Huacachina oasis, sandboarding, and Peru's pisco heartland
Ica is a sun-blasted desert city in Peru's south coast, redeemed entirely by what surrounds it: the Huacachina oasis — a natural lagoon fringed with palms at the foot of 100m sand dunes — is one of the most photogenic places in South America and one of the world's last natural desert oases. The nearby dunes are among the highest in the world for sandboarding and dune buggy rides. Ica is also the birthplace of pisco, Peru's brandy-like grape spirit, and the surrounding valleys hold dozens of pisco bodegas open for tours.
The area around Ica was home to the Paracas culture (800 BC–AD 200) and later the Ica culture, which produced finely painted ceramics depicting their mythology. The Spanish established the city in 1563 as Villa de Valverde de Ica; its wine and grape-brandy industry dates to the 16th century, when missionaries planted the first vines. The Peruvian pisco vs. Chilean pisco dispute (both claim the name) hinges partly on Ica: the Hacienda La Caravedo in Ica claims to be the oldest pisco distillery in the Americas (est. 1684). The 2007 earthquake killed 519 people and destroyed most of the old city…