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!

Flamingos and Sea Lions in La Reserva Nacional de Paracas

We woke up Sunday morning in our hotel in Pisco. 

In 2007, Pisco suffered a 7.9 scale earthquake, which destroyed much of the town. The front part of our hotel - Villa Manuelita - was still in the process of reconstruction. And, the municipal building in front of our hotel and on the main plaza is still vacant because of earthquake damage.

City Hall with Earthquake damage

We thought of staying in Pisco a bit longer, but decided to get moving early in the morning. We loaded ourselves in the car to drive to Nazca. Shortly after leaving Pisco, we saw signs for the Reserva Nacional de Paracas. Neither Nando or I had been there before, so we decided to check it out. We figured at least we would have breakfast in Paracas – the town next to the Reserva.

We took a right turn off the Panamericana Sur and about ten minutes later, we were in the town of Paracas. We parked our car and walked along the beach. The girls were excited to see pelicans and there were tons of them hanging out on the fishing boats.

Tanya and Nando in Paracas

Paracas in the morning

As we walked into town, Nando spotted Edgar, an artisan friend of his and they talked while the girls and I admired his beautiful jewelry. We asked Edgar where we could get a bite to eat, and he recommended we try the tamales the lady on the corner was selling.

Edgar and Nando

Raymi - she likes this necklace

We bought tamales as well as delicious pan de leña – an artisanal bread they make in Paracas. We sat on a bench looking out at the beach, and enjoyed pan con tamales – a typical Peruvian Sunday breakfast.  I find Peruvian tamales especially delicious – the masa is flavored with sofrito, and they are stuffed with chicken and olives.

After breakfast, we decided to check out the Reserva. They charge just 5 soles for adults and 1.50 soles for kids. We drove in and our first stop was the welcome station. You can walk a few minutes from there and see tons of birds – including flamingos! The attendant at the Welcome Center lent us her binoculars and we were able to get a glimpse at the dozen flamingos relaxing in the swamp. In addition, there were several huge dead red jellyfish. The kids love animals and were fascinated watching the birds and the jellyfish. We stayed there for a while before piling up in the car again to continue our tour of the Reserva Nacional de Paracas.

Tatiana, Soraya, and Raymi checking out the flamingos

Lots of birds in the Reserva Nacional de Paracas

And a giant red jelly fish

End of the road

Flamingos - first time we've seen them in the wild

Our next stop was Lagunillas – a beautiful rustic beach where the kids saw a whale rib that was bigger than all of them. We also saw a dead pelican – which the kids found fascinating. The view was also quite pretty.

Lagunillas - a giant whale rib

At Lagunillas, we asked the guard how to get to where we could see sea lions and penguins. He pointed us towards a “road,” which I put in quotes because there is not really a road through the sand dunes. Instead you have to follow the tracks of previous cars that have passed through there. It was a bit nerve-wracking as we seemed to be the only people in the desert other than the occasional passing car and the guards at the station.

Reserva Nacional de Paracas - the desert

After driving about 20 minutes through strangely beautiful dunes, we arrived at the other side of the peninsula, where there was a sign telling us that we were almost to the Mirador de los Lobos Marinos – where we could see the sea lions. We parked the car and walked about 800m up a sand dune where we were treated with a spectacular view of huge cliffs that dropped straight down into the sea. And, sure enough, down below, there were large sea boulders covered with sea lions.

Sea Lions relaxing on the rocks

Reserva Nacional de Paracas

Reserva Nacional de Paracas

I always get a bit nervous near the edge of cliffs so could only stay there with the girls for about ten minutes. There was another overlook and Raymi and I went to check it out while Nando, Tatiana, and Soraya went back to relax in the car.

Raymi and I walked about 5 minutes and came to these awesome cliffs with waves crashing on them. There was also an overlook, but I was too scared to get close to it, so we just enjoyed the view from afar.

Walking back, Raymi and I marveled at the fact that we were the only people in this beautiful place. The Reserva is extremely peaceful, with miles and miles of sand dunes, and surrounded by a beautiful blue sea. I was very happy we decided to make the trip to the Reserva.

