The Nasca Lines are an extraordinary phenomenon in themselves. We know the date of creation, by which tribes but we do not know why they were created.  They were made over a period of several hundred years but no one passed on the folklore of their use.  Until the Spanish invaded South America, no alphabet and therefore no written work was ever recorded. The only records were paintings.

We had an early start to get to the airport. It is the second busiest after Lima, with constant small planes taking off. We are told there is an average of 600 people flying per day all the year round.  Luckily it was a very clear day and therefore we had an excellent view.

The drawings and figures span an area of 50 kms by 15 kms with for instance the spider measuring 48mts in length.

The Astronaut                                                                                     The Dog                                                                                                     The Spider

The Condor                                                                                        Humming Bird                                                                                              Tree/Hands

The monkey                                                                                         Spectacular landscape                                                                                 The lines

Smooth landing                                                                                        Very happy customer

Apart from the animal and insect figures there are hundreds of straight lines many of them several kilometres long cris- crossing  the desert. These are of a later period than the animals. They were created by moving all the stones from the surface of the sand and as there is never any rain there has been no water erosion.

We were very excited by our trip but I felt very airsick and spent 30 minutes lying down to recover.

In the evening we went to a lecture on Maria Reiche (a German, who escaped the Nazi regime to Peru in the 30s and worked on the Nasca Lines continuously from 1946 until her death in 1998).

She believed that the lines were an astronomical calendar linked to the rising and setting points of  celestial bodies on the East and West horizons.  According to her theories they were designed to help organize planting and harvesting crops. Others theorized that they indicated aquifers and  water flows from the Andes.They may also have had religious and mythical connotations. It has even been suggested that they are to help extra-celestial aliens to land.   Therefore nobody knows WHY!!!!!!