We headed to Nazca on (another) overnight bus (good for the wallet), hoping to secure a cheap flight over the Nazca Lines on arrival. The Nazca Lines being around 2000 year old geoglyphs created by the ancient Nazca culture in the middle of an extremely dry desert (the internet tells me they get around 4 mm of rain per year). There are multiple theories on why they were created, including: to communicate with the gods, for astronomical reasons, paths for worship, or to communicate with aliens. Some non-academics, such as Greenpeace, believe they were put here for political gain. The patterns measure in the hundreds of metres and can only be seen from the air, adding to the mystique of their origin.
I was really keen to see these in person, having seen Mum and Dad's slides (from the seventies (or maybe early eighties; I can't pin down how old they really are)), and always being fascinated by how/why they were put there. Our best chance, we figured, was to sidle up to the airport and see what we could negotiate (some might say 'to wing it'). While we ended up with a much cheaper price than if we had booked ahead, it must have been a reasonably busy day and we ended up paying US$75 each for the 30 minute flight. This was lower than what we had read online, but not as blisteringly low as we hoped we could barter for. Not to worry.
The word is not to eat breakfast before the flight to limit the damage when you spew, as the plane banks at 45 degree plus angles to get a good view of the geoglyphs, so we were feeling a touch hungry and tired by the time we got on our plane around 8.30am.
Our little Cessna:
Ready for lift-off (actually not quite as you'll see we're missing at least one pilot):
Twice as excited as me (double the thumbs):
The flight was nowhere near as bumpy or vertigo-inducing as we had heard it would be and we actually really enjoyed it. The plane flies just a few hundred metres off the ground, giving a really clear view of the lines. Our camera skills didn't quite handle the height and constant banking so well but we did our best. What follows are a few photos that we managed to catch as the plane banked left and right. The rest lives on in our memories (and in the desert).
This gives a bit of an idea of the scale of the Lines in comparison to the hills [Note: click on the photos to embiggen]:
The most famous Hummingbird:
The Spider:
The Condor:
The Whale:
In addition to depictions of creatures, there are also a huge number of trapezoids, rectangles and lines extending over vast distances:
Our personal favourite, the Astronaut (look closely at the left-most hill; the figure looks like it was conceived and drawn by a group of kids, but we do like the way that it waves):
The Monkey (I think this is most likely where the 'P' in the Peru logo (see here) originates from):
The (part of only) Alcatraz (this is one of the largest and we obviously struggled to capture the whole thing through a single lens):
On the way back to the airport we flew over some impressive desert hillscapes:
A brief and relatively expensive flight, but well worth it for sure.
We popped quickly into Nazca town for a spot of brekky, briefly wandered the main streets, and then jumped on a bus heading north through the desert to Ica.
I was really keen to see these in person, having seen Mum and Dad's slides (from the seventies (or maybe early eighties; I can't pin down how old they really are)), and always being fascinated by how/why they were put there. Our best chance, we figured, was to sidle up to the airport and see what we could negotiate (some might say 'to wing it'). While we ended up with a much cheaper price than if we had booked ahead, it must have been a reasonably busy day and we ended up paying US$75 each for the 30 minute flight. This was lower than what we had read online, but not as blisteringly low as we hoped we could barter for. Not to worry.
The word is not to eat breakfast before the flight to limit the damage when you spew, as the plane banks at 45 degree plus angles to get a good view of the geoglyphs, so we were feeling a touch hungry and tired by the time we got on our plane around 8.30am.
Our little Cessna:
Ready for lift-off (actually not quite as you'll see we're missing at least one pilot):
Twice as excited as me (double the thumbs):
The flight was nowhere near as bumpy or vertigo-inducing as we had heard it would be and we actually really enjoyed it. The plane flies just a few hundred metres off the ground, giving a really clear view of the lines. Our camera skills didn't quite handle the height and constant banking so well but we did our best. What follows are a few photos that we managed to catch as the plane banked left and right. The rest lives on in our memories (and in the desert).
This gives a bit of an idea of the scale of the Lines in comparison to the hills [Note: click on the photos to embiggen]:
The most famous Hummingbird:
The Spider:
The Condor:
The Whale:
In addition to depictions of creatures, there are also a huge number of trapezoids, rectangles and lines extending over vast distances:
Our personal favourite, the Astronaut (look closely at the left-most hill; the figure looks like it was conceived and drawn by a group of kids, but we do like the way that it waves):
The Monkey (I think this is most likely where the 'P' in the Peru logo (see here) originates from):
The (part of only) Alcatraz (this is one of the largest and we obviously struggled to capture the whole thing through a single lens):
The Tree (left) and the Hands (right) (also ft. the viewing tower. These are the only two geoglyphs that you can see (I imagine pretty poorly) without taking a flight, as they are located right next to the Pan-American Highway where a rickety looking 10 m high platform has been built):
On the way back to the airport we flew over some impressive desert hillscapes:
And also the town of Nazca:
A brief and relatively expensive flight, but well worth it for sure.
We popped quickly into Nazca town for a spot of brekky, briefly wandered the main streets, and then jumped on a bus heading north through the desert to Ica.
No comments:
Post a Comment