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| Acueductos de Cantalloc |
Apryle and I arrived in
Peru after a series of flights taking us from Cleveland to Fort Lauderdale to
Lima. Peru’s capital city was dark and hazy when we touched down. After customs
we were herded out into the gauntlet of cab drivers, one of which transported
to the bus station. We caught a bus that traveled through the night to the town
of Ica and from here we caught a local bus to Nazca.
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| Plaza de Armas from Hostel |
This bus stopped on
several occasions, stretching out the travel time, but also allowing us a
chance to observe the villages of the northern reaches of the Atacama Desert. As
soon as we arrived in the town of Nazca we were swept up by a man wanting to
sell us a flight over the famous lines north of town. Ultimately we accepted
the offer and purchased our tickets with Air Majoro.
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| The Whale |
We were given access to a
hostel near Plaza de Armas where we could store our things and rest for a while
before a shuttle would take us to Aerodromo Maria Reiche. From the small
airport we would board a small six-seat plane that would fly us about 2500ft
above the lines. The shuttle bus was about an hour behind and the plane was
running few hours behind as well, but we were not concerned about the time,
just excited to see one of archaeology’s greatest enigmas. We were told not to
eat for a few hours prior to the flight, and that was sound advice.
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| The Humming Bird |
Although we
had a tremendous pilot and informative guide; the banked turns and quick
sweeping maneuvers caused me to dry-heave several times. I still managed to
catch a glimpse of each figure on the tour and am grateful that we had the
opportunity to see the impressive work of the Nazca civilization.
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| The Astronaut |
The Nazca Lines are
geoglyphs that were created between 500 B.C. and A.D. 500. They encompass an
area of over 450 square kilometers and were believed to have had astronomical
significance. The lines that we were able to see on our fly-over consisted of
the: Whale, Trapezoids, Astronaut, Monkey, Dog, Humming Bird, Spider, Condor,
Alcatraz, Parrot, Hands, and Tree. Apryle’s favorite figure was the whale,
while I was most impressed with the Humming Bird. The final leg of the flight
was an aerial view of the Acueductos de Cantalloc, which were an impressive
network of aqueducts not far from the lines.
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| Post Flight |
After the undulating flight
over the Nazca Lines, I took a quick nap in order to sleep off the nausea and
dizziness. Our next move was exploring the town and surrounding area. We ran
from our hostel through the city streets and across the slowly trickling Rio
Tierras Blancas onto Paredones road which led us to the ruins of the same name.
Unfortunately we did not have the 10.10 soles to enter, so we ran back to the
hostel, got the money and returned. The interpretive ranger at the visitors
center was quite knowledgeable and seemed passionate about his job and
recommended that we check out some other ruins nearby as well.
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| Paredones |
If my sources are correct,
Paredones is actually an Incan built structure that post-dates the Nazca culture
by over a 1000 years. The structure was built as an administrative edifice for
the area and it garnered its name because of the meticulously fitted walls. A
trail led us around the ruins and offered us a chance to marvel at the stone
work and starkness of the surrounding landscape.
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| Paredones |
After we thoroughly
examined Pardedones we ran along Carretera Interoceanica until we reached a
sign for Geoglifo El Telar. This sight was more akin to the Nazca Lines and
featured a short climb up a ridge that afforded views of the geoglyphs below.
After a short stop here (an anticlimactic sight after flying 2500ft above the
Nazca Lines) we made our way northward toward the Acueductos de Cantalloc. This
was the spectacular network that we observed from above a few hours earlier.
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| Acueductos de Cantalloc |
The aqueducts were
impressive, created by the Nazca over 1500 years ago, and they still remain
functional today. The stone work is unmatched, with no use of mortar these
wells have stood the test of time. Apryle and I wandered down into the depths
of some of them and were enamored with their precision and intricacy. As an
avid stone wall builder, I was thoroughly impressed and enjoyed this destination
the most of our Nazca adventure.
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| Acueductos de Cantalloc |
Stringing all of these
places together was a challenge at times, though they were all pretty close, we
were always concerned about the stray dogs and reckless drivers. Running
through the town was interesting, many of the buildings were crumbling or
unfinished, dogs roaming the streets outnumbered the people and appeared to
loosely belong to certain families.
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| Acueductos de Cantalloc |
Many of the roads were dirt and lined with
trash and feces, and it is no wonder that the water is undrinkable after observing
the conditions of the river. There were sections where cars were driving through,
people were washing their clothes and dogs were splashing about. Additionally trash
was continuously lining the banks threatening the water quality.
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| Geoglifo El Telar |
Many of the destinations
were on small roads with inconspicuous signage and required vigilant
navigation. Geoglifo El Telar was only a few kilometers from Paredones, but
required navigation through a densely populated neighborhood. Then from Telar,
the Aqueducts were not far but after being chased by a vicious dog we were
forced to cut through a small dirt path through a field of Prickly Pear Cacti.
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| Acueductos de Cantalloc |
We
finally made our way toward the entrance, but it was directly across from a
long driveway guarded by several dogs that came out to inspect us. I guess we
were able to pass through, but on our way back from the Aqueducts we were
chased by another pack of dogs. In this case a few Peruvian men were laughing
and prompted us to think the dogs were not that dangerous.
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| Prickly Pear Cacti Field |
After a dry, hot, dusty
day navigating around Nazca, we made our way back to our hostel and relaxed for
a few minutes before heading back out to explore the town markets. We also made
the decision to purchase our bus tickets to Cusco, which would allow us to
reach our next destination and have a place to sleep since it was an overnight
ride.
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| Apryle in the Market |
Prior to leaving town, we had dinner at Restaurante Los Angeles and were
fortunate enough to be a part of a three person concert. The owner’s son was an
avid Rolling Stone, REM, Guns N Roses, Red Hot Chili Peppers and Pink Floyd
fan, so he played guitar while Apryle and I sang the lyrics. After a 10-12 song
set list, we reluctantly left for our winding and precarious bus ride to Cusco,
ending our one-day Nazca adventure.
Statistics
3.46 miles Plaza de Armas to Paredones, back to
Plaza de Armas and back to Paredones
.40 miles around the Paredones Ruins
1.28 miles from Paredones to Geoglifo El Telar
Entrance
2.20 miles from Geoglifo El Telar to Acueductos de
Cantalloc
2.28 miles from Acueductos de Cantalloc to Plaza de
Armas
10.14 miles and three points of interest without
spending a sole on transportation.
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