City Tour Ica

General information

Destination
Ica, Peru

Program details

Begin your exploration on the road to the Ica Regional Museum, which has an important collection of pre-Hispanic artefacts from the Ica, Paracas, Nazca, Wari and Inca cultures that have been exhibited in different parts of the world. Discover pre-Columbian funerary bundles and mummies, whose elongated skulls from the Paracas and pre-Inca cultures suggest ritual deformation, perhaps a mark of the elite. Some skulls also bear evidence of trepanning, a kind of early brain surgery to relieve internal pressure or remove damaged skull matter suffered in battle. For those who want to see something a little less gory there are also furniture, paintings and artifacts from the Spanish colonial era.



After that you will visit a producer of wine and pisco, products that have made the valleys of the Ica desert famous. Here you will be able to sample the delicious pisco; a colorless or yellowish-to-amber colored grape brandy produced in winemaking regions of Peru and Chile. Pisco was developed by Spanish settlers in the 16th century as an alternative to orujo, a pomace brandy that was being imported from Spain. Thereafter is a visit to the sanctuary of the Lord of Luren, a dark-skinned saint from Ica, whose carved image was made in Spain in the year 1556. On the third Monday of October each year the image is taken from the church and carried through the streets of Ica accompanied by hundreds of devotees.



Finally, you will visit the very popular Lake Huacachina. Originally an oasis in the middle of the desert, the lake is one of Ica´s major attractions. The breathtaking view of a lake surrounded by trees in the middle of the hot dessert is a sight that you will never forget. It is surrounded by large sand dunes and offers a variety of optional services: from good food to an adrenalin-stimulating sand buggy rides through the desert. Discover the land with an interesting history; legend holds that the lagoon was created when a beautiful native princess was apprehended at her bath by a young hunter. She fled, leaving the pool of water she had been bathing in to become the lagoon. The folds of her mantle, streaming behind her as she ran, became the surrounding sand dunes. And the woman herself is rumored to still live in the oasis as a mermaid. The spectacular view reminds tourists that have visited the site as a “little piece of paradise on earth”. This picture perfect spot completes the Ica city tour.



Languages

English and Spanish