First Day in Ica by Katherine A.

UA Delegate to Peru, Katherine A., tells of our adventures on our first day in Ica, Peru.

By 5:30 AM, I was up and out the door of my Peruvian sister's home, in time to make it to Colegio Santa Ursula at 5:45. We spent four hours in the car, in which the guide, Raul, gave us a brief history of Ica. Ica was established in 1563. Although located in an extremely dry desert, the area was considered a good choice for a home thanks to its seven lagoons and sources of underground water. As of twenty five years ago when Ica adopted Israeli desert agriculture techniques, the district now is known for its farming of various crops such as asparagus, grapes, and nuts.

Before entering the more developed part of Ica, we visited a small town called Cachiche. In Cachiche we learned about some of the religious beliefs of the people. Many inhabitants of Ica believe in superstitions and mystical things like witches, spells, and curses. First, we saw a pyramid in which witches cast spells and people visited for good luck. Next, we visited a seven-headed palm tree. Long story short, the palm tree was cursed by a witch long ago who said that if ever the seventh head grew, Ica would perish. In recent history, Ica was flooded by seemingly never ending rains, especially for a place that averages about 2 millimeters of rain a year. During these rains, it was discovered that the seventh head was growing. Promptly, the people cut it off and miraculously the raining and flooding ceased. Now, the seventh head is not allowed to grow naturally in order to avoid any further catastrophic disasters.

UA Delegates with the primary formation of La Palmera De 7 Cabezas and our guide for this local legend
Nikki is leaning on one of the chopped off trunks that would have been the seventh head.

Unfortunately, in 2007, Ica suffered a great earthquake that measured 7.9 on the Richter scale. The massive tremors destroyed many buildings, businesses, and homes. As we drove through the city, it was easy to see the people had not recovered well from the earthquakes. Most houses were, though livable, half finished. Also, the guide pointed out numerous churches in ruins--only one church had survived the earthquake intact. In total, an estimated 1,200 people died as a result of the earthquake. Despite the damage however, Ica is still a beautiful place. Although not as developed as Lima, downtown Ica was busy and full of people. The town square was surrounded by yellow buildings. The color yellow was mandated by the capital city of Lima. In Peru, every town square follows the color chosen by the government in Lima. For example, the last color chosen before yellow was red, and for that reason Ica's town square was previously red. Also, two obelisks stood in the middle of plaza which represent the two cultures in Ica: the Paracas and Nazca cultures.

Finally at 12:30, we headed to lunch at a small restaurant called El Cantador where we were served Causa, a typical potato-based Peruvian dish. Potatoes are a huge part of Peruvian cuisine. Most consider Peru as the birthplace of the potato in South America with evidence dating of domesticated potatoes from around 10,000 years ago. There are more than 3800 varieties of potatoes in Peru where the papa amarilla, or yellow potato, seems to be the most popular in traditional Peruvian dishes. 

Causa Limenos is traditionally two layers of mashed papa amarilla with some sort of filling like today's chicken.

After a short break, the group headed to the highlight of the day: the dunes. These larger than life sand mountains entertained us for hours. We attempted to sandboard (basically snowboarding on sand) down the dunes--with only a 50% success rate. Most of us however had one good ride and the rest were face-plants, nose-dives, or complete wipe outs into the incredibly soft sand.

After we tired of attempting to ride our sandboards, we began to climb the giant dunes. Although a grueling trek, every single delegate made it to the top of the dune where we were rewarded with a once in a life time view. It was absolutely magnificent; there are really no words to describe the view and even pictures do not do it justice. To the right, we could see what seemed like all of Ica; to the left more waves of even higher dunes, and in front of us the most amazing sunset I have ever seen. If you, reader, think I am over exaggerating, ask any single delegate what the most impressive, magnificent, awesome part of the trip was and I guarantee you she will say the dunes in Ica.


In this downhill shot from the top of the gigantic sand dune,
Katherine A. encourages Madeline L. as she approaches the summit.
And yes, you cannot see the bottom of dune even at this photo's downward angle.

The UA Delegates at the top ridge line of the dunes
All eight delegates made it to the top in a feat akin to climbing to the top of the Great Wall of China.
Great job, everyone!
But sorry, Hilary, someone had to take this amazing photo, right?

To finish off the long day, we briefly visited the last remaining lagoon, Huaca China, in Ica. Previously I mentioned that there were once seven lagoons in Ica. Now, all except one have been dried up by the sun and overuse. Huaca China is another superstitious landmark. Today, the people believe that when a person dies in the lake, the witch who lives in the waters is lonely and has taken a human to accompany her beneath the murky waters of the lagoon. Fortunately, we were spared the risk of swimming in the lagoon.

The UA Delegates in the hotel next to the lagoon
Senora Betty spent several vacations at this hotel as a child and survived the lonely witch.

Overall, it was a great and memorable day. Tonight, I know we will all be sleeping well after a long day in Ica visiting witches and climbing sand mountains.