From Ica to Nazca

On our way.

From Ica to Nazca is only about 3 hours driving. Nazca is known because of the mysterious lined drawings in arid crust of the desert. Drawings of animals, geometrical figures and birds, ranging up to 300 meters (1,000 ft) in size. Preserved for about 2,000 years!! Also called “the biggest astronomy book in the world.

On our way we stopped at the Maria Reiche Museum. Maria Reiche was a from origin German mathematician who became the expert on the lines. She studied the lines and dedicated her life to this study for more than half a century! She concluded the sketches corresponded to the constellations and are part of an astronomical calendar. There are many people who don’t accept Maria Reiche’s theories.

After visiting the (small) museum we made another stop. We climbed (a rather wobbly) ‘mirador’ (observation tower) from where you can see two of the sketches: the ‘arbol’ (tree) and the ‘manos’ (hands).

We had lunch in Nazca. Our hotel for the next two nights was a little outside Nazca: hotel Majoro, a former hacienda.

Later in the afternoon we visited ‘Cementerio de Chauchilla’ (Chauchilla Cemetery), about 30 km (18 miles) from Nazca. By walking the cemetery you can see bones, skulls, pottery shards and mummies. It looks kind of desolated.

After a quick visit to a pottery we returned to the hotel. Had another great day!