My Fodor's guide describes this place as a lagoon with "jade colored waters" and a "breathtaking view". Either Fodor et al was mistaken, or else they haven't been to Huacachina in a long time. The water was smelly and dirty, and the lagoon full of trash. Apparently the lagoon is drying up. Friends told me that indeed it used to be a paradise, but to see it now is sad. The view was breathtaking. Imagine the largest sand dunes in South America, stretching for miles, and suddenly a lagoon with palm trees in the midst of it. The big tourist attraction here (water being unswimmable to all but the bravest of locals) is dune surfing. Another odd tidbit is the amazing similiarity of the surrouding terrain to that of the Middle East, or at least so I am told, having never been there myself. King Mohammed IV of Moracco, during a visit in 2003, was delighted witht the likeness of this region of Peru and sent 20 camels as a gift. Fodor's guide says that these creatures and their offspring can be seen at Huacachina, but my companions told me that they are all dead. Apparently Peruvians didn't heed the advice of the camel caretakers to give them a strict diet of (I don't know, dates? Palm leaves? What do camels eat?) and fed them ice cream, french fries and maracuya. Promptly, the camels died. I was disappointed to hear this, as I have yet to see an interesting animal in Peru, aside from the hairless dogs. My classmate Anna, currently in Dubai for her field placement, mentions daily encounters with camels. I haven't seen a single llama! I take some comfort in learning that llamas, and their cousins alpaca, vicuna, and guanacos, are members of the camelid family. In fact, the camelid family originated in the Americas. So there, King Mohammed!
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