Nasca, Peru

Have you ever found yourself watching a program on television, say on the Discovery Channel, and wondered what it would be like to visit the place they were showcasing? Well following our visit to Huacachina we were able to do just that. We had both seen documentaries on the famous Nasca Lines of Peru well before our trip and been captivated by the strange and gigantic markings of spiders, monkeys and birds etched in a desert landscape devoid of these creatures. Why were they drawn? Who drew them? And what would they be like to see firsthand from the air as they were meant to be seen?

Being only 2 hours to the north we decided to make the trip south to take in this landscape and the even stranger markings. After meeting a representative from Travel Air (the company that chartered our flight) we were driven to the airport and waited in anticipation of the flight to come on a small 8-seater passenger plane. I had previously flown on a plane this size over the Grand Canyon as a child but this would be Carolyn’s first time. We were both excited yet nervous and this only built as we were lead out to the tarmac and boarded the plane with 3 other tourists and two pilots.

Unfortunately what should have been an amazing experience with our faces glued to the windows looking at the Nasca Lines below became an agonizing 30 minute flight from hell. Our faces were glued to the windows not from excitement but rather from the pilots repeated desire to fly 360 degree turns with the wings pointing to the ground. We both felt nauseous and couldn’t wait to touch the ground again. We did the requisite photos of the strange markings below us but in truth actually enjoyed the scenery of mountains more especially when we were flying level. It was a crazy experience that we had to try but in hindsight we probably would have got as much out of the lines if we had just gone to the observation deck to view them from there.

Once we regained our composure and stomachs we made our way back to the town of Nasca where we unwound over a great Peruvian lunch of avocado, rice and meat and then toured the town centre. It was surprisingly beautiful for a town in the middle of the desert and being a Saturday night was just hopping with people out and about enjoying the evening. The money brought into the town from all the tourists paying for the flights was very evident compared to some of the other places visited thus far.

After waiting a few hours we finally boarded another Cruz del Sur bus to take us to Cusco overnight on a 14-hour excursion. Sorry let me rephrase that: on a 14-hour white-knuckle, punch-you-in-the-stomach, nearly *#!@ your pants ride through the Andes mountains and its countless switchbacks. Neither one of us has ever been so afraid. Fortunately we made it safely to Cusco but coupled with the nausea from the earlier flight and the 3,000 metre elevation above sea level we will be taking it slow for the next day or so to regain our composure and adjust to the altitude and cooler temperatures here. While the experience wasn’t fun it is part of traveling and you learn along the way. Plus enduring the crazy road brought us within a stone’s throw from Machu Piccu, which we have now booked our tickets for and will be visiting on Tuesday! It is sure to be a highlight of the entire trip.