Pink hills in the Reserva

By this time, it was noon and we had run out of water to drink. There was much more to see, but we were tired and out of provisions. We decided to head back to Paracas to have lunch. In Paracas, we were treated with a beautiful blue sky – something we hadn’t seen since we arrived in Lima on Tuesday morning. I love that sensation when you see the sun for the first time in days and are reminded of how important sunshine can be.

We searched around for a reasonably priced lunch and found a place that sold us 3 menus for 8 soles each, plus 10 soles each for a ceviche and a chicharron de pescado. With a large bottle of water, the check came out to 49 soles – about $20 for the five of us. The menus with chicken soup and lomo saltado de pollo were cheaper, but we wanted to also try some of the seafood while we were still on the coast. Everything was tasty, and we had ordered too much food. We took a doggy bag and headed to our next destination – Las Lineas de Nasca.

Rosa and Nando

On the way to the car, we ran into Rosa, another artisan friend of Nando’s who sells artesania in Paracas. We chatted with her for a bit and reminisced on the days when Nando and I used to travel around Peru selling jewelry. I wonder if we will see a friend of Nando’s in each stop we make!

In Search of Aventura 757 – from Comas to Lima to Miraflores to Pisco

Finding the book Aventura 757 Kilometros was an aventura in itself. But, I knew I had to get a copy before leaving Lima, as I was sure I wouldn’t find it outside the capital.

I looked for the book in several bookstores on Thursday. We didn’t find it, but everyone we asked assured us that we could find the book in the center of Lima, near the Plaza San Martin. On Saturday, on the way out of Lima, we loaded ourselves and our luggage into the Yaris, and got on the road towards downtown Lima.

Driving in Lima is not for the timid. Since I tend to get nervous around aggressive drivers, Nando took the wheel. When we got to downtown Lima, we found ourselves turning around and around looking for one-way streets that went the way we wanted to.

Traffic in Comas on the way to downtown Lima

After turning around several times, we finally made it to the street that leads up to the Plaza San Martin that is full of bookstores. There was no parking nearby and the traffic was stop and go. So, I jumped out of the car in front of bookstores and asked in each one: “Do you have a copy of Aventura 757 kilometros written by Rafo Leon?” I got a “no” in each of the stores. Then, I realized they were all used bookstores, so I asked one of the book sellers where I could find a new bookstore. She sent me around the corner.

This time, Nando pulled up on a side street and waited while I went inside the bookstore. It looked promising, with new books lining its glass windows. When I got there, the cashier was on the phone. When she finished chatting, she told me they didn’t have it either, but recommended I check out the bookstore in Plaza Real – two blocks away. I jumped back in the car and we found a parking lot nearby. It was a block away from Plaza Real, so I left Nando and the kids there while I ran to the bookstore.

The cashier in this bookstore looked on her computer and told me she had sold her last one. But, she assured me they had a copy in the Miraflores store. I had to go back to the car with bad news. The kids were hungry, and I had promised them we would have Pizza Hut before leaving Lima. Confident I could find a Pizza Hut in Miraflores, we decided to trek over to one last store to find the book.

It took about 30 minutes in traffic to get to Miraflores. I went inside the Ibero bookstore and asked if they had the book. One of the attendants went over to a shelf and pulled it out! I was so relieved that all that running around had not been for naught. I bought the book and we set off across Parque Kennedy to Pizza Hut.

Raymi with Aventura 757 - finally!

There was no way my last meal I Lima was going to be at Pizza Hut, so after the kids ate there, Nando and I set out in search of our menu. On the way, there was an artisan selling jewelry in front of the park. Nando, of course, knew him, and had to greet him. The artisan’s name is Cisto, and Nando knows him from decades ago when he also sold jewelry in Miraflores. Nando called out his name, and Cisto immediately recognized him. They chatted for a bit, and Cisto recommended a restaurant to us – Samantha’s Criollo Restaurant, one street away from Parque Kennedy – near the Banco de la Nacion.

