Huacachina (Peru)

Huacachina (Peru)

Shimmering beneath the scorching sun of the Peruvian desert is an extraordinary sight – a tiny settlement, complete with lagoon, lush palm groves, carob trees, cafes, neatly clipped lawns, 100-strong population and even the odd swimming pool.
For thousands of years, Huaca china, otherwise known as the ‘oasis of Americas’ – there is only one – has been a beacon of green, hidden deep amid hundreds of miles of barren desert.
Huaca china serves as a resort for local families from the nearby city of Ica, and increasingly as an attraction for tourists drawn by the sport of sand boarding on sand dunes that stretch several hundred feet high.