Lima and Nazca (Peru)

Ola all!

We are a bit overdue on our postings, sorry for that. We hit an internet blackout zone in Easter Island and Tahiti due to difficult access and exorbitant prices...

Anyway, we are now ready to bring you up to date from the lovely and civilized New Zealand!

After that amazing adventure which was the Inca Trail we made our way for a short stay in Lima. During our journey we had heard the most awful things happening to tourists there, so we were a bit apprehensive. The main piazza is absolutely beautiful and definitely worth a visit and... that's about it. The rest of Lima is either not safe or not interesting. Still, one last night with Nacho turned the main piazza in Lima into THE place to be that evening :-)

With our team reduced to the two of us we headed south. I have always wanted to see the Nazca lines, a group of patterns made in the desert representing varied shapes from animals to geometric figures. The amazing thing is their size and complexity: the biggest one is over 200m in length! The fact that the figures were made on a massive plain creates two puzzling issues: firstly it is really astonishing how they were made without a higher view point from which to direct the workers on the plain; secondly no one at the time would have been able to appreciate the figures since they can only be admired from a plane (except for a couple which a near a small lookout tower). Yes, several UFO theories were also put forward to explain these points. Since the Nazca culture was long extinct no one knows why the figures were made so you can choose your favorite theory. The most accepted one is that they must have had some religious meaning. Being a girl, I think the Nazca people found the desert landscape very boring and just decided to have it decorate by some then fashionable local artists. I'm sorry for not having photos but you can easily find then on the internet, it's worth having a look for them.

You can find on the net loads of advice on how to do the flight, the most common one being not to have breakfast beforehand. I have to say my flight was in a small plane, whith other 5 people, and that I had no indisposition problems. But then again I followed the advice and didn't have breakfast ;-)

One last note: on our way to Nazca we passed by Ica and Pisco, the places most affected by last August's earthquake. The situation there was still pretty grim with most places reduced to piles of rubble and people living in tents. It made us feel a bit selfish to see people living like this while I spent $40 for a 15min flight over the lines, so we made a donation. Anyway here is a link to the Direct Relief webpage, in case you want to do so aswell:

http://www.directrelief.org/EmergencyResponse/2007/EarthquakePeru/EarthquakePeru.aspx?gclid=CLiRw8C7wo8CFSosagodwmqOYg

Bye for now,

Vania