Nando, Raymi, and Cisto

We made it to Samantha’s and sat down to eat. Our food was amazing. Nando had cau cau – a potato and stomach dish – and causa de pollo – a dish made with chicken and mashed potatoes. I don’t favor beef stomach, but Nando said his cau cau was delicious. I had a salad and aji de gallina – a dish made with cream, chicken, and hot peppers. The food was so good that, although the kids had already had pizza, they were more than happy to help us finish off our huge portions. The food at Samantha’s is not only delicious, but also cheap. Our bill was 25 soles – about $10.00.

Causa de pollo

Cau Cau

Aji de Gallina - a family favorite

After eating, we loaded back up into the car, and made our way to the Costa Verde highway, which goes along the beach in Lima. The kids begged to get out of the car and go to the beach, but it was getting late, so we decided to keep going. We left the city around 4pm. It’s at least a 4-hour drive to Nazca, our first stop, so we had to get moving.

The kids were very impatient in the car when we were stuck in traffic on the way to downtown Lima, but once we got on the highway, they chilled out a bit and we all were able to relax. I even got a chance to peek at my book, which looks amazing.

Once we were on the highway, things were going smoothly until our first police stop. The police officer pulled us over and told us that it is mandatory to have your headlights on and that there is a 300 sole fine for that. He called Nando outside of the car for a chat. Nando came back letting me know that the police officer wanted a bribe. We didn’t have any soles left, so I gave Nando $10. That seemed to do the trick.

About 20 minutes later, another officer stopped us. He asked if the girls had on seatbelts, which they fortunately did. We had our lights on and were going under the speed limit, so hoped we wouldn’t get another request for cash. We didn’t and he let us go on our way. Since that incident, the girls barely need a reminder to put on their seatbelts.

At 7pm, we had only made it as far as Pisco – just halfway from Lima to Nazca. But, it was dark and we were tired so we decided to look for a hotel in Pisco. We found a nice hotel with a very large room, comfortable beds, hot water, and Internet. The hotel is called Villa Manuelita, and is right next to the Plaza de Armas in Pisco. The girls were very pleased with the room and immediately began to play on the beds.

Happy at Villa Manuelita

After relaxing for a bit, we went out to grab a bite to eat. There were two very full Chinese restaurants, but I didn’t want Chinese food. So, we chose one of the two very empty Peruvian restaurants. The chicken soup they gave all of us for a starter was tasty and hot. But, the main course was clearly leftovers from lunch. The papa a la huancaina tasted like the milk had gone bad, and the tallarines with chicken was just a little off. I took a couple of bites and left it. Next time, we will be sure to go to the restaurants that actually have other people in them.

Sopa de menudencia de pollo

To get back to the hotel, we walked down a pedestrian street and past the plaza. Soraya went straight to sleep, Tatiana and Raymi took showers, and we all relaxed.

Pedestrian walkway in Pisco

Pisco Plaza at night

In search of Aventura 757 km - Driving from Lima to Cuzco

I arrived in Lima on Tuesday, July 3 with my Peruvian husband, Nando, and our three kids - aged 11, 11, and 8. We have been staying at my sister-in-law's house in Comas, where I have been working to finalize my research plans here in Peru. (I will be conducting a study on humor and racial ideologies in Peru.)

After being in Lima for five days, we are anxious to get on the road and go to Cuzco. After researching a few options, we have decided that the best way to get to Cuzco is to rent a car. It is cheaper than flying, and should be more enjoyable than going by bus.

We have traveled by bus from Lima to Cuzco several times, and thus are fine with not having that experience again. Last year, we rented a car in Guatemala, and had an amazing time. Hopefully the experience will be as good or better here in Peru.


We are set to leave Lima today at noon and hope to make it to Nazca tonight. If not, we at least will get as far as Ica. Before we leave, I really want to get a copy of this book: Aventura 757 km. Guía de ruta Survial by Rafo León Rodríguez. I heard about the book on the Lonely Planet forums and on the blog Living in Peru, where Carsten Korch also details his family's trip from Lima to Cuzco by car.

