Huacachina Village Peru

Huacachina village is located in the desert of southwestern Peru. Actually it’s a small oasis with the modest population of hundred or so permanent resident, in fact called secluded village, can be found 8 kilometer from the city of Ica, the region’s capital. This is extremely small town, and visitors can walk from one end to another within a few minutes. Huacachina is a famous tourist place featuring lot of activities such as sandboarding and dune buggy rides on the surrounding sand dunes that can stretch many hundred feet high. Typically most deserts, temperature is quite hot, sunny and dry with very little rain. Well, May to August (winter time in that region) is consider high season for Huacachina. You can find plenty of travel information at Huacachina.com. Private landowners near the oasis have set up wells to access the groundwater, drastically decreasing the level of water in the oasis. Dropping water levels are mainly due to evaporation, which upsurges when Ica temperatures rise during the summer. But to meet the dropping water levels, it is artificially pumped in. The village is developed in 1940’s and 1950’s, as a gateway for the Peruvian elite regained a certain prominence via tourism promotion campaigns in the early 1990’s. These days it is backpacker’s heaven and top destination for sandboarding and dunebuggy rides. Even village picturesque is even featured on the back of the 50 Nuevo Sol note (Peru’s official currency). The local residents say; the lagoon was shaped when an inquisitive young hunter disturbed an attractive native princess while she was bathing. She fled, leaving the pool of water behind which became the lagoon. In spite of the nightlife noise and the surfeit of banana pancake cafes, the spot remains a sublime place to spend a day or three, and a dead cert to enhance your dune climbing skills. You can view the sunset from the rim of the dunes with stunning colors, however, can walk up for the sunrise but be careful as no marked paths for walking up.

Via Charismatic Planet 

Gocta or Catarata del Gocta Waterfalls Peru

Gocta  or in Spanish called Catarata del Gocta is a perpetual waterfall with two drops located in Peru's province of Chachapoyas in Amazonas, about 700 KM to the northeast of Lima. Gocta Falls flows into the Cocahuayco River. Gocta waterfalls at a height it is the tallest waterfall in Peru, and among the 14 tallest waterfalls in the world. Unfortunately it wasn't flowing much due to it being the dry season, but it was an impressive sight none the less. Sitting at the bottom of the falls, surrounded by a shear rocky amphitheatre watching the transparent falling water disintegrate in the wind was a nice reward after a sweaty hike from the entrance. However; the waterfall had been well known to locals for centuries. This is world’s one of most beautiful waterfall, which is not well aware by locals, until an expedition made in 2005 by a German, Stefan Ziemendorff, with a group of Peruvian explorers. Tourists can now hike the trails by foot or horse to the misty base of the waterfall. The nearby town of Chachapoyas is located at an altitude of 7657 ft. The Gocta waterfall is at a slightly higher altitude and thus clouds can be seen to occasionally eclipse part of the view.

Pre-Inca Salt Pools at Maras Peru