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Published: January 8th 2006
From the strange city high in the clouds, we went via a nightmareish 15 hour bus ride to the find some strange lines drawn in the ground, near the city of Nazca...or thats where we thought we were going...
...instead we found ourselves three more hours down a nice bumpy road after the bus company 'forgot' that we were getting off at Nazca and didnt actually tell us we were there! After literally being thrown off the bus at the side of the road, bags and all we found a bus to take us the 3 hours back down the nice bumpy road and to those famous lines...which to be honest i had quite lost interest in after so long sitting on my arse on busses!
BUT, as with most of the things we have seen so far on this trip the wait was worth it!! These lines in the sand were only discovered in 1939 and have been there since, some estimate, 900BC!
Spread over 500sq km, we jumped into a little 6 seater plane to fly over the 300 figures etched into the landscape. Its amazing to wonder how these figures of birds, animals and one
which looks strangely like a spaceman have managed to survive the years, but here they are, plane to see. Why the lines are there no one quite knows, but i think the 'exterrestrial landing sites' theory has most people (the crazy starwars types) believing The Truth Is Out There....oh crap thats The X-Files....
From the lines we went back up the nice bumpy road AGAIN to where we had been throw out in the first place, in a small town called Ica, where we moved on straight away to Huacachina, a tiny resort dominated by giant sandunes nestled next to a picturesque lagoon. Its the kind of place someone would want to go sand boarding, fall down a very large sanddune and hurt every bone in their body - just ask Dani as thats exactly what she decided to do!
Paracas National Park, called 'the poor mans Galapagos Islands' by some girl who saw me looking at the leaflets for the tour we took. I dont care though, why spend $1000 when you can do the same thing for $10!
Hidden on the Pacific coast three hours south from Lima this park boasts seals, sea lions (i
didnt know there was a difference between the two), pelicans, humboldt penguins, and lots and lots of other bird types we cant remember. It seems that all of the birds, how do I put this, ‘poo’ aka Guano, was one of the main Peruvian exports up until the middle of the last century. We saw some amazing wildlife and got up really close to some seals (or sea lions), well worth the visit.
SO now we write this blog from Lima, capital of Peru. After being here two nights in a very nice hotel, and bought some smelly stuff for Dani its time to leave and head further north to Huaraz. I have no idea what the place is, but dani said its nice. Fairy Nuff.
Random Fact : Matt has managed to loose/break two pairs of sunglasses already on this trip, his third I do not expect to last the week (Dani)
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Gretchen in Canada
non-member comment
been there, done that
Hey, Matt and Dani: It's fun to read your travel log. I smiled as I was reading because I have thought similar things as you when I visited Nazca and Paracas in 1997. The lines were startling-ly amazing --- why are they there? How do they stay intact? how could they know what they would look like from the sky unless they really were visited by UFOs? And the little islands with all the animals ---- I did wonder how a sea lion and a seal were different (by the way, a sea lion is larger and has more whiskers). Take care, enjoy the rest of your trip (of course you will). Gretchen, mom to Kesari Anne, partner to the Cuban Irioski