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Published: June 26th 2009
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Tim Version:
* Hiked up, admired the views from, and then rode and crashed my way down Cerro Blanco on my trusty sandboard.
* Saw the Nazca Lines and heard their mysterious creation theories in a bumping hard-turning little Cesna.
The "My god, that was the biggest freakin sandboard run ever!" version:
Nazca, deserty and dry and home of the famous Nazca Lines. To me more importantly it is home of Cerro Blanco, apparently the highest sand dune in the world, something that I just had to ride a board down the side of at great speed =)
Arriving in Nasca from Ica gives you a phenomenal view of the beast itself, Cerro Blanco, towering above the surrounding mountains. You also pass very close by two of the famous Nazca Line figures, though from the bus you are totally unaware. In town I was blasted by people touting flights for Nazca Lines. My bus driver from Ica was brilliant and had also been my guide through the journey pointing out things of interest, explaining local plants and the dishes they go in, and even beginning on some theories of the Nazca Lines however this part was
really stretching my Spanish speaking ability. It also turned out he used to work for one of the local tour companies as a bus driver for them so he gave me the low down on how they operate and their rough prices and so forth, Alegria Tours, and it turned out upon some independent research in Nazca that he was absolutely right that they really are one of the best in town.
The first day I just checked out Nazca town, which doesn't take too long, and priced up and booked the Cerro Blanco boarding tour, the Nazca Lines flight, aaand my bus outta there the next night to Arequipa. Organising Cerro Blanco, a bit more of a mission than I expected as I could only find one place that had a group going and they wanted to charge me more than having my own personal guide, sooo I opted for the personal guide!
Cerro Blanco tours start at all crazy hours starting from like 2:30am, way too damn early, but with my guide we set it up to just start at 6am, which turned out to be plenty of time! A quick 10 minute taxi ride up
the freeway and we started our walk up the massive dune, though you actually walk up the mountains near it over rock for most of the way which is a damn site easier! The scenery is beautiful and barren, and the peace at 6 in the morning is beautiful. My guide told me about how Cerro Blanco was and still is used for ritualistic purposes by the local indian community and we found some broken pottery on the way up. Its unfortunately not protected at all though, which he wasn't all too happy with the government about for good reason! He was saying that part of the significance is that its one of only a few dunes in the area with the rest being mountains, and its the highest point for a fair way around, and when you reach the top you find this to be very true and amazing. How this dune came about when the rest of the area is dry arid mountains is a true mystery that baffles me, and the view... wow, the view is awesome up there. Just as we reached the peak we were even greeted by the majestic condor, doing some thermal surfing
along the side of the dune ever so gracefully. You can see all of Nazca, the area where the lines are, mountain ranges to the horizon and on one side for the sea. Even if it weren't a dune and were just another of the mountains, the climb would definitely be worthwhile.
We took a few practise runs up the top and I got my balance back along with a few decent crashes. Its a hell of a lot of fun sandboarding, and while not as good as surfing or snowboarding it is definitely a big thrill when you get a decent run and some speed even if it does end in disaster at the bottom! We then started the trek down Cerro Blanco towards the largest face, riding as we went. Unfortunately it all suits a goofy footer, all the angles going the wrong way for me, and though I tried to ride switch I found I was more than useless at it and just learnt to live with riding down then having to walk over to where we were mean to be instead of where I'd end up! One hill was a killer, really slick, and I
had a wicked tumble flipping over frontways fast enough that I got upside down and my hat just skimmed the sand before I kept flipping over and landed on my back, awesome fun and a wicked rush =) By the time we reached the big face my legs were getting sore. It looks like the thing is gonna kill you, up to something like 800m of pure downhill apparently, however the sand is actually compacted hard so its one of the slower faces. It would have taken me 10 stops or more to get down there as even with the thrill of the ride and a good bit of speed I was defeated by the fact that its just such a long freakin ride and your legs get sore, much like if you caught a full length ride at Pavones! 2/3 standing up and the last 1/3 sitting down for the fun of it, its an incredible ride and makes for an unforgetable day, and I was on a fair bit of a high as we walked back to the road to catch our taxi back to civilisation. Heh even then we got a wicked finish as instead of a
taxi our driver rocked up in a fully open buggy, so we sped back to town with the wind in our hair and the bugs in our mouths, me really wishing I had sunglasses to shield my eyes from the wind, all before it was even lunchtime. Its an awesome experience and something I'd recommend those that are even remotely interested to try!!
Next up, Nazca Lines flight! I'd been warned - DO NOT EAT BEFORE THE FLIGHT! Good advice.. very good advice. If you're n the front of the plane, no issues! In the back though it was hot and with no air circulation, and while I enjoyed the flight and viewing the lines, it definitely left me a bit queezy afterwards! You get perfect views from the plane as the pilots banks hard left and right over each of the drawings to give everyone on both sides a perfect view, and to me the tree and the spaceman are probably the most interesting, while the clarity of the hummingbird is incredible!! Many photos later we were back on the ground with both boxes ticked for me for what I wanted to see in Nazca, and still an
afternoon to relax in the hostel until my overnight bus ride to Arequipa.
Nazca is a cool little place, but its also one that you can skim through very quickly without, in my opinion, missing anything. I was happy with what I saw there and more than ecstatic that I got to ride Cerro Blanco coupled with the unbelievable views from the top (with full clarity I might add, as my guide said that many days it is covered with fog in the morning and the views aren't so good!) and by the time the night bus arrived I was more than ready to head to the next part, Arequipa though really it was Cabanaconde that I was after, and the Colca Canyon. A nice Brazilian girl from the hostel ended up catching the same bus as me and was headed to Cabanaconde too, which was an awesome added bonus as good company always is =)
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