13th October

We came to Nasca almost solely to see the Nasca lines. Originally, we were to do this flight starting from Huacachina, but the cost of doing so was almost double compared to flying direct from Nasca itself. The reason being that the distance from Huacachina to Nasca is not insignificant. As Nasca was on the way to our next destination, it made sense to come through and spend a day or so here taking the flight over the lines as we did so.

I’m glad we did too, as Nasca is a unique little place and worth a stay for a couple of days. Down and dirty in parts, most parts in fact, but it does have a great feel to it. It is also very hot. The temperature here is only on the order of 20 degrees, but it feels a lot, lot hotter, for Nasca is also one of the driest places on Earth. The average rainfall here is just 0.3 mm per annum. This I think must be what makes it feel so much hotter than it actually is.

Nasca is also home to the world’s largest sand dune, Cerro Blanco. Standing at over 2,000 metres high, this has got to be the ultimate sand boarder’s challenge. Unfortunately, getting up there would be next to impossible. Our experience in Huacachina taught us that climbing these large sand dunes is far from easy as the sand always slips away from under your feet. Climbing just a few metres can take several minutes, so trying to climb a seemingly achievable dune soon turns into “ah half way will do”.

Nevertheless, this particular dune is quite extraordinary, standing tall over the surrounding mountains, it makes you wonder how it ever got that high in the first place. How on earth did the sand accumulate so much in just one place? And why is it not blown flat by the wind over successive years? It’s a bit of a mystery to me.

Nasca is bounded by lots of geology like this though. Essentially a desert landscape, it is surprising just how varied a desert can be from one location to another. On our way out of the town and heading for our next destination, I saw all kinds of rock formations and all sorts of mineral colours, it is just a shame I couldn’t take any decent pictures through the obscured glass of our bus. This is a surreal landscape for sure, a small glimpse of what we have ahead of us in south west Bolivia next month.

So for now we leave Nasca behind us as we make our down to Arequipa, Perus second city, and by all accounts its most beautiful.

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Part of trip: South America 2009 - Ecuador, Peru & Bolivia

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