van for Huacachina. I sat next to a girl from France. She said she had to get back to Lima that evening but was unable to get a bus because of the election (it is a mandatory vote in Peru and there are severe consequences for those that do not vote). Therefore, there were many people scurrying from district to district to vote. She said the driver said he would drop her on the highway and someone would pick her up. Sounded a bit freightening to me, but we pulled over and the driver waited 30 minutes with her flagging every bus that went by until a bus that had a spare seat finally stopped. I have been more than impressed by how people go above and beyond to help in Peru. If you are still following this story you can rest assured it gets much better.

So, I arrived in Huacachina at noon on Sunday. I thought I would arrive and head straight into the dessert with my English speaking guide. I was wrong. They set up my reservation for 4 p.m. My 'English speaking guide' Patricia arrived and said 'this is Huacachina, you have 4 hours until your ride, get lunch or whatever, I have to go back to Ica to meet a group.' So, as quick as I could say 'mucho gusto' she was gone. I hiked up the tallest sand dune and thought I was going to collapse-imagine hiking a very tall mountain in thick sand!!!! It was a beautiful view. I could see the entire town of Huacachina. I got some lunch and stuck my feet in the oasis. Met some cute kids there from Arequipa. They were learning some English in school and were excited to show me that they could count to 15. They motioned for their mom to come down and introduced me to her. Brien said 'this is Jennifer, she is American!' He was so excited, he wanted his mom to take his photo with me and his sister! The mother also wanted her photo taken with me. The Peruvian children (and adults) seem to be very excited to interact with people from the U.S.
I met at 4 p.m. at the restaurant as I was instructed. There was a large group also heading into the dessert, only they were there to stay for awhile. There was a man loading all of the bags into one of the dune buggies. He grabbed mine, and, assuming this is what everyone did, I did not resist. When I realized I was going in a different buggy than the one my bag was in, I asked if they were certain I would get it as I had a close connection with the bus back to Lima (we were to arrive at 6 p.m my bus departed at 6:30). 'don't worry, don't worry.' I think I have heard this phrase before... I even went as far as asking the only guy that spoke some broken English to ask the driver if it was OK that my bag was in a different buggy. He replied, that is what we do. I felt reassured. The dune buggy driver was crazy (loco as they call it in Spanish). He had a look on his face as he was driving that I will never forget! It was not a look of oh this is so fun, it was a very intense stare, with a tight grip on the wheel and his head forward. He was going so fast that we were catching air over the sand dunes. I remember one very vividly. He stepped on the gas, we went over a small dune, then over a small lip-he did not slow down at all; I looked down and there was a huge drop off (some of the sand dunes are 300 ft). It was like the Dukes of Hazard. We caught air and landed on a dune on the other side. Everyone was a bit shocked, then a few nervous laughs came out. I think we were all a bit relieved when he stopped and we got to go sand-boarding. This was great fun-some went on their stomachs, some stood. I tried both ways and it was awesome! It was much faster than snow, which I appreciated. I was amazed at how similar it was to snow boarding. The runs were very long and the only differences were that you had to take a dune buggy instead of a lift and it was sand instead of snow. We stopped 5 or 6 times to board, watched the sun set and after 2 hours, returned to town.

The town of Huacachina-population 115

Brien and Dianna

Sand-boarders on the steeps

The locals going for a Sunday row.

Although it was a fun day, I was ready to head back to Lima, where my surroundings have become familiar. We arrived at 6:00. Perfect timing, I thought. My cab driver was there ready to drive me to the bus station. Only one problem. My bag was not there. I asked the driver where it was he replied 'poccito ingis' another familiar phrase! I ran ahead a bit and asked the man that knew a little English if he could help me ask where my bag was. The driver said it must be in the garage. She he motioned for me to get in the buggy. I searched 4 buggies and no bag. It was 6:10. I tried to tell him not to worry about the bag, I would leave it behind so I could catch the last bus for the evening to Lima. One more problem. My bus ticket was in my bag. I couldn't go anywhere without it. The guy that spoke some English could sense the frustration and stayed to translate since time was running low. He again, told them the driver put my bag in the buggy with the large group. It finally clicked and the buggy driver said 'your bag is in the middle of the dessert.' All the drivers were talking and I had no clue what they were saying. The one phrase I did pick up was no sols, no backpack. They wanted money for gas before going to the dessert to get my bag, even though they repeatedly said 'no worry'. He wanted 25 sols-I had only 20 on me (10 for each cab needed to get home). Guess where the rest was. Yup, in my bag (although I was smart enough to not keep much in there.) The man that spoke some English was nice enough to come the second time the man motioned for me to come in the buggy. I thought we were going back to the restaurant where we congregated to board the buggies. Instead, he stepped on the gas (on the dirt road at this point) swerved to miss 3 dogs in the middle of the road, honked the horn to alert the children in the road to get out of the way (they jumped in the ditch to avoid getting hit) and took off in the pitch black into the middle of the dessert. I have done a few crazy things in life, but I can honestly say, I have NEVER been so scared! I frantically tried to get my seatbelt on but it was jammed. The guy that was nice enough to join me could not get him on either because of the speed and rocking from the dunes. I heard him say a quick prayer under his breath. Sand was flying in our eyes, we began getting air off of the dunes, and our stomachs felt as though we had just gone down the worlds steepest roller coaster-the excitement that we once felt during the day had vanished. We were both scared. 20 minutes later, we arrived to find a large group of folks sitting by a campfire. My bag was in the middle. I ran as fast as I could, grabbed the bag, and yelled gracias as I ran back to the buggy. Looked at my watch, 6:25. I was certain I had missed my bus. Got down, cab driver was still waiting. He said 'rapido' and did not seem to worry about going 90 mph on a residential street to get me to the bus station. I ran from the cab to the bus station as it was pulling away. I motioned for it to stop and was very thankful they let me on. Overall, I would say it was worth it.