NAZCA and PARACAS: LINES IN THE DESERT

GETTING THERE

 

If you are on a cruise that stops in Puerto San Martin (Paracas) this tour is easily done in the time you have ashore—assuming it is 08:00 to 17:00 or thereabouts, but MUST be arranged ahead of time. The alternative, if you are in Lima, is to drive down, about 4.5 hours each way, spend the night, do the tour described below, and either spend a second night in Pisco or Paracas, or drive straight back to Lima. 

Puerto General San Martín is on the Paracas Peninsula near the beach-front town of the same name and—a bit further—the city of Pisco – yes, that Pisco, as in Pisco Sours, arguably David’s favourite drink.   But I digress.  Arriving by ship along the north coast of the peninsula, you will have a preview of the day’s promise: a huge geoglyph in the side of the cliff called “The Candelabra” In fact, it looks like a Saguaro Cactus.

We had asked our Lima-based travel agent—Carlos Palma at Peruvian Tours—to arrange a day for us that included a fly-over of the Nazca lines and a visit to the Paracas Peninsula, a protected nature refuge.  As he had done for us when we visited Cusco and Machu Picchu, he rose again to the occasion.  A car, driver and English-speaking guide were waiting for us when we disembarked and whisked us off to the Pisco Airport.

LINES IN THE DESERT

The plane: a Cessna Caravan, seating 14

Out flight took us over the city of Ica, the centre for growing the grapes that produce Pisco.  It is a medium-sized city set in a lush river valley in the middle of the desert. Nearby is the only natural oasis in the hemisphere, according to our co-pilot who was also the flight’s tour guide. 

South of Ica the Nazca desert began, and then seemingly random lines began appearing on the desert floor.   

Lines across dry river beds

The pilot descended from 7500 ft. to 3000 ft., the better to view and photograph the famous geometric and animal figures that cover 520 sq. km. (300 sq. mi.) We had been given small maps and told what figures we would see and in which order.

Trapezoid laid out over a hill

 We were warned that the plane would bank first to the left 45°, circle around the figure, then bank 45° to the right, so gawkers on each side of the plane would have a good view. (HINT: The best seat is directly behind the pilot on the left-hand side. However, people are seated to ensure an even weight distribution, but it never hurts to ask.) David and I sat on each side and the camera was passed back and forth frequently. Among the principal figures are:

The Whale

 

 The Astronaut and the Condor

Until recently, this was the only figure in the area etched into the side of a  mountain. In 2014, however, gales and sandstorms uncovered previously unseen geoglyphs, including a 60 m.-long (196 ft.) snake, what appears to be a camelid, zig-zag lines and an unidentified bird.  See: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2715588/Mystery-Nazca-Lines-deepens-Gales-sandstorms-reveal-geoglyphs-snake-llama-Peruvian-desert.html#ixzz39XW5KatO

Humming Bird

Trapezoids
There are many trapezoids and other geometric figures among the Nazca lines.  These are among the most dramatic.

The Monkey

The Tree and “The Hands”
 

Above these two figures is a black strip, the Pan American Highway, with an observation tower between them.  I’m not sure I agree with “The Hands”. label   I thought it was a duck!

Geometric Lines

There are over 800 straight lines, some as long as 8 km. and one that stretches for 65 km.!  These lines were formed on top of the figures and often cut straight through them.  Here lines intersect a trapezoid.   

The Spiral
There are more than 100 spirals.

Bird with very long neck

The beak is on the left, head between two, broad vertical lines, body and wings to right of diagonal.

I think it is a flamingo.  On our return to the Paracas Peninsula, we passed an enormous flock of flamingos  that were soon joined by a second flock. Note the similarity….

The flamingos, Paracas Peninsula

THE MYSTERY OF THE NAZCA LINES

This summary includes the best of recent scholarship.  National Geographic published a wonderful article in 2010 on the latest discoveries and analysis of the lines, which is well worth looking up on line. Here is a good link to this information: http://74.125.95.132/search?q=cache:KUGPgg9sACgJ:www-unix.oit.umass.edu/~proulx/Nasca_Lines_Project.html+%22nasca+lines%22&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=14&gl=ca

How They Did It:

They cleared the surface of small stones darkened by desert varnish, exposing the lighter soil beneath to a depth of 10-15 cm (4-6 in.). Pieces of rope found at a few end points of some lines suggest that the Nazca may have used rope stretched between poles to ensure straight lines.The lines were not made at one time, in one place, or for one purpose. Many lines were superimposed over earlier ones.  Many can be seen from ground. In sum, the lines were places of social interaction

The flight back took us back over Ica then gave us a wonderful view of the Paracas peninsula just before landing. 

Desert and reclaimed farmland near Pisco, Paracas Peninsula in distance.

A long neck of land connects the peninsula to the mainland and we stopped in the sea-side town of Paracas to enjoy a delicious local-fish lunch at an open air restaurant facing the beach.

Paracas broadway, restaurants, beach

A woman vendor from the Amazon

THE PARACAS PENINSULA

This mushroom-shaped piece of land jutting into the Pacific Ocean has the most spectacular colours we have seen along the Peruvian coast, which is mostly grey or tan desert. The colours, however, are only a few centimeters deep; underneath is salt.  Our guide told us that the reason there was so much white exposed the day of our visit was because there had been a rare rainstorm a few days earlier that washed away the surface colour, exposing the salt.  It made for stunning contrasts.

Playa Roja – Red Beach

A short drive west into the peninsula brought us to a protected area for sea lions and more birds….

 

Blue-footed boobys and a lone Humboldt penguin were among them.

Heading back to the ship we took a different route through an area that reminded us of a moonscape and often gives up fossils just by turning over a rock.  We weren’t so lucky but the mysterious mounds were captivating.

As we approached the port entrance we encountered a long line of trucks waiting to enter and unload salt, destined for North American roads. 

Meanwhile, a ship docked next to us was unloading corn.  Our guide told that that the ship would be unloading until midnight. When it departed, a cargo ship would take its place and begin loading salt.