Ica is a colonial city with 150,000 inhabitants and the capital of the
department of Ica. It is a pleasant city where you can walk around in a
quiet
atmosphere. It is situated in the coastal desert at 420 m above
sealevel, about 300 km south of Lima.
Because of its altitude the weather is always dry and sunny, it rises
above the coastal garua (sea mist) where many other coastal cities
suffer from. It is close to Pisco and Nazca, both in the same department. The
desert outside Ica has some fantastic sand dunes, and the nearby little
village Huacachina, in the
middle of an oasis with a nice lake, makes you think you are in the
middle of the Sahara.
Although Ica lies in the middle of one of the driest deserts on earth,
it is irrigated by the river Ica. There is a highly cultivated wine and Pisco (liquor derived from local
wines) industry. The wines are of excellent quality, yet unknown and
underestimated; they can easily compete with many European wines. The
same goes for the Pisco.
Many wineries and distilleries can be visited.
