The Nazca Lines, treasure in Peru

One of the cultural treasures of Peru are the Nazca Lines. They have fascinated me since I was a child because they represent a mystery that although archaeologists have endeavored to explain, it still has many shadows. I remember my father reading Erich Von Däniken's books, back in the '70s, and how I loved those stories so there is a huge place in my heart for Peru and its wonders.

The Nazca Lines They are geoglyphs, drawings on the ground, very old. They were made by the Nazca culture and they form a group of hundreds of different figures, simple and complex. They are World Heritage and one of the destinations that your trip to Peru should undoubtedly contemplate.

Characteristics of the Nazca Lines

The Nazca Lines are lines drawn with effort on a soil composed of red and black soil. They extend for more than 500 square kilometers of surfacehey are located 450 kilometers from Lima, the Peruvian capital, in the lands of Nazca, Palpa, Socos and Ingenios. The lines vary in length and the longest can reach 275 meters. There are lines and figures that represent animals, labyrinths, human beings, plants and even geometric drawings.

All the most iconic figures of the Nazca Lines are those of animals: there is a 27 meter whalea crane, a seagull, the famous Spider, some birds over 200 meters long, some reptiles. The drawings are on flat surfaces and on slopes and when observed carefully it is distinguished that on the slopes are mainly the human figures and despite the fact that many of the figures are identifiable they have some additions whose true meaning is still mere speculation.

On the Nazca Lines anyway there are many more geometric drawings than of animals and people. Hundreds and hundreds of lines, spirals, triangles and squares whose lines do not sink more than 30 centimeters into the ground, but thanks to the exceptional climate of this area of ​​Peru, they remain. It hardly ever rains! In addition, the ground has a lot of plaster and the hot climate, the average temperature of the year is 25 ºC, makes the warm air act as a cushion and prevents, along with other factors, the erasure of the lines.

Visit the Nazca Lines

We said above that the Nazca Lines are almost 500 kilometers from Lima and considering that there are other treasures in the country, the route must be organized. One option is to hire a tour including transfer and a scenic flight over the lines, obvious. There are many tourism agencies that offer similar tours.

A possible offer, from Visit Peru, for example, lasts two days and one night and includes Nazca and Paracas lines. On the first day, you are transferred from Lima to the local Nazca airport to fly over the ground, provided there is good weather. The night is spent at the charming Posada del Emancipador and the next day we travel to Paracas from whose pier we depart for visit the Ballestas Islands on a two-hour boat trip. It is where the Paracas Reserve is, a huge coastal wildlife sanctuary with thousands of migratory birds. And on the trip, on a coastal slope, you can see the Candelabro, another of the best-known Peruvian geoglyphs.

Another agency is Nazca Flights. Offers different flights over Nazca from Pisco, Nazca and Ica. It is advisable to book up to a month in advance to ensure your place, especially if you are interested in flights from Ica and Pisco, which are the ones with the most demand. From Nazca, there are more availability of flights. How are these tours? For about 100 euros you have a 35 minute flight over the Nazca Lines and you see twelve of the lines between the spider, the shark, the whale, the tree and the famous astronaut. The agency picks you up at the hotel in Nazca or at the bus station. The flights are on board a Cessna 206 and the rate includes the 10 or 11 euros of airport taxes.

Un tour to Nazca and Palpa it is more expensive and is around 200 euros. The flights are over the Nazca Lines and over the more recently discovered Palpa lines and the Cantalloc aqueducts. The flight is 55 minutes aboard a Cessna 206 and in the case of aqueducts, they are visited from the ground. And the tour offers in Nazca continue with departures from Pisco and Ica with rates of 290 euros and 270 euros respectively.

Tips for visiting the Nazca Lines

You can always sign up for a tour and if not you can rent a car and link Lima with the city of Nazca and there hire one of these flights that I described above. It can also be done directly from Lima or go to Nazca by bus and do the same. The bus takes about eight hours. You can also go from Lima to Ica in a shorter trip and fly from Ica. If you don't have much time, this itinerary is advisable and add a visit to the Ballestas Islands, the Huacachina oasis and some of the local wineries.

From Cusco you can also go to Nazca and the same from Paracas and Huacachina. There are hop-on, hop-off buses that allow you to get on and off in many places and you can include hotels and hostels in the rate. Beyond the flights over Nazca you can approach, by land, the Nazca Lines Viewpoint on the Pan-American route. It does not give you the best view of all, just a few lines, but if you go shortly before the sun goes down it is a beautiful postcard.

What else to visit in Nazca

And what else can we do in Nazca? Nazca is not a very big city so we can easily explore it on foot. Among its other tourist attractions we can always go to Maria Reiche Observatory that works in the Hotel Nazca Lines, the former home of the archaeologist Reiche who studied these mysterious lines for decades.

You can also visit the Chauchilla Cemetery, on the outskirts of the city, belonging to the pre-Inca culture, and also the Nazca aqueducts that still, centuries through, continue to function. The Cantalloc aqueduct It is only five kilometers from the city, 15 minutes, an impressive work of slabs and logs that is worth knowing.