God's Eye View of the Nazca Lines

Peru – July 17

We were awakend, after our first good night’s sleep, by the telephone in our room buzzing.  Turns out our guides to take us to fly over the Nazca Lines had arrived about 2 hours early…..hmmm.  We told them we were not ready and they said they would return at 10:30 to pick us up.  After getting ourselves together, we wait in the lobby and are soon picked up and driven to the local airstrip.  There is a bit of a mix up over our ticket voucher, but we soon get it straightened out and are then told we will have about an hour wait.  We take the time to watch a very interesting National Geographic documentary on the Nazca Line and some of the theories surrounding them.  The lines were made in the shapes of animals and plants, but also there are some geometric forms.  Theories as to their meaning include offerings to the Sun God, celestial communications and navigating the patterns of the sun as it swept across the desert.  Some of the images were thought to be incorporated into ceremonies.  As the Nazca culture (or the Inca’s for that matter) had no written language, it is now up to archeologists to try to piece together their meaning.  Whatever they meant, they are huge drawings on the surface of the desert….some of the images measuring over 600 feet in diameter.  We are called to the tarmac and make our way to the very tiny plane that will fly us over the lines as they are really only visible from the air….which makes the fact that they were made all the more impressive.  The pilots instruct us that he will be dipping the wings of the plane toward the figures below which means those seated on the right side will see them when the plane banks rights etc.  As the plane is so small, the turbulence tends to make you feel queasy and once in the air, Sam looks like he’s not feeling too good.  The figures are somewhat difficult to make out on the desert  floor , but once you spot them, they are immistakeable.  After the seeing the “Whale” figure, we are off to the “astronaut” which is kinda weird to think that these lines were made around 500 AD???  It is awesome!!! Next is the hummingbird, the dog, the condor, the tree, the spider, the monkey, the parrot, the flower, and the albatross.   After about the third figure, we notice that Sam is making good use of the airsickness bag….poor guy.  Good thing the flight only lasts about 35 minutes, and once we are on the ground, Sam is looking pretty green.  We all feel a bit queasy but it was a once in a lifetime experience and we are all so happy to have been able to see these amazing sights.  We have a late lunch after everyone’s stomach is back to normal and and early night.  Tomorrow we are off to Ica.