DESERT ADVENTURES IN PERU

Program: 5 days / 4 nights

Day 1º: Bus ride to Nazca

At the designated time, you will be picked up from your hotel in Lima, then transferred to the bus station to take a tourist service bus to the city of Nazca (6 hours aprox). Upon arrival you will be met by a representative from our travel agency and then transferred to the designated hotel in Nazca. Evening at leisure.

Day 2º: Trek and Camping on Cerro Blanco

Morning free for you to relax next to the pool of your hotel. In the afternoon, at around 2:30 pm, you will be pick up by our local guide and then we will start our tour to Cerro Blanco. We will drive you up towards the western slopes of the Andes for about 30 minutes. Eventually our bus will drop us off at the Km 28, the point where we will start our hike. We will follow a trail that makes the conquest of this huge dune much easier. The hike is gentle at the beginning, and it gets a little rough once we reach the sandy slopes. It takes about 3 hours to get to the top.
On the way we will be able to see unique sceneries of the Andes as well as whimsical dune formations all over the place. After some group photos, our staff will pitch the tents and we will sit right on the top to observe the sunset.
A talk about Andean Worshiping will be given by our local guide, followed by a sky watching, as the sky at that altitude used to be very clear. (If tourists wish to talk about the Nasca Lines, we might also give a lecture about it). Finally we camp under the starry night.

Day 3º: Sandboarding on Cerro Blanco - Afternoon free

We will wake up early in the morning to observe a magnificent sunrise over the Andes. Afterwards we will have breakfast at the campsite, and soon after we finish, we will grab our boards and will get ready to surf down this enormous dune. Previously, we will learn some safety techniques so that you can enjoy your ride safely. We will start to practice on the many little dunes that are at the top, so once we have practiced enough, we will jump off. The length of this slope is about 1 kilometer, so a lot of fun should be expected. In case you have not much skill with boards, our instructor will assist you and teach you how to do it.
Once we have landed at the shore of Cerro Blanco, we will have to walk downhill for about 30 minutes, until a point, where our transfer back to town will pick us up. Rest of the day free for you to relax with a cold beer next to the pool of the hotel. Overnight in Nazca.

Day 4º: San Fernando Natural Reserve

Our excursion to the Marine Reserve of San Fernando begins around 8:00 am. You will be collected from your hotel by our local guide and staff. Our staff is made up by a bilingual tour guide, expert on this marine zone and a professional driver, who will conduct our 4x4 wheel machine. After we have introduced ourselves to each other properly, we will drive to the south of Nazca, following the Pan-American Highway, until we reach the detour to San Fernando, a dirt road that will take us deep into the desert. From this point we will have to drive down hill towards the Pacific Ocean, following a sandy road, throughout one of the driest deserts on earth. Along the way, we will see dunes formations and with a little luck, it is very likely, that we find the Guanacos (South American member of the camel family), roaming the desert in search of tiny cactus prickle pears. Eventually we will start to see the blue Pacific in the distance, and little by little will descend till its virgin shores. At the reserve our guide will take us for a nice walk to the place known as "The Condor Platform", from where it is very easy to see the Condors flying over in search of carcasses. In addition to this enormous bird, we will also spot pelicans, seagulls, Peruvian boobies, Inca terns, Humboldt Penguins and many sea lions resting on the shores.
Later on we will visit a nice beach, where we will have lunch and also swim in the waters of the Pacific. By the afternoon, we will explore some other beaches and around 4:00 pm, we will drive back to Nazca. Overnight at the designated hotel in Nazca.

Day 5º: Flight over the Nazca Lines & Chauchilla Cemetery

Soon after breakfast, you will be transferred to the airport, where you will take a small plane to fly over the mysterious Nazca Lines. Our aircraft will fly over a bizarre desert, where hundreds of years ago ancient Peruvians drew huge designs, which can be seen only from the air. Among the figures you will see an enormous representation of a monkey, a hummingbird, a condor, and a strange creature known as the Spaceman. The flight lasts about 35 minutes. Afterwards, we will visit a pre-Inca graveyard known as Chauchilla. For many years this pre Inca cemetery was looted by treasure hunters, who destroyed the place completely, taking away all the treasures the mummies kept in their tombs for centuries. Grave robbers just left behind the corpses, which can be seen today all over the ground. In addition to skulls and bones, you also will see several tombs centuries’ old, as well as long human hairs, ceramic fragments and others remains scattered on the dessert surface.
In the afternoon, at around 2:00 pm, you will be transferred to the bus to take the bus back to Lima. End of our service.

Note: In case you are heading south towards the city of Arequipa or Cusco afterwards, just let us know in advance so that we may arrange your bus ticket for any of those destinations.

 

Daily departures from Lima: 12: 00 PM

Additional information:

• Confirmation of the excursion will be received at time of booking.
• All tours are operated in English unless otherwise stated.
• All your personal information is required at the moment of your booking.

Travel voucher:

• For every confirmed booking you will be required to print a voucher for presentation at our office in Lima.
• You will receive an electronic voucher via e-mail once your booking is confirmed.

Local Operator Information:

• We will send you a complete operator information, including phone numbers at your destination in Lima.
• Our Managers select only the most experienced and reliable operators in each destination, removing the guesswork for you, and ensuring your peace of mind

Accommodation in Lima: