Nazca, Peru

There are a number of theories as to the reason behind the making of the Nazca lines. The most commonly accepted reason is that they were made by the Nazas people (around 200 A.D.) as an astronomical calendar that was used to determine when to plant and harvest crops. Of course there are those that believe that they were made by aliens.

There are a total of 14 different shapes. To fully appreciate the lines it's best to fly over them. I'm told if you wanted to see them up close you can only go so far as there are signs warning of land mines around each figure. Flights are best in the morning before the afternoon haze sets. The planes are small and depending on weather the turbulence can vary, so it's best to wait until after to have breakfast. As I'm riding to the airport the guide as me my weight, which I thought was needed to determine the amount of fuel but was really needed to make sure they balance the plane correctly. They of course use the metric system here and so I had to do the conversion, I felt like a supermodel. Maybe we should finally make the switch. The plane is defiantly the smallest one I've ever been in. There were 6 of us including the pilot and the guide, and no room for anyone else. It was so small that the lady next to me had to close the door on her side. As we were taking off there is an airport attendant standing about 2 feet away with a giant fire extinguisher, this did not instill confidence, but we took off with no issues.

From the plane we could view the entire Nazca valley. The lines themselves were easy to make out and the pilot would bank the plane towards the left and right to make sure that everyone was able to get photos. There was a little glare from the windows but most of my photos came out pretty well.