The Nazca Lines - One Of The World's Great Unsolved Mysteries

We arrived in the desert city of Nazca with one intention - to see the famous Nazca Lines. These are a complex series of ancient lines, geometric shapes and stylised motifs, all drawn in the desert and encompassing a huge area. The figures include several designs based on animals and plants, including for example a monkey, a hummingbird and a spider. They are on such a large scale that they can only really be appreciated from the air  - most of the animals are 50-100m long, while the lines are often several km long and 1-3m wide.

The hummingbird figure

The Nazca Lines were created by the Nazca culture and its predecessor, the Paracas culture, between around 500 BC and 500 AD. It would have been a huge undertaking. All the figures and lines were made by clearing away the top layer of dark pebbles and revealing the whiter ground underneath. The lines are so straight that they must have been painstakingly planned and measured - some even theorise that the Nazca must have had hot air balloons to be able to create such precise designs that only become clear from the air. Despite being so old, the geoglyphs have remained in good condition due to the extreme aridity of the desert environment.

Our tiny plane for the Nazca Lines flight

Kev had always wanted to take the flight over the lines, but I was less sure and was very nearly put off by the horror stories of poor safety, horrific air sickness and general very bad organisation! At the last minute I decided to go for it, and was very glad I did. The flight was simply incredible: one of the top experiences of the trip so far. We were in a 6 seater plane with another couple plus pilot and co-pilot. The pilot flew round 12 of the most famous figures, banking first left and then right so that people on both sides of the plane could see. We had amazingly clear views of every figure and could better understand their layout and the sheer immensity of the lines. And no air sickness!

A pair of hands - also sometimes known as the frog

While various theories have been propounded, the purpose of the lines remains unknown. Most experts agree that they probably had some religious significance, perhaps intended as symbols to be seen by the gods above: archaeological evidence shows that ceremonies and festivals may have taken place along them. Other theories link the lines to astronomy and some suggest that they were used as some sort of huge celestial calendar. They could also have been paths leading to water sources - vital when living in such a dry environment. One of the world's enduring mysteries.

In the Cantalloc aqueducts

While in Nazca we explored some ruins from the Nazca civilisation. Firstly the Cantalloc aqueducts, a sophisticated system of subterranean water channels that the Nazca designed for irrigating their crops. They look like interconnected terraces, spiralling down to wells at the bottom, and are still used today. Next the slightly gruesome Chauchilla Cemetery, a burial site from the later Nazca period, still containing mummified human remains in open graves. Interestingly, many of the mummies had headdresses or very long hair styled like dreadlocks. We also visited Cahuachi, the remains of an important ceremonial centre and pilgrimage destination for the Nazca. The ruins here were in excellent condition despite being built of mud bricks, again thanks to the extreme conditions here.

Nazca mummies in the Chauchilla Cemetery 

From Nazca we moved on to the small coastal town of Paracas. We had a long walk around the desert peninsula, admiring the beautiful marine scenery and seeing more flamingoes than anywhere else we've been. The next day we took a boat trip out to the nearby Islas Ballestas, 'the poor man's Galapagos', as many descriptions put it. The wildlife here was stunning - the sky became thick with birds as we approached, and the islands themselves are simply covered in colonies of cormorants, Peruvian boobies and Inca terns, among others. They're also home to Humboldt penguins, sea lions and pelicans and we saw all of these at close proximity. Not the Galapagos, but a pretty good alternative for now!

Playa Roja (Red Beach) - part of the Paracas peninsula 

While in Paracas we happened to be discussing what would happen if a tsunami hit .. and lo and behold the next day after the earthquake in Chile there were tsunami warnings throughout coastal Peru. Fortunately we'd moved on by then 60 km inland to the desert town of Ica, where we enjoyed some wine tasting. Yes, Peru's major wine region is in the desert! There's no comparison with Chilean wine, but the 2012 Petit Verdot was surprisingly good actually. We also visited Ica's excellent museum, and will leave here tonight heading for Ayacucho, up in the central highlands.

So many birds! Peruvian boobies at the Islas Ballestas

Ups and Downs in Patagonia

Travel can have its ups and downs, as proven by our recent few days.

Last week we took a trip from Trelew to Punta Tombo, which has the largest colony of Magellanic penguins in the world with around half a million penguins. We walked along a wooden boardwalk through the colony with penguins on either side, often right next to the path. As we got nearer the sea their number increased and soon there were penguins literally everywhere we looked. Although we'd seen penguins at Peninsula Valdés, this was a much better experience as we were so much closer to them. We could hear the noises they made really well - somewhere halfway between a honking noise like a goose and the eeyore of a donkey.

