Our Great Adventure: Nasca Lines Day 284 29/06/2015

The main reason why we had stopped off at Nasca was to go and see the enigma known as the Nasca Lines. These lines and shapes in the desert look innocuous from the ground but flying above them reveal perfectly strange lines hundred of metres in length as well as also depicting animal and bird shapes such as a monkey, whale, hummingbird etc. The shapes were only discovered in 1922 when an airplane flew over and the pilot could make out some strange shapes in the sand. These shapes have been studied by many famous archaeologists, physicists, astronomers etc. What they have discovered is that the Nasca people created these shapes between 200BC and 800AD. What they don't know as the Nasca's had no written records was to why. Some believe that as only the equivalent of 1 hour of water falls on this barren land per annum, the lines were created to point to the dry water sources so they could pray for rain. Others believe that the shapes point to the stars and certainly looking at the major constellations and also where the sun rises in the winter and summer solstice this bears resonance. However as neither theory can be proven as indisputable fact both theories flourish. Despite the late night before we got up early so we could make sure we could book a slot for a flight that day. We were still tired after being woken up at 3am to the whole room shaking for 4 or 5 seconds. The next morning we checked the internet to find out that 82 kms away there had been an earthquake on 5.5 on the Richter Scale. Nobody was hurt and was the 116 earthquake Peru has experienced so far this year. Probably the locals didn't even notice it but it shook us up a bit! We went to Aeroparacas offices, which is one of 3 companies recommended by Lonely Planet (there are other companies but there have been some bad accidents over the years and there is still a warning on the Foreign Office's web site about some of them). We checked that there was indeed a flight mid morning, the company's safety record was good, there was always 2 pilots on the planes and the fee of $80USD was not too much (so we weren't ripped off) and not too low (so safety was compromised). We set off to the airport 4kms away at 0930 and on arrival there was a lot of tourists waiting for their flights. The delay was due to the hazy conditions but these soon cleared and at 1100 we took off in a light aircraft with 2 pilots, us two and a family of three. As the weight has to be balanced Simon and the father of the other group sat in front and Di being the lightest had to sit on a seat on her own at the back. Our 30 minute flight took us over the Nazca desert and with commentary from the co pilot we saw the following line formations: Whale, Trapezoids, Astronaut, Monkey (Simon's favourite), Dog, Hummingbird (Di's favourite), Spider, Condor, Alcatraz, Parrot, Tree and Hands . We took lots of pictures but as the light wasn't great they didn't really show the full detail of the lines. We were soon back on the ground, slightly relieved (especially Di) that it was a smooth flight (we had read reports of people being sick on these flights) and whilst the enigma of the lines is still there, we were slightly underwhelmed by the experience. However like most things we were glad to experience it so we could recall being there and have an opinion. After a tasty lunch in a cafe back in town, we headed back to our hotel, and enjoyed sunbathing, reading and swimming in the large outdoor pool (gosh the water was cold though). That night we visited the planetarium on the hotel grounds to be given a lecture on more theories of the lines, also talking about the famous German physicist, Maria Reiche, who spent 40 years recording and clearing the lines and also was shown the star constellations in the clear southern hemisphere sky above us. We saw the southern cross, Scorpion, Venus and Jupiter close together (in a few days time there will be an eclipse between these 2 planets, a once in 300 years event). Maybe we will see it when we are on the boat in the Galapagos? The chap giving the lecture also had a telescope outside where we viewed Saturn and could make out the ring. In addition the moon was full and was giving out so much light. Through the telescope we could really see the craters on the moon and took some great pictures on the iPhone. We headed out for dinner in the town, which had a subdued atmosphere as Peru had just lost to Chile in the Copa America semi final!