As many of you are aware, there is a lot to see and do in Peru and many of these activities include walking long distances. I love hiking but I also actually really hate it. From hiking trails in the Colca Canyon to trekking the Inca Trail to Machu Pichhu, it would be easy to think that you need to be an avid hiker to really enjoy your time there. But there is so much more! Here is a list of my Top 3 activities that do not include trekking:
1. Sand-boarding/Dune-buggying in Huacachina
Damn, I loved this. It was honestly one of my favourite experiences in Peru! It was fun from start to finish.
You arrive in this beautiful Oasis called Huacachina (which btw looks so out of place in the desert) where you would meet your tour guide.
You jump into a 4-wheel-drive dune buggy driven by a professional driver and they take you up and down the dunes at fast speeds. It is exhilarating beyond belief! and that is just the first half of the tour! It is literally suitable for anyone, the whole family can enjoy this!
Top Tip: I definitely recommend where sunglasses to protect your eyes from the sun but also from the sand.
The second half of the tour is sand-boarding. If you can snowboard, this would be a breeze for you to learn! Unfortunately, I've tried snowboarding once and was terrible at it! But that was all good because you can go down on the board another way: just lay on your stomach on the board, and go “sand sledding”. It was awesome and you can go so fast with any training or patience - so great for me!
For more information on where to book this visit: https://www.huacachina.com/sandboarding-dunebuggy/
2. Plane ride over the Nazca Lines
If you don't know what the Nazca Lines are, here is a short decription:
The Nazca Lines are in southern Peru. They are a group of geoglyphs etched into desert sands. Covering an area of nearly 1,000 sq. kilometers, there are about 300 different figures, including animals and plants. Composed of over 10,000 lines, some of which measure 30 meters wide and stretch more than 9 kilometers, the figures are most visible from the air or nearby hilltops. Anthropologists believe the Nazca culture, which began around 100 B.C. and flourished from A.D. 1 to 700, created the majority of the Nazca Lines. Which is insane...
I would definitely recommend taking a flight over these line, they are incredible to see and worth looking at from above.
The pilots give you a constant running commentary of what you are seeing and some amazing historic facts about the line.
Top Tip: Take some nausea medicine before the fight! It can get very bumpy and I personally get motion sickness, so the tablets were really helpful. Some of the girls in my group didn't enjoy themselves because they felt sick the whole time.
You only get 30 mins and they fly over about 15 different shapes. It is hard to take good photos, unless you are VERY quick with your camera (I was not)! One of the only good photos I got was of the astronaut.
Our tour was with Aero Nasca and I would definitely recommend them: https://www.aeronasca.com/en/
3. Zip-lining in the Sacred Valley
Unfortunately, this is not something I have photos of as I'd broken my camera the day before and I didn't want to take my phone on the zipline. But this was worthwhile activity. The mixture of exhilaration of ziplining and the beautiful views of the valley, truly make for an unforgettable experience.
The company picks you up from your hostel/hotel in Cusco and drives you to the Valley. You start with a short walk to the first zipline (takes about 5mins). There were 5 ziplines, each progressively faster/longer. They teach you tricks and different poses you can do on the zipline and how to go the fastest.
Unfortunately, I forgot to make note of the company that we used for this trip. But there are multiple tour guides in Cusco that can help you.
photo from Peru tour Operators
So there you have it, my top 3 activities that don't include hiking! I hope you found this helpful. Let me know if there are any activities you want to do/have done in Peru that should have been included in this list!
Stay safe out there!
Love from,
Kesvi
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