It's those mysterious lines etched in the earth smack dab in the middle of the Nazca desert; they bring images of rituals, the sun, and alien spacecrafts. Today I would fly over these mystical, mysterious drawings so huge you can't see them properly at ground level. The only way to see them is from the air. What was the reason these huge images were drawn? Were they meant for worshipping gods and deities? Were they for an athletic purpose? Perhaps for a track & field type event. Were they meant for being an astronomical chart mapping various celestial bodies? Or were they a navigation system for visiting aliens? It's hard to say which theory I agree with the most, but I believe most the last theory. It's possible there's been intelligent extraterrestial life even thousands of years ago! Various pieces of artwork from around the world that are hundreds of years old depict images of UFOs and aliens. As I was set to fly on a 4-seater piper cub I paid an airport tax and then got the co-pilot's seat (someone the other day told me to ask for it). It was all systems go, our headphones were on, and we were off into the sky! The Nazca desert is sun-parched with virtually no vegetation. The first formation we flew over was the whale, and I had my camera ready. Snap!, and up came the trapezoids and then the astronaut on the side of the hill. The astronaut leads me to believe the alien theory regarding the lines. Then we flew by the monkey, which was a bit hard to make out at first but I got a good photo. At some points the plane was almost at a 90 degree angle because the pilot was maneuvering so we could see the lines from both sides of the plane. We saw the dog and condor and then the spider; one of the most recognizable formations. The Nazca people drew part of the spider that can only be seen with a microscope yet they did it long before the microscope was invented! The most recognizable formation is the hummingbird, which was the next one we'd see. After snapping an excellent photo we saw the alcatras, parrot, hands, and tree. The last formations are the palpa bird, pelican, and star. There are 15 drawings and I got photos of all of them! The pilot flew us over the ancient cemetery before we touched down safely at the airport. My stomach finally calmed down! Skip breakfast before the flight; it's very stomach-churning and you don't want to puke all over the plane! Be aware also that whilst rain and clouds aren't much of an issue in coastal Peru, wind will often prevent flights from taking off. Even though my stomach hurt a little I would totally fly over the lines again and it's well worth it for only $50. I tipped the pilot a few soles before getting a photo and then wondering why the lines are here. The Nazca people left no record to explain their drawings and nobody knows for certain why they here, but one thing is for certain: they may be close to 2,000 years old but they're very fragile. It would take only a few years of consistently walking on the lines (as many tourists do) to irreparably damage them, and the Panamericana runs straight through one of the drawings. The dry climate is ideal for preservation of the lines but if weather patterns change enough to allow consistent rain they wouldn't have much life left. Fragile, beautiful, and mysterious all in one, the Nazca Lines are one of the world's great mysteries.
I was enamoured by the lines enough that I did my senior project on locals' perspective of tourism at the Nazca Lines. Many locals see the lines as a viable source of income but some are aware of the irreversible damage that's been done to the lines.
