Nazca Lines flight. To Pisco. 23rd April 2017

Sunday 23^rd April

Nazca Lines. To Pisco

Early flight over Nazca Lines. Little airport with lots of different airlines all vying for business.  All had to be weighed (ouch) to sort out who sat where.   30 minute flight (about $100) with 9 tourists plus two pilots. They took us in a set route across the main diagrams in the desert, banking steeply to left and right over each one so we all had a good view.

Good view of hummingbird, spider, lots of straight ‘landing strips’ and what I thought was a very dodgy astronaut/alien.

Found out that there was another tribe who also had similar diagrams, with big eyes for all-seeing, large head for intelligence etc, and therefore was not a recent addition for the alien conspiracy theory. The trip was sadly all-to-short and the whole place was littered with various diagrams and lines. 

 

 

We then spent a little extra to take a tour to see ‘the needle’ up close. The rough brown desert floor had been measured with stones and then scraped down a couple of inches to the white gypsum underneath.  With no rain and little winds, the dew from the desert then set the gypsum to a solid layer, hence why the diagrams remain after all these years. 

We also visited a series of wells which harnessed the springs from the mountains and gave access for the population to get water and also crawl between the holes and clear out any blocking vegetation.  A massive construction effort with large round stones collected from the river to line the canals and watering holes.  Very efficient. 

Taken to bus station for public bus (very posh) from Nazca to Pisco.  Bespoke films on board and lunch of chicken/rice and pudding supplied.  Took about 4 hrs.   Stayed in Hotel Residencial San Jorge, which had a cool swimming pool.  A dip ensued, just long enough for a Pisco sour to be constructed.  We were going to eat at the hotel, but service was rubbish so against our guide's advice ‘don’t go out after dark…’  we all wandered into town to find a real family-friendly evening underway.  Good party atmosphere for a Sunday evening  We appeared to be the only tourists and managed to find a family run café which provided Iain with a two course meal – salad and meat/noodles for 10 solas. No beers, so lady ran across road to an off-licence and supplied us with requisite cold beers for our meals. Good atmosphere and staggered back full and happy.