Having avoided Huacachina‘s famous party scene, we managed to get up bright and early to grab breakfast at our hotel before leaving for our 8:30 shuttle bus pickup. We were taking a detour from the main Peru Hop bus route to take a sightseeing flight over the mysterious Nazca Lines.

Leaving Huacachina

The drive from Huacachina passes through some pretty desolate desert scenery. Closer to Nazca itself there are orange-growing communities, where oranges displayed for sale line the streets.

Th road is gravel a lot of the way. There are some elevation changes which involve some interesting switchbacks.

About two hours after leaving Huacachina we arrived at Nazca Airport and checked in for our Aeronasca Nazca Lines flight. The check in staff weighed us all, then performed some calculations to allocate us to various flights. While we waited, we watched a video playing on a loop explaining the history of the Nazca Lines and how they were made.

Boarding Our Flight

Soon, our co-pilot collected us to get ready for our flight. One other passenger joined Heide, Lachlan and I as we headed to our plane.

The co-pilot took a picture of us, then we squeezed into the small plane.

Once we were on board, the co-pilot explained what we were about to see and experience as we taxied to our position for take off. When we were in the air, the co-pilot took a picture of us all buckled in for our Nazca Lines experience.

Before we got to the lines themselves we got some great views of irrigated green farmland surrounding the town of Nazca.

This soon gave way to desert, and we were ready to see the lines themselves.

The Nazca Lines

The first figure we came across was the Whale. The pilot banked and turned sharply to give people on both sides of the plane a chance to see it. It was a pretty intense ride for the half an hour or so it took to see all the figures.

Next we saw some gigantic trapezoidal shapes. These may have had some astronomical significance or purpose.

The next figure is one of the most mysterious. The Astronaut has been cited as evidence that the Nazca lines were built by aliens, or with help from aliens. I think this is unlikely.

The next two figures were the Monkey and the Dog. The Monkey’s tail is a spiral, which has been adopted as a symbol of Peru (and looks really cool on stickers and tee shirts).

Next we saw the Hummingbird, followed by a spiral. The highway passed near the spiral, which gave us a good sense of how massive these figures are.

The Condor is one of the most iconic of the Nazca Lines figures. The spider and the Parrot are also often seen on tee shirts in souvenir shops.

Next we saw the Orca and the Heron.

Towards the end of the flight we passed over the observation tower next to the highway. The Peru Hop ticket includes a stop at this tower where you can see a few of the figures. We were glad that we had decided to make the extra effort (and pay the extra expense) to do a Nazca Lines flight, as we saw so much more that we would have from the viewing tower.

Nazca Town

After our Nazca Lines flight, the shuttle bus took us into the town of Nazca. It dropped us off at a cafe that was the meeting point where we would rejoin the Peru Hop bus for the overnight trip to Arequipa.

After having some lunch, we still had a few hours to kill before our pick-up time. Lachlan decided to stay at the cafe and take advantage of its wi-fi. Heide and I decided instead to visit the Museo Antonini to learn more about the Nazca culture.

This small but interesting museum contains lots of artifacts from the pre-Incan Nazca culture.

We were particularly fascinated by the collection of human skulls, relics of the human sacrifices practiced by the Nazca people.

Behind the museum is a section of aqueduct. This is an example of the advanced engineering skills that helped the Nazca people survive in an inhospitable environment.

Leaving Nazca

After we had seen everything in the museum, we strolled back to the cafe, enjoying the late afternoon sunshine.

We had time to eat some dinner before the Peru Hop guide showed up and led us down the street to board the bus to Arequipa.

The Nazca Lines flight was a highlight of our time in Peru. It was definitely worth the slightly complicated logistics and the extra expense to add it in to our Peru Hop itinerary.