Nazca.

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Hey everyone!
So, we spent a few days in the Nazca area! Nazca is in a baking hot part of the northern Atacama desert. Our daily highs were well into the 30s and it was super dry! The whole area has a lot of history, the main attraction of the area is the mysterious Nazca Lines. About 300 or so figures were etched into the desert sands about 1200 - 1500 years ago by the Nazca people (Pre-Inca). The figures range in size from about 25 metres across to over 250 metres across. Perfect images of hummingbirds, spiders, trees, other animals and fish and even human figures. What makes them mysterious is the fact that they can only be seen from the air. From ground level they are hardly visible, and as a result were undiscovered until a German fellow randomly flew over at low altitude in the 1920s and noticed them. There are also a lot of ancient aquaducts built by the same people and many grave sites have been found with a surprisingly high number of well preserved mummies and human remains. In fact there are bone chips and cotton remains scattered on the surface of the sand everywhere you look.
We quickly visited Lima again but then headed swiftly northbound to Quito, Ecuador. This is our departure point for our five week Amazon Rainforest Expedition.
We may not have a great deal of internet access during this period so our blogs may be few and far between, but we´ll try and keep you updated as much as we can.
Enjoy the pics.
T and D

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Photos

Dried up river in Nazca
This señora is asking for a toll as locals cross her bridge. If you don't pay, you have to get your feet wet!

On our way to fly over the Nazca Lines
Our Co-pilot leads the way to the Cesna.

Aerial view of the desert
with some areas of agriculture - cotton and carob are some things that grow here.

The northern Atacama Desert.
When it does rain (which is rare) the water creates its own lines across the desert, sometimes wiping out some Nazca lines.

sharp angles with the Cesna
made some people a bit nauseated (but not us, we are used to this from our Turbo Beaver tour in Churchill).

The astronaut
Now why in the years of 500 to 1100 ad would they know about astronauts? hmmm...

Mummy in the Chauchilla Cemetary
Nazca people chose higher ground in the desert for the preservation of the mummies. Dreadlocks were a status and beauty symbol. The bodies were wrapped in cotton which was available in the valley for making clothes.

Comments

[Plaffy]

Nazca
very good photos, thought a carob was a large reindeer like creature. Seems it's a tree, well dang me, you live and learn!!!!xxx

[adi]

I like this blog
Very nice ,

[Ursula and Shane]

You're a brat!
Didn't you say " wow, that was SOOOO stable! ... and gosh, our pilot is AMAZING!" hee-hee

[Ursy]

Head
Look at the shape of that skull on the right. Holy, deep thinker that one! THAT's how they knew about astronauts!

[andrea]

whoa... I 'm amaze...

[T-BO]

yo
Super cool, you know that bony guy's head looks just like mine. :) Thinking of you guys, travel on