Ok, I know it seems like its been years. It was long. About 2 months since our last entry. Many reasons, many excuses. But the main one being laziness of course. Sorry. But we're Back and ready to tell all. So here it goes...
We jumped on the "Flores Bus" (our company of choice, cheap) down to Ica. As you may not be be aware, Ica and the surrounding area was devasted by the earthquake just about a month before. So while most of the structures had little damage done upon them, there was still much rubble on the streets sweeped up in giant piles by the curbs, lots of dust in the air, people walking around with those little white masks over the nose and mouth and tents set up along the highways to house the newly homeless. It sucks. Unlike in the land of the free, there's no disaster relief. Not even bad relief that comes weeks later. People are just stranded, left to survive and make their way again. But most don't cry and dwell on their misfortune. In the morning, they get up and try to go out to support the family. Its a rough life.
It left a guilty feeling about being here on vacation. But in a way, we were helping by just being here, buying fruit and chicken and a bottle of the local wine (which was not very good by the way, not a big fan of sweet wine) and of course, we came here for the dunes. Our place was in a little oasis, Huacachina. Litterally an oasis set in the midst of giant sand dunes with a lake in the middle of it. I can't make this stuff up. Peru's diversity is so incredible with the Amazon jungle, towering mountains, beaches, ancient ruins, and now this... sand dunes. Wow! We relaxed by the pool with our attention seeking women. Can't live without them.
The mornings began with either mom or Rich knocking on our door and waking us up. So everyday, we were forced to wake up at like 8 or 9 am. Can you believe it? After quick showers, we would walk to our breakfast spot and fill up on fruit, eggs, pancakes and coffee and converstion, jokes and laughter. Beautiful! And on our 2nd day, we set off on the buggy. The dune buggy that is. The awesome thing about the parents is that they still get down and sandy. Without hesitation, mom and Rich jumped on the boards and flew down the dunes.
The mornings began with either mom or Rich knocking on our door and waking us up. So everyday, we were forced to wake up at like 8 or 9 am. Can you believe it? After quick showers, we would walk to our breakfast spot and fill up on fruit, eggs, pancakes and coffee and converstion, jokes and laughter. Beautiful! And on our 2nd day, we set off on the buggy. The dune buggy that is. The awesome thing about the parents is that they still get down and sandy. Without hesitation, mom and Rich jumped on the boards and flew down the dunes.
Life is beautiful! in so many ways...
It was 2 hours of fun, being thrown from side to side in the buggy as we climbed and jumped dunes, sand boarded them, tumbled down them, and then with sand stuck within our cavities, we laughed and then tumbled some more.
Our time there was short. So that same day, we packed our stuff and went to the bus station for our 8 pm overnight bus to Arequipa. OK, what a surprise, the bus was late. 3 hours later it still wasn't, so we had some drinks and laughed about it. The bus got there eventually. But the night wasn't over until mom had to fight for our rightful seats with the bus attendant.
Finally frutrated and broken down by my mom, he gave in and gave us the sweet seats on the bottom of the bus where we finally fell asleep to wake up the following morning in "White City", Arequipa.
Stay tuned.
And both were 
Then I head back south via an interesting route or cross over to BRAZIL. It´s funny that I´m only 20 hours away from Rio, where we basically started out trip almost 11 months ago. Crazy! Next month, I fly out to 
As the story goes, once the Americas were discovered, 2 of the world's most richest countries wanted a piece of the action. So the problem settled it's way on to the desk of the most powerful man, the Pope. He pointed his finger on to a spot of the unfinished map and basically to the east belonged to Portuguese and to the west of that finger was now Spanish territory. Funny, huh? Of course, frontiers were constantly redrawn, and then again and again. But that's how the story goes. 
That day was anxiously anticipated since the parents were coming that night. So after the preparations were made, we headed to the airport.
After hugs and kisses, we packed them into a combi, a minivan which seats about 10, but holds triple the amount of people, and headed for the hostal. Not until the bus broke down on the way and after a few bangs on the side of the truck, it was back on its way again. After a little settling in, we finished the night with wine and fruit as deserving of the greatness of our guests... and of course conversation. The following morning, we hit the streets. We visited Iglesia San Francisco and its catacombs that supposedly stretch for miles underneath the city connecting it to various important buildings in the area and also being home to over a 100,000 bodies of people who were buried there.
"Rich looook...NO LOOOK!" Yes mom is here. Amazed at everything, looking at the world as through the eyes of a baby. And that is so beautiful! The church is beautiful as well with wood carved ceilings that took 40 years to make, paintings, reliefs, Portuguese tile, and a lot of priceless Jesuses everywhere. It is incredible to imagine, the money, time and lives that goes into these places of God, while so many people starve and die of sicknesses and slavery. At least the first 2 apply to almost any religion. Hey, this is the stuff that runs through my mind sometimes. Am I a cynic? Hey look at that! A solid cast iron sink over 200 years old! I wanted to swipe the grated drain in the middle of the sink for my boss, but then thought better of it. Yes, I may be crazy to be taking pictures of stuff like this, but think about it. How long did it take to make? How many hands and things were washed in it? What had this sink seen that you and I can never imagine?
We just did a lot of walking around the city, from small markets to parks, to just watching Peruvians going about their business. And of course, most Peruvians are nice, even the ones guarding the Presidential Palace.
Those pieces were obviously the best, and there were others which were really cool as well:
A first for us as well.
I have never seen anything like this before, this whole little place was in the desert, literally, subtropical climate with a little lake smack in the middle. And to make things even better, our hostel had a beautiful in ground pool . . . all this without breaking the bank account! And after all this cold weather and mountain air, a hot afternoon by the pool is exactly what we needed!!
So sand boarding is the biggest attraction here, and it being still afternoon, we figured we would give it a go and walk up the sand dune ourselves! 
Who needs a buggy?! We can do this! (or so we thought)
Yes, we tumbled all the way down.
(Here´s a little sneak peak at Mishka´s first run.)
First, they ride around a whole desert you didn´t think was really there! Endless and endless horizons with beautiful dunes all around you, having a blast till the sun went down. 
They drive pretty crazy too, as if you´re on a roller coaster . . . 
. . . and our driver was pretty cool too and had awesome energy (even though he denies knowing what the words on his shirt really meant.)
some on our tummies,
some just rolling down not knowing which way is up and which is down! But it was a lot of fun
and yes, totally different from snowboarding. First of all, they give you a pretty beat up board that you have to wax with a candle every time you want to sand board (and if you don´t, you might get stuck on a steep drop for no reason.) 
Second, the straps on the board are held on by mesh, so there you go! And you´ll be lucky if you don´t rip your straps at least once. And finally, it´s sand! So the fall is a piece of cake . . . no bruises, no freezing fingers and toes . . . just total recovery.
And as a side note, we were talking to the owner a bit and he told us that people stopped coming to Huacachina after the earthquake. Out of fear is all. Except the oasis is fine and they´re in desperate need of tourists, so please, if you´re in the area, GO!!! 
Stay tuned!
