This weekend I took an 8 hour bus south from Lima to Nazca, a city in one of the driest deserts on the planet. At first glance, Nazca would not seem like much of a tourist attraction. That’s because the city’s main attraction, the Nazca lines, are only visible from the sky.
So, Saturday morning, my friends and I woke up at 7 AM to be driven to a small airfield about 20 minutes from our hostel. Then we bought our flights, for about 90 US dollars, for a 35 minute trip in a small Cessna, with room for only 7 people, including the pilot and co-pilot.
Each Nazca line figure, or geoglyph, was an animal or human figure carved into the desert sand thousands of years ago by the Nazca people, between 500 BC and 500 AD. No one really knows why or how these figures were carved into the sand, just that they offer an unprecedented glimpse into the lives and capabilities of a culture that no longer exit. Because of this, the Nazca Lines and the surrounding ruins which we later visited (pictured below), have been declared a UNESCO World Heritage site.
Before the flight, we were not allowed to eat anything because the flights are known to be somewhat nausea inducing. While at first, my friends and I thought this was an unnecessary precaution, once we were in the air, we quickly realized it was very important. The pilot did donuts in the air around each of the figures, so every thirty seconds the plane would be turned completely on its side; if you were looking out your window, you would be looking straight down at the figure. Each donut was nauseating, and by the end of the ride, everyone on the plane was fighting nausea. The flight and the views were incredible, and I’m glad to have done it, but I would not recommend it for those looking for a more relaxing vacation experience.
