Day 44 Wednesday 7th November: Mike finds El Dorado at last!

John writes:

Last night we explored the small town on Nazca which seems to multiply after dark with bars, restaurants, people and pimp my ride cars promenading and preening – the locals are very loud – shouting or honking horns till all hours of the night. However we had a quiet evening as up early again for transfer to Nazca International airport for our 35 minute flight over the famous Nazca lines. We were accompanied by another couple with a significant age gap which we found quite intriguing – not sure if it was a marriage made in heaven or a commercial arrangement but the boys’ antennae were definitely twitching. After our check in and weigh in it was decided that Doug couldn’t fit into the same plane as the 5 other boys so he took one for the team and went with another group.

The ‘core team’ bravely set forth in the slim line flight with the “odd” couple, all squashed in together, headphones on immediately and all looking forward or out of the window. A major concern for the co-pilot and tour operator seems to be air sickness so breakfast was to be avoided until after the flight. ‘1 litre bags’ were provided but none used!

Fabulous views over the desert as we only flew about 1500 feet altitude. We could easily see the road we had driven along which looks even more spectacular from the air.

The Nazca lines are geoglyphs and were first written of as far back as 1553 but were mistaken to be trails. It was only with the invention of flying that the scale became apparent in the 1920s. There appear to be wide discrepancies in reported ages but one suggests they date back to between 200BC – 500AD. They lines cover 170 square miles and are made up of numerous geometrical shapes and lines as well as a number of plants, animals and the odd human form. The lines are actually trenches varying between 10-15cms in depth.

The lines are quite difficult to make out, especially through a lens but the monkey and humming bird are both 93m long. Some lines are very close to the highway and some even bisected by the road which gives some perspective.

Our short flight concluded before 9am, by which time Doug knew all of his fellow travellers well and we had a talkative trip back to the hotels. A late breakfast was followed by sunbathing for Doug and Chris and some admin for Mike and myself. Mike is still battling with a bank reconciliation from a distance of 6,500 miles which must be some kind of world record!

Enthused by our cultural exposure we headed uptown for a trip to the local museum. Vast amounts of information about the Nazca archaeology and cultures but a little over our head. We tried hard reading the English version but very dry and clearly written by passionate experts rather than enthusiastic amateurs.

During the day the town looks a bit run down but the people are generally friendly. We did watch a real Latino punch up which spilled on to the road with participants ignoring the traffic – just as the drivers ignore pedestrians especially at the zebra crossings.

However even during the day every driver honks his horn every few seconds which the locals ignore and irritates the older of the tourists. Much local produce was on offer – we passed on the chicken despite its attractive presentation and opted for the coca lozenges and coca leaves for our thermos flask! Doug negotiated well for the hair cut pricing and leads the team with a wash, cut and shave for $3. Just as well Jill can’t see it.

An interesting phenomenon in Nazca (especially for Chris) is not the historic geoglyphs but the Daewoo Tico. Manufacture was discontinued 25 years ago but it is the cult car in Nazca and every cool dude in town has his own  pimp my ride. Engines have the rumble of a V8, horns are like Kenwood trucks and the paint work and body stickers take you back to the 70s.

Best seen at night when the sounds systems blare and the lights shows are second to none but a pretty good show during the day too.

Mike’s quest for El Dorado continued after the disappointment of Bogota and today he succeeded at the third attempt. Not sure if he was upgrading to a gold filling as a replacement but the dentist poured lots of horrible liquid into his mouth so we’re off to support him with a cleansing ale as a mouth wash.

Tomorrow it’s the start of some serious driving over the next 3 days. We only have 250 miles along the Pacific coast to Camana but on recent performance this could take us 8 hours!