Are you thinking about where to do sandboarding in Arequipa? Find a list of the best places for!
Surely you thought in Peru you could only do sandboarding in Huacachina – Ica, but It’s possible to do sandboarding in Arequipa, the difference is that instead of sliding on sand you will do it on volcanic ash.
La Joya
Las Dunas de La Joya are the only ones on the continent made up of volcanic ash instead of sand; this thanks to the large number of volcanoes in the Arequipa region.
The Pampas de La Joya extend to the west of the city of Arequipa at a distance of approximately 65 kilometers, located at a height ranging between 1,169 and 1,665 meters above sea level, they appear as a slightly undulating plain, composed of saltpeter, boulders, gravel, stone and sand.
The Pampas de La Joya, rugged terrain, is located between Arequipa and the sea, the valleys of Tambo, Vítor, Quilca, Siguas, and the neighboring provinces.
A characteristic of the Pampas is the presence of dunes, mounds of sand in the shape of a half moon or crescent moon, which move, due to the winds, up to 15 meters a year.
The northern half of the Pampas is covered with dunes and scattered broken stones. The southern half does not have dunes or stones, but it has a reddish tint, due to ferruginous quartz crystals, in the form of irregular cubes, about two millimeters on a side.
The climate is desert type (hot and dry) and the average annual temperature is 18 degrees centigrade, with significant fluctuations between 10 °C and 35 °C.
The trade winds predominate, moving from south to northeast during the day, and at night from north to south, the most predominant speed is from 4 to 6 am.
The Pampas de La Joya were, therefore, an obligatory passage for travelers and caravans with products, which moved to the city of Arequipa for commercialization.
Making a trip through the Pampas was uncertain, since there were no fixed routes, since the strong winds were in charge of erasing any trace left by intrepid walkers who made their own route, following their traveler’s instinct.
Dunas de Toro Mata
The Toro Mata Dune, sometimes referred to only as Toro Dune or El Toro Hill, is a huge sand dune in Peru, whose top reaches 2068 meters high.
It is located in the south of the coastal desert of the South American Pacific. It is located in the district of Acari, located in the province of Caravelí in the Northwest of the department of Arequipa.
The dune was formed by the sand formed by the prevailing winds of the Pacific when it collided head-on with the Andes Mountain Range.
The Toro Mata dune was considered a divine Apu at the local level, which is why in some areas of the dune, such as its abysses or highest points, there are areas for archaeological study. In the surroundings of the dune is the Acari river which provides the natural creation of productive valleys, this was so important that the Spanish conquerors founded haciendas around it.
In the current era of the Republic of Peru it continues to function as production valleys