The Nazca Lines Mystery

While we were at the Paracas Nature Reserve, I told the girls about the Lineas de Nasca. I explained to them that there are several mysteries associated with the famous Nasca Lines: Who made them? Why did they make them? How have they lasted so long?

The girls were fascinated and wanted to know more. Luckily, the book, Aventura 757 kilometros – had a bit more information than what Nando and I already knew. The kids were curious as to how wide the lines are – 20 cm. The biggest figure is a Pelican, which is 285 meters long. The kids were very curious about who made the lines and especially the fact that the lines are still a sort of unsolved mystery – especially insofar as we have relatively little understanding of why they were drawn.

We talked about the Nazca lines as we drove down the Panamerican Highway. Luckily, the book also told us exactly where the first viewing tower was – at kilometer 408. That also provided the opportunity for math lessons, and each time they asked how much longer, we had to find the kilometer sign and then subtract. We also did a little multiplication and guessed how much longer it would take.

The scenery changed drastically along the route to Nasca – from sand dunes to large rocky mountains. And, each time we crossed an oasis, we were treated to a few hundred meters of greenery.

A rare oasis on the way from Pisco to Nasca

As we were driving, I read a bit to the girls. I brought a book for myself – Women Hollering Creek by Sandra Cisneros. It is a book of short stories and when I came across a story about being 11 years old, I read it to the girls. They loved it and asked for more. The stories got less and less innocent as I continued to read. But, I figured I would go ahead and read them and that we could talk about it. That worked out fairly well, even with the story about a 13-year-old who is seduced by a 37-year-old and got pregnant. They had lots of questions about that, but at least we were talking, and no one was fighting in the back seat.

Reading Aventura 757, we also found out that there is a popular saying in Peru, "Estoy entre Pisco y Nasca," which refers to the production of alcohol in both places and means that you are intoxicated.

Nando at the Nasca lines

When we finally got to Kilometro 408, we almost missed the tower, as there were no signs indicating we were there. It was almost sundown, so we got there just in time. It took us a while to see the geoglifos – but, when we did, we were impressed. There were four figures drawn onto a hill in the distance.

The four figures drawn on a hill.

Happy to have arrived at the tower at km 408

After viewing those, we drove to Kilometer 424, where there is a big sign that reads – “Nasca Lines.” At this stand, there are vendors and there was a person charging 2 soles to enter and 1 sol for the kids. We paid and walked up the tower. From this tower, we could see a huge tree, a hand, and 180 meter lizard that, unfortunately, is cut across by the highway. When they first built the Pan American Highway, they didn’t know the lines were there and cut right across them. We all found that a bit tragic.

Nasca Lines - kilometer 424

Soraya, Raymi, andTatiana at the Nasca Lines

After seeing the lines, the sun was setting, and, by the time we got to Nasca it was dark. We found a nice hotel near the plaza called Don Honorio, that has little bungalows – stand alone rooms with porches. In the morning, I found out that the rooms also have awesome, hot showers. That felt great!

We spent a couple of hours wandering around Nasca in the evening in search of a few things we needed for our trip up to Puquio. We will be ascending 4000 meters in just 90 kilometers on the way to Puquio. The book recommends we take snacks and a thermos filled with hot tea. I figured we should take coca tea – as that is good for altitude sickness.

We went to five different stores looking for coca tea, but each was out of it. I guess we are not the only ones getting coca leaf tea before going up the mountain. In the morning, as we still had not found the tea, Nando went out to the market to buy some coca leaves. You can put those straight into hot water and make your own coca tea. It’s more natural anyway. I am really hoping that tea does the trick and we don’t get altitude sickness!