When my friend suggested that we could go sandboarding in the Huacachina oasis of Peru, my first thoughts were: “Peru has sand dunes?”

Before my trip this April, I thought I could count the popular Peruvian highlights on one hand: 1–Andes, 2–Machu Picchu, 3-Amazon, 4-guinea pig and 5-Nazca lines. Since I was already going to experience the first three, not interested in the fourth (note for non-regular readers: I am vegetarian) and couldn’t afford the fifth, I decided to give the lesser-known Peruvian desert a chance. Not to mention, after last year’s embarrassment royale during volcano boarding in Nicaragua, I wanted to prove to myself that I had become better at standing and sitting on planks.

“Sandboarding sounds amazing!” I told my best friend who was living in Peru for a year (read about her Peruvian adventures here). While I was discovering the mystical land of the Incas and realizing that couldn’t be more inaccurate in thinking that Peru only had a handful of major attractions, my friend organized our sandboarding adventure in Huacachina. Continue reading →