April 7, 2013

• Peru-sing the Nazca lines- The Adventure Begins

  What has two thumbs and is back from sabbatical? THIS GUY!

  

  Yes, in one of the wiser decisions of my life (and I dont mean that facetiously), I took some time from the job search to make the yearly trip abroad with friends, this time to South America, where we were off to Peru. The next handful of posts will be about that trip, and by the time I am done, hopefully the last post will be about a job. But I digress. We landed in Lima, where we stayed just long enough to have lunch and then set out for a 5 hour bus ride to Ica, near the desert. It would be our staging base for the next two days of adventure before beginning the big tour.

  

  New additions to the travel group this year are two of my oldest friends, aytch and andysensei. I have known these guys since I was in elementary school, and my first trip abroad with a friend was to Japan with andy nigh on a decade ago. So this ought to be interesting.

  

  First order of business was to down a pitcher of Pisco sours, which were….well, okay, not great, but still fun. Then we set about planning our activities on the ground. But before that…

  

  foreign playplace!

  

  My enabler in mischief.

  

  Our first decision was to head out and flyover the Nazca lines

  

  

  The Nazca lines are a series of ancient geoglyphs located in the desert of southern Peru. Visible only from the air or atop the surrounding foothills, they were constructed with mathematical exactitude by sweeping aside the pebbles to reveal white gray ground underneath

  

  

  The whale can be seen in the lower right corner

  

  The astronaut

  

  The monkey

   

  Although discovered in 1927, the purpose of the lines remains unclear to this day. SOme scholars have proposed that they were meant to represent astrological data, constellations and planets as an early observatory

  

  The hummingbird

   

  others have theorized that they had religious significance and were meant to bring rain or other blessings to the harsh surroundings

  

  The condor
  

  hands

   

  Still others have theorized that they were landing strips and welcome signs to extraterrestrials.

  

  Above the hands and the tree you can see the highway running by and get an idea of the relative size of the lines. Though smaller than we had initially thought they were still quite impressive. We also got to listen to the pilot talk to us with unique peruvian slang…every other sentence started with “my friends”. 

  

  Though no one knows their purpose, the lines remain quite prevalent around Nazca

  

  

  Best. flyover. ever.

  • 12:24 pm
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