Peru - The Rough Guide to South America on a Budget - page 769

9 TOURS AROUND NAZCA

Some well-established companies arrange tours to the major sites around Nazca, all offering
similar trips to Los Paredones, Cantalloc, Cahuachi, Chauchilla and the Lines. Tours around
Chauchilla Cemetery last 2hr 30min for about S20-30, while a trip to the viewing tower and
the Casa Museo María Reiche also takes 2hr 30min and costs around S50-60. Tours out to the
ruined temple complex in the desert at Cahuachi (see p.774) are 4hr and cost around S120
person, depending on group size; these need to be arranged in advance.

W perunascatours.com
Perú Desert Experience Bolognesi 299 T 56 523
466, W perudesert.com. For sandboarding tours and
buggy rides.

TOUR OPERATORS
The best companies are:
Alegría Tours Lima 168 T 056 522 444, W alegria
toursperu.com. Well-established company.
Perú Nasca Tours Bolognesi 449 T 056 523 300,

have stopped by this family-run place for a great-value
menú de casa (S8.50-10), washed down nicely with a
chicha morada (fermented maize drink). There's a veggie
menu too (S13.50). Daily 10am-4pm & 6-10pm.

ancient sacred paths connecting huacas ,
or power spots. Regardless of why they
were made, the Lines are among the
strangest and most unforgettable sights
in the country.
At Km420 of the Panamerican
Highway, 20km north of Nazca, a tall
metal viewing tower (or mirador ; S2)
has been built above the plain, from
which you get a partial view of a giant
tree, a pair of hands and a lizard, though
the experience does not compare to a
flight over the Lines (see box, p.774).
Around 5km further along the
Panamericana from the mirador , you'll
ind the Museo María Reiche (daily
8am-6pm; S5), the former home of
the German mathematician who made
research into the Lines her life's work.
Here you can see her possessions and
sketches and visit her tomb.

DIRECTORY
Banks and exchange BCP at Lima and Grau, and Banco
de la Nación just next door.
Hospital Callao s/n T 056 522 010.
Internet Try Cheros at Ignacio Morseski 408 (daily
8am-11pm; S1/hr).
Laundry There's a real shortage of lavanderías in Nazca
so prices are high; try inside Mono Diamante Guesthouse
at Lima 660 (S7/kg; open 24hr).
Post o ce Castillo 379 (Mon-Fri 9am-5.30pm, Sat
8am-3.30pm).
Tourist police Av Los Incas 1, s/n Km447 T 056 522 105.

THE NAZCA LINES
One of the great mysteries of South
America, the NAZCA LINES are a series
of animal figures and geometric shapes,
none of them repeated and some up to
200m in length, drawn across some 500
square kilometres of the bleak, stony
Pampa de San José. Each one, even such
sophisticated motifs as a spider monkey
or a hummingbird, is executed in a single
continuous line, most created by clearing
away the brush and hard stones of the
plain to reveal the fine dust beneath.
Theories abound as to what their purpose
was - from landing strips for alien
spaceships to some kind of agricultural
calendar, aligned with the constellations
above, to help regulate the planting and
harvesting of crops. Perhaps at the same
time some of the straight lines served as

AROUND NAZCA
Chauchilla and Cahuachi, after the
Lines the most important Nazca sites,
are both difficult to reach by public
transport, so you may want to consider
an organized tour.

Cerro Blanco
You can easily see Cerro Blanco , the
world's largest sand dune, from anywhere
in the city. Formerly used as a religious
centre, it's now the site for extreme
dune-buggy rides and sandboarding.
Several tour agencies (see box above)
run morning trips here, typically leaving
at 5am and returning at lunchtime.