Terranova Expedition: The Nazca Lines

Our first day out of Lima, instead of making our way to another city and another hostel, we decided to camp in the high Nazca Desert, just miles from the Nazca Lines. We rode off the highway into the barren down a dry riverbed.

When we were far enough from the road to not be seen, we set up our tents and made camp. The sunset was wondrous in the dry, calm, rocky expanse, and the sky quickly darkened to pitch black as soon as the sun went down. As we sat by our fire, the stars were as bright and numerous as Mongolia, since we were in a similar desert climate, far from any city lights.

The next morning we got up and made our way south to the site of the Nazca Lines. They are literally just off the highway, and they have constructed a crude viewing platform where we were able to see three of them.

Some people have postulated that Nazca was an alien airfield. The aliens must have some pretty unique requirements for a landing field, consisting as it does of lizards, hummingbirds, monkeys, llamas, dogs, spiders, not to mention the crisscrossing zigzagging lines and geometric patterns. It's also 37 miles long. Must have been a busy and confusing airfield.

From Wikipedia:

The Nazca Lines are a series of ancient geoglyphs located in the Nazca Desert. They were designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1994. The high, arid plateau stretches more than 80 kilometres (50 mi) between the towns of Nazca and Palpa on the Pampas de Jumana about 400 km south of Lima. The hundreds of individual figures range in complexity from simple lines to stylized hummingbirds, spiders, monkeys, fish, sharks, orcas, llamas, and lizards.

The lines are shallow designs made in the ground by removing the ubiquitous reddish pebbles and uncovering the whitish ground beneath. Hundreds are simple lines or geometric shapes; more than seventy are designs of animal, bird, fish or human figures. The largest figures are over 200 metres (660 ft) across. Scholars differ in interpreting the purpose of the designs, but they generally ascribe religious significance to them.

The geometric ones could indicate the flow of water or be connected to rituals to summon water. The spiders, birds, and plants could be fertility symbols. Other possible explanations include: irrigation schemes or giant astronomical calendars. Due to the dry, windless and stable climate of the plateau and its isolation, for the most part the lines have been preserved. Extremely rare changes in weather may temporarily alter the general designs.

Before leaving Lima, the view from the window of our Hostel

Camping in the desert, Nazca, Peru

Just before dark, sunset in Nazca.

Troy enjoying the fire.

Tim by the fire.

The next morning, from my tent, towards Troys tent. The only reason for the great distance is that we had trouble finding a place for the tents amongst the rocks. Oh, and Troy snores. :)