Visiting the sand dunes is one of my most favorite memories from my trip to Peru. We weren’t supposed to go to the sand dunes that day. It wasn't planned. I know, at least for me, that I was a little disappointed, actually. Sand dunes sounded boring, especially if we didn't even get to sand board.
We were on the road, in a taxi, on our way. We entered through a normal-looking building without any expectations. What does a sand dune really look like? We were all kids from Massachusetts. The only sand dunes in Mass are at the beach, and they aren't much of a spectacle. None of us knew what to expect. We walked down a deck on the back of the building, and to our right we saw a wall of sand. We began our trek up. Imagine climbing a steep hill made of sand.
The sand was like fluid under our feet. As we walked up, the sand would dissipate left and right as our feet sank down and in. Some parts of the dune were narrow (as in the picture below), some were not. It was a challenge to keep your feet from falling to the sides. In my journal, I wrote: "The sand was so soft, and when it fell down the side of the dunes it looked like a slow waterfall."
When we overcame the wall of sand, this is what we saw:
We saw people sand boarding below us. Do you see those three little figures in the picture? I wrote in my journal about seeing a girl on the dunes, "There was a small girl on the sand dune, she looked like a doll. I kept thinking of how she will remember her childhood, and how much strength she must have." Experiences are a totally variable aspect of life, not everyone can grow up living in a hot climate, or grow up where it snows 10-plus inches per year. However, these experiences are necessary and irreplaceable. For this young girl, no matter where she goes I'm sure she will always remember the novelty of the sand dunes that she grew up with.
Amid the sand dunes, there were also a few oases (such as the one in the picture below) and there were also collections of houses where people lived (see cover photo). I couldn't imagine how these people lived there. The village in the cover photo is called Huacachina. How did they get groceries or even building material, for that matter? Imagine living in such a place where you are surrounded by sand dunes.
The views were awe-inspiring. The moods were too. We were all on top of the world, literally and figuratively. This was so refreshing. As a trek team we had had our share of disputes earlier that day. But not anymore, not on the dune. It was a beautiful day. We spent our time rolling down the dunes, sand flying around us. We jumped off of the dunes as if we were landing in a pool, knowing the sand would be there to catch our fall. We enjoyed just sitting and talking, made a pyramid, and watched the sunset. It was as if we left all of our stresses at the bottom of the dune.
If you ever have the chance, I strongly encourage you to travel. It is a beautiful experience that will really put the vastness of the world you live in into perspective.
