Huaral, Peru

Today was another long day of driving, as we wanted to get just outside of Lima, so we could cross through it bright and early in the morning. It was also another day of looking at nothing but sand dunes while the wind gave our arms a work out, rocking the van all over the road. The only good thing about this terrain is that it’s relatively flat and straight, and the roads are really good, so we can push closer towards Machu Picchu pretty quickly.

Just before it started getting dark, just north of Chancay, Noah spotted a sign for a national park called Lomas de Lachay right where a sandy road headed up the sand dune away from the road. We had no idea what it was, but there was a camping symbol on the sign, so we figured it was worth a look. As we climbed up the road, it luckily became hard, and the van had no problem climbing. Within a mile, the desert sand started to turn into foliage, and pretty soon we were up in the mist, with the sound of songbirds coming from every bush. It was the most dramatic change in landscape I have ever seen. We had only driven maybe three miles from the road and it was like we were in another world.