I asked for the book in several bookstores here in the Cono Norte where we are staying, but had no luck. It seems I will have to go to the center of Lima to get it. We will make a stop there on the way out of Lima, as we have to go in that general direction. I really hope I can find the book, as I have read great reviews of it.

Soraya - happy to be in Lima

Tatiana - happy to be on the couch in front of the TV

The kids love being here in Lima at my sister-in-law's house, mostly because she has six dogs, several cats, cable television, and Internet. It has been great for me to be connected, and to eat the amazing food here in Lima. But, it will be good for us to get on the road and have our own adventure.

As I am writing this, the kids are downstairs arguing about which television station to watch. We've let them go a bit overboard with the television these past few days, but I am looking forward to turning it off soon!

Raymi - in the Yaris ready to go.

The car we got is a Toyota Yaris. I wasn't sure if all of our bags would fit, but they did. We packed as lightly as we could. We each have one carryon suitcase and one backpack. In addition, we have another backpack that has a few extra items - towels, toiletries, books, and toys. All of the suitcases plus my husband's big tambour drum fit into the trunk of the Yaris, and we will carry the backpacks and a couple of blankets in the car with us.

We are waiting for our clothes to finish drying at the laundromat and then will hit the road! I am excited!

An amazing (and inexpensive) meal in Comas, Lima, Peru

Lima, Peru is one of the world’s gastronomic capitals. There are many people who write about this, but you see less information online about inexpensive restaurants in working-class neighborhoods. 

As I am staying in Comas – a working-class neighborhood in the northern cone of Lima – I can tell you that the food in these establishments can be delicious and cheap. You just have to find one of these places and know the difference between the menu and the carta.

Today, for example, my husband and I had amazing menus for 6 soles – about $2.50. My husband, Nando, had caldo de gallina (chicken soup) and adobo de res (beef stew with rice and beans). I had ceviche for an appetizer and fried fish with rice, salad, and yucca for a main course.

Sign in restaurant advertising food from the menu

The place we went today is called “Restaurante Cevicheria Sabor Norteño,” and is on Avenida Mexico near the intersection with Tupac Amaru Boulevard in Comas. It’s a few blocks from where we are staying, so we walked over there.

Outside the restaurant, there is a chalkboard which announces the “menu.” In Peru, the “menu” is the two-course meal of the day. Most restaurants have a few choices for this low-priced lunch. The Cevicheria we went to today had a choice of ceviche or chicken soup as a starter, and then a choice of about eight different main courses, including tallarin verde (pesto), tallarin saltado (Peruvian-style lo mein), seco de pollo (cilantro chicken) and others.

When we first sat down, the waiter gave us the menu. In Spanish, the menu is called “la carta” and has all of the expensive items. It is not to be confused with the “menu” which is the low-priced meal of the day. We looked at the “carta” and decided to try the 6-sole menu instead of paying 25 soles for a ceviche or 35 soles for a parihuela, even though the pictures looked tempting.

Nando enjoying his caldo de gallina

The first thing to come out was Nando’s caldo de gallina – a steamy, flavorful chicken soup. I enjoy eating it with a bit of cancha. Cancha is Peruvian popcorn – except the kernels are so big the corn grains don’t actually pop.

Next, my ceviche came out. The ceviche had rocoto peppers, onions, and cilantro mixed in and was served with Peruvian corn, sweet potato and lettuce. It was delicious. We also ordered a passion fruit juice – which you can see in my glass in the photo below.

Nando’s main course was adobo de res, served with beans, rice, and a bit of salad.

Finally, I had my pescado frito, which was served with fried yucca, rice, and a bit of salad. This was also quite tasty.

We left very satisfied and ready to take our siestas!

From Kansas to California – with a stop on the way in Peru

We are moving from Kansas to California, and have a six-week trip to Peru planned in between. I didn’t plan things this way on purpose, but this is how they worked out.

