UNESCO protected

The Nazca lines´ hundreds of perfectly straight striations, gigantic geometric shapes and figures covering 520 km2 between the Pacific and the Andes have baffled archaeologists for years. Like some strange network of paths drawn across the Earth, they are barely mentioned by Spanish chroniclers of the 16th and 17th centuries. In fact, they really only came to the fore about 50 years ago. Interlaced between the long parallel lines are 18 animal figures cut into the ground, including a monkey, spider, birds, a whale, lizard and dog, as well as a flower and a man with a halo. Their size varies between 25 to 275 metres.

We board small planes at Pisco Airport for an unforgettable flight over these mysterious lines that still pose so many questions. Since it is impossible to see the lines from the ground, how and why were they drawn so many centuries ago? 

Whoever created them undoubtedly used incredibly methodical and accurate means. The design was likely conceived and carried out by the Nazca culture between 500 BC and 50 AD. The Nazcas lived on Peru’s southern coast well before the Incas, but we know very little about them except for what has been found in their tombs. They buried their dead curled up like a foetus, surrounded by pottery and fabrics. Because decorative illustrations on the pots often depict kites and balloon shapes, an amusing but interesting theory is that the Nazcas might have been able to fly in some sort of air balloon.