Nazca Peru

---

Day 42. We opted out of the optional trip to Ballestas Islands as it seemed like a poor comparison with our Patagonian Valdes Peninsula experience. Instead we had a later breakfast & just enough time to walk to the Paracas village centre to wander through the trinket shops & pick up a few supplies before checking out of our hostel to get back on the bus for an 11 am start to a 3.5 hr trip to Nascar. We were on a tight schedule as many of the group had pre-arranged flights over the mysterious ancient lines. Bus problems meant a 40 min delay & change of bus at Ica.

Again we opted out as it didn't seem compelling enough to enhance my understanding or vision of the region. The flights themselves are on single engine planes for 2-3 people, required to continuously bank from side to side to enable passengers on either side to view below.

I was happy to understand the history without having to see the lines to prove it. The Nazca area is desert & was once home to the ancient Nazca and Paracas cultures which preceded the Incas by over 500 years & where the only remains of their cultures are the still visible lines & enormous animal designs inscribed in the desert.

The lines have been etched into the ground by scraping away the top darker layer of gravel which then contrasts with the paler layer underneath. Animals, insects and birds are depicted, and some of the simpler line formations are up to 10 km in length. Who drew them, how and why, is a mystery , but theories range from alien invaders to complex Nazca calendars.

---