Driving 'Royal Class'! It was a nice bus, you could sit up front (above the driver) and get a great view.
On the outskirts of Ica.
The bus goes through the town of Ica.
Ica is the capital of the Ica province (surprise, surprise).
Indulging Jean's fetish of taking a picture of each room that we stayed.
Looking south away from the twon but towards the plains.
Nice view of the pool at the hotel. We were here for two days so there was time for a dip
A quick bus trip to the airport; watch a video on the dicovery of the Nazca Lines; and then we take to the air.
They can only really be seen well from the air. Von Daniken said they were for the benefit of alien astronauts. You make up your own mind.
Just from the sequence of photographs I can conclude this must be the image of the Whale. But I can't see it in the photo. Prizes for finding it.
View over the plains, looking north. The road to Lima stretches away on the right hahd side
It's supposed to be an alien runway. I thought flying saucers landed vertically?
Our pilot points out a potential landing strip for the aliens.
The entire plain; highway in foreground.
Much Photoshop went into bringing this out. The images can be seen clearly from the air (at a height of about 1000 feet) but are very faint and tiny in the photos. So zoom in and ramp up the contrast.
Dominated by the huge spiral tail. Hard to see, even with enhancement
Facing right. Someone built a road right over his legs. Ouch.
Seen upside down.
It's starting to get like a Chinese horscope, isn't it? This is what it looks like without enhancement. See anything?
The Condor is one of the more prominent images.
This is more what colour the images actually appear as.
I have this design on a T-shirt.
It's above the triangular marking.
This is one of the smallest designs in total area.
You can see more clearly here, two legs curving out in each direction.
The Hummingbird is one of the most clear and obvious of the markings. I haven't enhanced here, only zoomed in
Here is the enhanced version, and it shows vividly now.
Even clearer in this enhanced shot.
There's plenty of air traffic, with many operators flying the same route over the lines.
Another operator heads back to the airfield.
Not as clear as the Hummingbird, and what's with that jagged beak?
If I hadn't enhanced this, you'd never see it.
Inside the triangle formed on the left, you can see what look like giant pincers; this is the beak of the Parrot.
Just below the road and to the right of the wing strut, a pair of enormous hands. Must Photoshop this one.
From the viewing tower you can see the Hands, the Tree and the Lizard, and that's all!. If you go to Nazca, make sure you take the flight.
Plenty of operators vying for your business.
Jean dubbed these the 'Nausea Lines' as most people on board felt sick, and Jelena threw up. More people would have thrown up if the pilot hadn't let us fly around with the window open.
We went for a little walk and some window shopping. It was a warm day and the dogs were taking it easy.
Nasca has sculptures in the shapes of some of the more famous designs.
Once you get to the edge of town, it gets very dry very quickly.
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Well, that was a fun day; now time to relax in the pool.
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You tell there's a river there, because they are the only green plants in the area. The river only flows in season.
These structures are like giant manholes, used to access the underground aqueducts built by the Incas.
Warren and Jo crawled underground for 20 metre to the next entrance. Here Warren emerges
Now everybody's got to do it.
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Ok, this was a posed shot.
Another way to get to the water.
This place certainly is God's sandpit.
Inside the well, looking out.
We're inside the well, looking down. Except camera-slut Pete, of course.
Matt was the most adventurous.
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Well, it looks like the moon, anyway.
View from a small hill. Soon we will get away from the coast, and may see some water.
These lines were also smoothed out many years ago. No-one knows why.
Which is where we'll be headed soon.
There's that river again.