So many penguins!

From Trelew we decided to make Puerto Deseado, the 'Port of Desire', our next stop. This was a small town 600 km or so further down the coast, which we'd heard had lovely scenery and was an excellent place to see rare Rockhopper penguins. Arriving in Puerto Deseado at 11 pm after a 9 hour bus ride, our first impressions were not favourable. The place was completely dead except for fierce dogs everywhere. One even leapt over its fence and chased us, barking all the way. Things didn't improve in the morning - the hotels were all extortionately priced and apparently 'full' despite there still being no-one around. Visiting nearby scenery and wildlife also proved prohibitively expensive. The town hadn't quite lived up to its name!

At least Puerto Deseado has a pretty estuary

Still, onwards and upwards. We left Puerto Deseado before the crack of dawn and a few hours later arrived in the dusty pitstop town of Perito Moreno where we booked a tour to the nearby Cueva de las Manos (Cave of the Hands). The drive there took us through some of the most incredible scenery imaginable, looking down into a deep canyon and passing through arid landscapes coloured all shades of the rainbow by mineral deposits. The cave itself is a UNESCO world heritage site and was even more spectacular. There are rock paintings here dating from 9000 years ago, most of them the eponymous handprints. There were even ancient maps and advice on how to hunt guanaco. The paintings are in exceptionally good condition - you'd think they were painted yesterday. We were joined on this trip by an Argentinian patriarch who turned out to be the great-grandson of Perito Moreno himself!

The view down to the canyon with Cueva de las Manos

A fantastic day... but then disaster struck. Unfortunately, while our bags were in the back of the pick up truck to the cave, a container of spare petrol spilt everywhere and all of our possessions were covered in petrol. We had to throw a lot of things away, and separated the rest into two black sacks of clean and contaminated items. The dirty sack was significantly bigger than the clean one. We had to wait around with the smelly sacks at a desolate one horse town for several hours for our night bus to El Chaltén. Arriving there this morning, we promptly took everything to the laundry and it is all now airing outside. It still smells.

Hands and other symbols

On the plus side, El Chaltén is perfectly situated adjacent to the Fitz Roy range and the scenery here is jaw droppingly beautiful, with a perfect view of snowy peaks from our hostel balcony. It's a pretty amazing place to be, and we look forward to exploring further.

In and Around Puerto Madryn

Our next destination after Sierra de la Ventana was to be Puerto Madryn, home to the UNESCO-listed Península Valdés. The bus route was going to be tricky - we could either stay in Bahía Blanca or Viedma, or both - and we were running low on ready cash.

Sunset over the square in Bahía Blanca

We decided to go for Bahía Blanca - it sounded a bit more interesting than Viedma, was a shorter bus journey, and is a larger city so more chance of finding somewhere to exchange money at a good rate. The incredibly helpful lady in the Sierra de la Ventana tourism office helped us find a cheap room and a list of backup options. On arrival, the cheap room was on a dark, dark street, with unsavoury characters hanging around outside. We went for one of the backup options.

Having survived the night in spite of the 32° heat and the overpowering stench of gas ('no, no, there's no gas here'), we spent the day taking in the sights of Bahía Blanca. It's a pleasant city, with a large tree-filled square and several pedestrianised shopping streets. There isn't a huge amount to do for tourists so we whiled away our time away in several cafes - we did manage to exchange money at a decent rate with the staff in one of these. Our bus to Puerto Madryn was due to leave at 23:40, but was delayed for an hour while the drivers decided what to do with all of the luggage. It was already crammed full of bags, despite there being no one on it, so there was no room for the luggage of the 30 people waiting to get on. We don't know what they did with the first set in the end, or where it had come from.

Drinking maté

After a couple of days exploring the coastal town of Puerto Madryn, we decided that the best way to visit Península Valdés would be on a tour. We were picked up by our friendly and knowledgeable guide, Hugo, and driven in a minibus around the mostly gravel roads of the peninsula. He shared his maté with us, a bitter herby tea that is an institution here and in surrounding countries. It is traditionally drunk from special maté cups with metal filter straws and passed round between friends.

Elephant seals

Burrowing owl

Although it is the wrong season for right whales, and the sea was too rough for seeing orcas, we were still spoilt by the abundance of wildlife across the peninsula. Amongst other things, the highlights were the noisy sea lion colony (they sound a lot like sheep), elephant seals, Magellanic penguins, burrowing owls, guanacos (undomesticated llamas) and hairy armadillos. What a great start to our time in Patagonia!

Penguins!

Sea lions