Getting out of the house and on the road was a bit more challenging this time than it has been in the past. The reason for this is that we moved out of our house just before traveling. It sounds a bit crazy, but, in retrospect, I can say that it was a good idea.

Since I have to move to California this summer and we also want to go to Peru, we decided to move out of our house in Kansas, go to Peru, and have our stuff shipped to California so that it is waiting for us when we get there. (This last bit is a good thing as the movers can take up to three weeks to get our stuff from Kansas to California.)

The movers came to our house on Thursday, packed our things, and, by Friday afternoon, drove off with nearly all of our belongings loaded onto a truck. Before they came, I had to pack for Peru – to make sure they didn’t take the things we needed to Peru with them.

When the movers drove off, everything remaining in our house to fit into three categories – 1) stuff we were taking to Peru; 2) stuff we were planning to get rid of; and 3) stuff that we would put in our car and drive to California. This made getting packed fairly easy.

The hard part was getting all of the extra junk out of our house and cleaning the house up so that the renters could move in once we vacated. We spent most of Saturday and Sunday cleaning up and fixing things around the house. My husband, Nando, was still fixing things on Monday morning, even though we were supposed to leave for the airport at 10am. When he suggested he would try and re-install the gutter, I had to draw the line. With an old house built in 1910, there is always something else to fix. We had to leave good enough alone and make our way to the airport.

Despite what you might expect with us simultaneously pulling off a cross-country move and an international trip for a family of five, things went remarkably smoothly. We left for the airport an hour later than planned, but that worked out fine, as I had planned on arriving an hour earlier than we needed to – just in case.

One of the things that made this trip relatively easy is that we packed as lightly as we could. My goal was for us to travel to Peru for six weeks with the same amount of luggage as we took to Hawaii for five weeks – a carry on suitcase and a backpack each. However, that was not as easy for Peru, in part because we will be in cool Lima, cold Cuzco, and hot Piura. In addition, we also like to take our own towels and toiletries to Peru, and I needed to take a few items for my research. So, we took our carry on suitcases and backpacks, in addition to two other items – Nando took his large backpacker backpack and I took a medium-sized suitcase. Still, that amount of stuff was manageable.

We got to the airport, checked in, and got on our plane to Chicago. At O’Hare, we treated ourselves to a tasty meal at Macaroni grill before boarding our flight to Miami. In the past few years, US airports increasingly have decent restaurants. I find you pay just a bit more, but the food is much better than the typical fast food places in the food court. We shared a pizza, lasagna, and fried calamari. The food was great, the kids were happy, and we paid about the same amount we would have paid had we eaten in the food court. Plus, we got table service and could relax during our two-hour layover.

The flight to Miami was a bit delayed, and the kids got a bit rowdy on the plane as we waited 20 minutes on the plane for takeoff. But, it was nothing too outrageous and the other passengers were fairly forgiving. As I write this, we are still on the plane to Miami, where I hope we will have time to stop at the delicious Cuban restaurant in the Miami airport – La Carreta.  (Update: The food was indeed delicious and the kids loved it!)

Our flight from Miami to Lima leaves a midnight and arrives at 4:30am. We will be exhausted tomorrow, but I am sure the kids will spend the day running around and playing with their cousins, and especially their cousins’ pets. The twins are 11 and my younger daughter is 8. We haven’t been to Peru as a family since 2007, but they remember our last trip well and are excited about what awaits us.

We ended up having to take a roundabout route to Peru because we are travelling with frequent flyer miles. Frequent flyer miles are great because you travel practically for free, but it is very hard to get the dates and schedules that you want. We were lucky to get dates that worked for us. And, when you have a family of five – getting free tickets to Peru is a major deal!

Despite the last-minute rush and the long trip to Peru, I am excited about returning to Peru, and especially to Cuzco. Cuzco is amazingly beautiful and full of colors. I am so excited about the pictures I will take. I am also super excited about seeing friends and family and just chilling out for a while. I will have some work to do while I am in Peru, but will be there long enough that I will also have plenty of time to enjoy my stay. I almost can’t believe that when I wake up, I’ll be in Peru!