Nazca: Mystery in the desert

Nazca International Airport
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Leaving Ica, we met with another driver and a tour guide sent by the travel agency. We picked up a Colombian professor who was also touring to see the Nazca lines. Cruising for a couple hours through the desert, we saw another set of smaller designs carved into the sand, remnants of a culture even older than the Nazca, which are estimated to be about 2,500 years old.

Mystery of the lines

Monkey on the left! Condor on the right!

The spaceman's arm is very tired after waving to aliens from this hillside for about 2,500 years. Did you need further proof that little green men built the lines?
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Along the route, the guide explained various theories behind the lines existence: astrological significance, correlation to the underground water supply, and, of course, landing strips for aliens. This last theory is bolstered by the figure of an astronaut carved onto a hill, one hand in the air waving to our extraterrestrial friends. We traveled to Nazca on the Pan-American highway, which was built right through the lizard figure, almost entirely destroying it.

There are two groups of lines, really. The first are kilometers of amazingly straight lines, some of which seem to be aligned with the solstices. The many others, though, don't really mesh with any solar, lunar or star patterns, throwing the theory into jeopardy.

One of the largest figures, the condor, measures about 250 meters long.
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The Nazca people also dominated a network of underground rivers, which flow down from the Andes. This control and a system of subterranean aqueducts made life possible in a desert where it rains about one centimeter per decade. These hydrological theories are the leading contenders now (aliens aside) because of the incredible importance finding water had in the lives of the Nazca.

What has made the lines so famous, and so photogenic, though, are the large patterns in the shape of a monkey, condor, hands, tree... Some are several hundred yards across. I heard another theory on a National Geographic video while I was waiting for my plane, that the figures are connected with rituals in which the shaman snorts a green, snot-producing hallucinogen that gives him the feeling of flying. Many of the figures incorporate spirals, and the shamans report taking off and landing the a spiral pattern.

Here the hands bump of against the Pan-American. The viewing tower and part of the tree figure are in the top-right corner.
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Maria Reiche, lady of the lines

On our way through the desert, we stopped at the home of Maria Reiche, a German mathematician who dedicated 40 years of her life to studying the lines. She stayed in Nazca until her death -- quite a sacrifice, as I wouldn't recommend staying the night in Nazca. Her home, which sits on the Pan-American very near the lines, has been converted into a small museum. It is worth seeing if you are passing by and have the option of stopping (see review for photos).

From the viewing tower by the highway, you can see two sets of lines for just one sol.
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Our guide idolized Maria Reiche, and had met her. Once considered a crazy woman, Reiche has been since elevated to demigoddess status in Nazca (her work is largely responsible for Nazca's tourism industry). At one point on the drive, the Colombian professor asked the guide how we know that Maria Reiche didn't make the lines herself. The guide was obviously pissed off and offended, but still managed a professional reply about radiocarbon dating, etc.

Finally flying

Finally, we rolled up to the tiny Nazca airport. The city is painted with slogans: respect the tourist, tourism will eradicate poverty in Nazca, tourism will set you free. People there believe with special fervor that you should buy all the crap they're selling, so apparently the propaganda is working.

We waited across the street in a hotel until our flights were ready to take off. We split the family between two planes on the theory that you never put the whole football team on one aircraft. Dad and Beth left first on a four-person plane, Mom and I shortly after on a six-passenger one.

We had a Japanese couple sitting in the back of our plane, and amazingly, the pilot started speaking to them in Japanese. "Monkey on the left! Condor on the right!" For about half an hour, we rolled back and forth, looping over the lines. Because it barely rains in the desert, there is little erosion. Still, the figures are disappearing bit by bit, and many are crisscrossed with tire tracks that will stay for centuries, too. The rains of the last El Nino did considerable damage to many of the figures though.

The shapes are still pretty easy to see, but hard to photograph (I've enhanced the color and contrast on these photos to make them stand out a little more). I wouldn't advise eating before the flight, because the plane zips around every figure, first rolling to the right, then the left. Of the four, I was the only one who didn't get sick at all, either because of my iron stomach or because I sat right by the pilot.

All in all, I give the lines flight a big thumbs up. Try to learn a bit about them before you go and your trip will be much more enjoyable.

However, once you have seen the lines, try to leave Nazca ASAP. There isn't much to do. We had to wait for a 1 a.m. bus, and we were bored. The Nazca Lines hotel has a planetarium show that is OK, and the man who does the show is very nice. He took extra time to show us the moons of Jupiter with his telescope, though there was too much light to see very well. Still, it is more of a time filler than something to stay around for. If you happen to find yourself in Nazca for an extra day, a friend there tells me there are some aqueducts and burial sights outside the city that you can tour.