ICA - Desert, Buggy and a Pisco (or five)

Ica, an oasis in the desert with water and trees. Only desert beyond that.

Accommodation

We booked a room for one night (16 Euro) spontaneously on Airbnb. Conveniently, Marco was also a guide and we were able to book a tour for the next day quite uncomplicatedly. After the tour, we wanted to leave already, which is why Marco adjusted his program in time and drove us to the terminal afterwards. Our options at his agency were the following:

📌 Full day ICA: 59 Soles per person

🚙 We pick you up between 11:00 am from your accommodation or the ICA terminal. or 12:00 PM. to begin the city tour to the vineyards. Free Pisco and wine tasting (2 vineyards (Nietto and Cultur Pisco) + Cachiche witch park + 7-headed palms. We end at around 3:00 pm.
👀 We have taken you to a country restaurant, where they sell typical dishes from Ica and so on! We give you 1 hour of lunch. (Food not included)
✅ Then at 3:30 pm. We drive to Huacachina. The duration is 1 hour. Buggy ride + Sandboarding from 5:00 pm. to 6:00 pm. You can watch the sunset in the dunes of the Huacachina lagoon. At around 6:15 pm, we return to your accommodation.

📌 Tour 01: 35 Soles per person

💥 Buggies / Tubulars + Sandboarding in the Huacachina lagoon 🏜

📌 Tour 02: 25 Soles per person

💥 City tour to the best vineyards of Ica (Nietto and Catador)
🍷🍾 Pisco and wine tasting + Visit to the Cachiche witch park + Visit to the 7-headed palm

📌 Tour 03: 75 Soles per person

💥 Tour to the Ballestas Islands and the Paracas National Reserve 🏖️🏝️

📌 Tour 04: 95 $ per person

💥 Flight over the Nazca Lines. ✈️🌅

📌 Tour 05: 75 Soles per person

💥 CANYON OF THE LOST

📌 Tour 06: 120 Soles per person

🏝️ The tour through Yakupark (inflatable juices on the beach) lasts 45 minutes

📌 Tour 07: 145 Soles per person

🐪🐫 Dromedary (Camel) ride, The walking time is 10 minutes, including round trip by car. Entry and clothing included. Our plan was actually to only visit the two estates "Bodega Lazo" and "Bodega Tacama" which were listed as free in the travel guide. According to Marco, taxi rides to these places would cost between 35 and 40 Soles; apparently there's also a "entrance fee" to Tacama (35 Soles). We didn't really feel like visiting the Witch Park or the seven-headed palm tree; so we asked how much everything would cost without these two program points. The cost: 50 Soles. In the end, we decided to go on the "Fullday ICA" tour and arrived at the terminal on time. Online departures were wrong and there were more bus connections available than ours. That was very unfortunate. And as a spoiler, we missed the bus from Lima to Huaraz because the bus was 20 minutes late and it would've been fully booked due to the "Semana Santa" (=Easter week) anyway. Such bad luck. Several buggies lined up in the desert.

Attractions

Our tour began with the Witch Park. Here, one of the women explained the different figures and witches to us for a tip. They also offered tarot readings and stuff. At the seven-headed palm tree, Marco also told us a little anecdote: if one of the heads is cut off, a disaster will befall the city... Now comes the really important part of the day: wine and pisco tastings! <3 At Nietto, we (like many other travel groups) got a tightly scheduled tour and a tasting of about six different alcohols with toasts. As the chosen one of the four-member group, I had to demonstrate how to "properly" drink Pisco: smell it, swirl it around, try it, rotate it twice in the mouth, swallow, breathe out and finally smile ;) The first time I forgot the obligatory "¡Salud!" at the beginning, so I had to repeat the procedure - and because one is not supposed to watch others while they drink (I did everything right the second time), I got a third Pisco right after ;) Our group leader was really nice and we left a small tip. The plan was actually to go to "Cultur Pisco" next. But since I asked Marco about the "Lazo" winery, we went there instead. Here everything was much less touristy and the employees were waiting for customers. It's really kind of sad. One place has entertainment with a microphone and various group leaders, and the other one is dead. Here we also got a small, more personal tour in the small (somewhat musty) museum and tasted about seven different alcohols afterwards. Afterwards, we went to "Cultur Pisco" for lunch. We opted for one of the few vegetarian dishes "Papa a la Huacaina" and got pretty tippled. A bar in Ica under a semi-open sky. With a dose of alcohol and food, we continued with beach buggy riding. First a brief walk up, and then into the buggy. As the ten seats were filled, off we went. And at what speed! "Fast and Furious" is nothing by comparison, I can tell you. Halfway there, we stopped to take photos and go sandboarding. First on our bottoms, then on our stomachs. Sadly, despite our scant days on the slopes, we still didn't have the skills for real "sandboarding".

Transportation

We walked to the "Caja Arequipa" bank ATM, and otherwise Marco drove us around.

Food and drink

In addition to the food at "Cultur Pisco", we filled ourselves with a giant portion of Chaufa and cookies from the supermarket.

Cafes and Restaurants

Cultur Pisco and Chifa Kam Long

Plants and animals

Of course, the seven-headed palm tree!

Count of Germans in the city

No observable cases. The two Germans, Anja and Nina, in a Beach Buggy.

Contact with locals

With Marco and our two nice companions on the tour.

People we met

We started a conversation with a young couple from Lima (who were also on the tour with us) at lunch.

Expenses

118 Soles for the tour (44 Euro)
Pisco as a gift for the family (from Nietto)
Wine for both of us (from Nietto: Gran Rose)
Wine for the family (from Lazo: Vino Afrotado or Vino Borgoña, not sure anymore)

Unsolved mysteries

How can this palm tree continue to grow underground? The desert in Ica under lightly clouded skies, but still great weather.

Bus to Lima

Our original plan was to go to Lima first and then continue to Huaraz. This would have worked if Flores

had set its departure times online correctly or
hadn't been 20 minutes late. So we first went to Lima and took a taxi to MovilBus there. Here, there is not a uniform bus terminal. At MovilBus, Pascal was already waiting for us (we had forgotten something in his backpack) and it became clear: we are not going to the Andes today. So we bought the ticket for the next day (55 Soles per person). We snuggled up in Pascal's bed (paid 30 Soles for the "extra occupancy") and took the bus at 7:05 am the next day. With the taxi from Yango we started at 5:18 am to the terminal. There was also a small café in the waiting hall - but unfortunately, it was closed at that time. At the "Hotel El Tambo del Chasqui" we ate "Papa a la Huacaina" one more time. For 10 Soles, this was the only vegetarian dish. We also bought a very tasty pineapple (5 Soles or 1.25 Euros) and saw the "Laguna Conococha" from the bus. In the afternoon, we finally arrived and had stress with the accommodation and no internet. But that's a different story. Look forward to the next blog article! :D

Post Scriptum

A few pictures from that day can be found at https://hoenisch.eu/photo/mo/sharing/5j6Muh4eW