Nazca

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When we got off the bus in Nazca we happened to be met by the owner of the hostel that we had in mind to stay at and went there with him. We had planned to shop around for flights over the desert to see the lines, but he tried to convince us to take a flight straight away, as he said it's high season and it will be difficult to get one at a reasonable price. The price he offered was a lot more than we had anticipated, so we were quite reluctant, but agreed to be taken to the airport where we ourselves could ask around about prices. Unfortunately it was that expensive and it just so happened that there was an available flight that afternoon and we decided to go for it. What the hell, it's not everyday we're in Nazca.

It was the tiniest aircraft ever, just about enough room for the three of us and the pilot. Kiki sat in front, feeling quite important at first as she liked the idea of co-piloting. This was until she started to feel sick and eventually threw up. It was interesting to see the lines from up in the air and the landscape was amazing, especially as the sun was setting.

Nobody knows for sure who created these lines or why as the figures can only really be seen properly from the air. There was a German woman called Maria Reiche who dedicated her life to studying and theorising about the lines. She thought they were an astronomical calendar created by the Paracas and Nazca cultures from 900BC to AD600. Other theories are aliens, ritual walkways etc.

Another cool thing which we found interesting was that before Maria came to Nazca she lost one of her fingers in an accident. Looking at the figures, the Astronaut and the Monkey both have just 4 fingers, just like Maria, coincidence? We think maybe that is why Maria got so obsessed with the lines, thinking it was her destiny...

We also went to see the cemetery of Chauchilla out in the desert. The people buried in these graves were mummified nobles from the Nazca culture. There was apparently a lot of jewelery and ceramics buried along with them, but unfortunately the graves have been robbed of anything of value and the mummies left uncovered, exposed to the sun. Not much is known about the Nazca people but it seems they believed in an afterlife as they were placed in an upright position, facing the east as this is where the sun rises. New day, new life. They say there are lots of graves like this scattered across the desert, but there is no money to fund further excavation or preservation.

Interesting, we learned lots of new stuff in Nazca...

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Photos

Nazca Lines.
Watching the Lines from the Vista Point.