The Nazca Lines

 

I was taken on a tour of Pachacamac, but the weather was overcast and it matched my rather foul mood at the time.

I had an early night as I was to be picked up at 4am for my bus ride to Nazca.

The bus left Lima at 4.20a and arrived in Nazca at 11am. I was met by a man driving a huge 70s Dodge and driven to the airport office where I dropped my bag before being taken to the airport for my flight over the Nazca lines.

The Nazca Lines are a series of geoglyphs in the Nazca Desert. There are hundreds of individual figures, ranging in complexity from simple lines to stylized spiders, hummingbirds, monkeys, fish, llamas, and lizards. The lines were 'discovered' in 1939, when an American scientist Paul Kosok flew across the desert and noticed the lines and figures etched below.

There are a number of fanciful theories regarding the nazca Lines. One notorious idea by Erich von Däniken is that the Nazca Lines were landing strips for alien spaceships.

The lines were made by making furrows about 8-12 inches deep in the reddish-brown gravel that covers the surface of the desert, revealing the light-coloured earth beneath which contrasts sharply against the surrounding desert. Even though the Nazca Lines were made around 1500 years ago the lack of wind and dry desert temperatures have help keep the lines from deteriorating. The Pan-American highway and several dirt tracks cut across some of the lines.

One thing you will discover in Peru; if a plane leaves the ground, no matter how small, you will pay a departure fee.

The sight of the little 6 seat Cessna made me feel uncomfortable.  I have no problem flying in huge jet aircraft, but light aircraft bring out the fear of flying in me. This was made worse when I discovered I was in the front seat next to the pilot.

Take off was ok but once airborne and over the Nazca Lines the pilot banked sharply to enable us to enjoy the view and I was scared! It took me a couple of minutes to compose myself enough to take photos.

I had expected to visit the pre-Inca desert cemetery site of Chauchila, with 1500 year-old mummies, and bones, after my flight over the Nazca lines, but apparently there wasn't time. I was driven off to the bus station without stopping at the airport office and I had to remind the driver of my left luggage.

The driver had dropped me at the wrong bus station, but fortunately I discovered the mistake and it was only 3 blocks walk to the correct bus stop, where I caught a bus to Paracas.

The Spider

The Hummingbird

The Frog or Hands

The Condor