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Nazca

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Just before arriving to the small town, you traverse a huge desert plain, similar to the Tademait, in Sahara. It's in this arid pampas that was found in 1939 strange figures, drawn probably between the year 300 and 900 of our era. Unfortunately, the Pan-American road cuts in half this area. These huge motifs , drawn or carved in the desert of Nazca, stretch over dozens of kilometers. All over around are carved in the rocks some curious stylized animal figures (monkey, spider, hummingbird among others). These figures get over ravines or climb mountains without their shape or the rectitude of the lines being affected. These lines are similar to deep paths that reach sometimes a width of more than 3 meters. We don't know today who draw these enormous designs and archeologists recognize there an astronomic calendar but they don't know with certitude why it was drawn in the pampas.

The Nazca priests were remarkable astronomers. We think now that these designs are copies of figures formed by the stars. This allowed having a record of the exact stars movement.

These same designs appear in the sky in certain precise times, which correspond to agriculture fundamental periods like sowing, rain, harvests. According to the stars, farmers decided their agriculture activities. All these designs have an access so that man could go inside and not put a foot on a line. The measure unit is the human forearm (32,5 cm). And 8 is for the sacred number (for example, the spider has eight legs).

But the most mysterious are the gigantic rectilinear crossed traces. According to some ethnologists, including Charroux, they could be the work of extra-terrestrials. No, these lines perfectly straight, which some have 10 km of length, aren't landing tracks for shuttles... They allow to have the alignments of the sun, the moon and some stars to calculate seasons.

Not long time ago, Maria Reiche (1903 Germany-1998 Peru), the one who is called The Nazca Lady, left us. She came here a little by accident and to Nazca in 1946, and she never left. Thanks to her we have one of the most serious interpretations. She lived the whole year in the Turistas hotel, in the town entry, all paid by the Peruvian government in homage to the research work she did in Nazca. Interesting anecdote: all the Nazca figures have four fingers... and she had four too.

An advice before flying over the lines: don't eat... you will regret it!

As the plane flies at 300 m of altitude at 220 km/h, use a fast film and a polarizing filter to take pictures in order to avoid reflections on the glass. Advised lenses: 50 and 135 mm.

The weather in the region is hot and dry the whole year.

Near Nazca you can see also the Chauchilla cemetery, aqueducts and local craftsmen making craft potteries and fashioning gold.