How I saw the Nazca lines and wished I were dead

Greetings from Nazca. Not a bad little town as such, but generally speaking there's only one reason for a traveller to be here: the Nazca lines. These huge forms and patterns were carved into the desert terrain around 2000 years ago and are still going strong. 

A lesser known fact is that there is one huge design accredited to the Nazca people also in Paracas national park. The design - photo above - is thought to have been a navigational aid. On a clear day it's visible from the sea for over 10miles. Another theory concludes that this is a giant cactus in honour of aforementioned humble plant, believed to be used as a hallusinogenic ingredient in spiritual rituals in ye olde days.

However the more familiar iconic designs are carved in the ground of this hot Nazca valley, around 150 kilometers further South. The only way to really see them is from the air. From a small Cessna 208 aircraft registered for 2 crew and 5 pasangers in my case. The individual animal designs can be as much as 300m long (though more usually around 60m or so), but they are still swamped by the simpler patterns of straight lines and geometrical shapes that run through for kilometres on end.

But here's the catch: the only way for us camera touting tourists to really see the patterns is for the pilots (2 per plane, very security conscious here thank the gods) to swerve the plane around a tight 360 degree turn, where naturally the side pointing downwards offers good views. But to be fair on the guys sitting in the seats on the opposite side, the pilots then make another 360 degree turnabout in the other direction to make the plane tip to the other side.

It was like all the amusement park rides I never took with my queasy stomach rolled into one. And there was not just one image we viewed, but 12!

A trip that lasted just over half and hour and I think I would have had to grab a plastic bag and hurl had it continued even 15 minutes longer. The secret of my success - if you can call just barely avoiding the need to grab the bag a success - was that I was feverishly sucking on my last reserve of salmiakki throughout (salt licorice - candy of choice for most Finns).

We saw the Whale, Trapezoids, Astronau, Monkey, Dog, Hummingbird, Spider, Condor, Alcatraz... and by the time we swerwed into the Parrot, the Tree and the Hands I was positively white and green... with amazement let's say.

Been there, done that and have the certificate to prove it!

Today  will probably be the last day in a while, when I complain of the heat (it's hot hot hot here in the desert). Tonight I take a night bus to Arequipa and the mountains, where I intend to slow down the pace for a while, sip on some fruit juice and let the world revolve around its axis.