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Published: June 29th 2018
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The Nazca Lines (10/06/2018-11/06/2018)
What: 300 different figures depicting animals, plants, human beings, lines, and geometric shapes etched into the arid desert; most made from 1 single, continuous line.
Where: Located in Southern Peruvian desert, between the towns of Nazca and Palpa.
When: Carved 500 B.C. - A.D. 500
Why: Who the hell knows!
How: Not a scooby.
The Nazca Lines in Peru, one of the World’s great mysteries! Who made them? Why did they make them? What purpose did they serve?
In the late 1930’s and early 1940’s when commercial air travel was taking off (excuse the pun), we were able to see our World through a totally different perspective. Pilots flying over Peru’s desert started reporting peculiar images and markings etched into the vast and arid land below. Since then, many people all over the World have been trying to solve the strange mystery of the Nazca Lines.
Some theories include:
• A map to mountain peaks and sunset points - perhaps for religious purposes to link sacred sites
• Offerings to the Gods
• A map of underground water supplies
• Ancient "messages in the bottle" for the future generations
• Landing
My Nazca Lines Group
(nobody spoke English) strips for space aliens
• Representations of an astronomical calendar
The latter the theory was upheld by one very important lady: Maria Reiche. Reiche was a German mathematician and archaeologist and the most famous Nazca-Researcher. She dedicated 40 years of her life to the lines - working without any income, camping in the desert (a local hotel owner later let her stay for free in his hotel), measuring, protecting, cleaning, and studying the Lines.
Years of sun exposure sadly turned her blind and not to mention totally destroyed her skin. She died in Nazca in 1998 at the age of 95.
Regardless of why, it’s undoubtely impressive how these creations of an ancient civilization remain ingrained in the desert; and this is because of the extremely dry, windless and stable climate here.
The Flight It set me back 70 USD, but I was keen to see the Lines in their full glory, as opposed to climbing up a staircase in the middle of the desert. Yes, I am a flashpacker I know. If you are prone to motion sickness take some medication before your flight they said. Psssh I'll be fine, being the seasoned roller-coaster
rider I am.
We squeezed onto the tiniest plane I've ever seen (6 seats) in weight order (to balance the plane out). My long legs barely fitting! And we were handed a large pair of headphones, a map, and a small sick bag.
Wow the turbulence was totally unexpected.. I guess because it's such a tiny plane? To enable the best views possible, our pilot tipped and turned the plane left and right, to and fro for 30 minutes. Saying the names of each formation and whether it was on the right or the left, "Monkey, right side. Whale, left side."
My stomach was left in the air over and over again. I noticed the older lady behind me looking very uncomfortable, desperately fanning herself with the map provided.
Despite the nausea, the Lines were absolutely AWESOME and definitely one of those things you have to see for yourself. Catching sight of the incredible 285m long heron engraved into the desert, it is difficult not to be totally amazed by humanity. Despite the awesomeness, I was very glad to be on flat ground once it was all over. I collected my certificate and left with a
The Monkey
(taken from google) feeling of nausea which lasted all day.
Tips No information about the Nazca Lines was given during the flight, so make sure you read about them before hand.. or check out the Planetarium at the local hotel like I did for an informative talk on Reiche (and see the room she lived in for years for free), the Lines, the stars, and for a cheeky look through their telescope at Jupiter and Saturn(!). I had low expectations as we were in a car park in a random hotel, but it was surprisingly interesting; and I thoroughly recommend it!
Whatever theory you believe, it baffles me how anyone could do something so precise with primitive tools in such a crazy, harsh climate. Some of the straight lines run several kilometers across the desert, so precise they vary by only a few degrees. Crazy! What really bothered me (and still does) was how did these desert-dwellers know what a whale looked like?! I'll leave you with that thought. Please let me know if you have any ideas.
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