Nazca

  Nazca, Peru
Sunday, October 26, 2008

After the trip to the Islas Ballistas we hit the road again heading towards Nazca. We got further away from the sea and started to go up into the mountains. The colours of the desert mountains on the way varied from pink to green depending on the sunlight. It was an almost lunar or martian landscape. Unfortunately, the air-co in the bus broke down, so it is even hotter inside than outside. It was quite a long trip. So far, the quality of the roads are good, at least on the Panamerican highway. It will probably be a very different story in a few days. The style of the houses are similar to what we saw on our way to Paracas. We arrived at our hotel which was a hacienda, set on a farm that cultivates different vegetables. There were also rabbits, geese, ducks, peacocks, cows and even our first alpacas.

Cute, heh?

They look like stuffed animals and must feel so warm with their furry coats.  We even saw them kissing, it was so cute. Sean pet one of them a little bit and it showed its teeth, we thought it was about to spit on him.
 

dry dry dry

The next day (27/10) was a day that we had been waiting for for quite a while - our flight over the Nazca lines. The large drawings on the ground, some over 40m large, can only be appreciated from the sky. They were created by the Paracas and Nazca cultures from 600BC to 300 AD. We took a helicopter flight over them (more expensive than a plane but you see much more and you get better pictures!). A couple of them were a bit hard to see, but most of them were pretty clear. So you have, in the middle of the desert, drawings of a monkey, a condor, a humming bird, a tree, some hands and even an astronaut!

humming bird

To date, nobody is sure of why they were created. Some possibilities are that they were used to please the gods, as an astronomical calendar or as sacred paths where the people could pray for water or crop fertility?

the hands

The mystery remains. Tomorrow, we are going to Arequipa ...