This was an excellent and varied trip which gave a real sense of Peru’s culture and history, and of its sheer scale. I take a lot of photographs, and what struck me most throughout was the feeling of space. The landscapes are immense and it’s one of those places you really have to visit to properly comprehend.
The itinerary really is full on, and it can feel demanding at times, but I came away feeling I had seen a great deal of the country rather than simply ticking off a few famous sites. We were fortunate with the weather throughout the trip, particularly in the mountains where visibility and light were often exceptional.
Food was generally good, though naturally variable over such a long trip. Traditional Andean food is hearty and quite rustic in character, but Peru also has international influences, particularly Italian, and some of the pasta dishes were unexpectedly very good and seemed to be freshly made.
Nazca Lines
Adventure Holidays to the Nazca Lines
The Nazca Lines: an awe-inspiring collection of more than 300 figures, all super-sized, etched into the sprawling desert of southern Peru, and only visible from up high. We don’t know who made them. We don’t know why. We don’t even know how the ancient artists could view them without an aircraft. The Nazca Lines are one massive, marvellous mystery. Try to unravel it for yourself on one of our Peru adventures that include a tour to the Nazca Lines.
One of the most elaborate figures is a 45-metre-long spider. Drawn in one continuous line it is styled on a miniscule Amazonian species that is only a 1cm long and found 1,000km away on the other side of the Andes. Figure that one.
Nazca Lines Adventure Holidays
Michael Sissons Essential Peru
Suzanne Young Essential PeruThis was our first time with Exodus and we are already looking for our next trip. Essential Peru was an amazing adventure packed with sights, sounds, smells and experiences that would be hard to beat. We saw so much and experienced everything from thunder and rainbows at Machu Picchu , to haute cuisine, to historical sites, high mountain passes, thousand year old plants, vicunas, llamas, and alpacas, sailing on Lake Titicaca, staying with a family on Amantani Island, hiking, and condors.
John Johnston Essential PeruThis was my first trip to South America and won’t be my last. I’ve now taken 6 Exodus tours and this was my favourite. There were numerous and various places to visit, even the long drives through the Andes was full of amazing scenary and things to see. There were highlights every day. Your health is well looked after, with testing twice a day whilst at altitude.
Solving the Enigma: Top Nazca Lines Theories
Only discovered in the 1930s, countless theories claim to solve the enigma of Nazca – from astronomical calendars to extraterrestrial airports:
1 Astronomical advice
One of the earliest Nazca researchers Maria Reiche, who dedicated most of her life to studying the lines, was convinced they represented a vast astronomical calendar constructed to map the places on the horizon where celestial bodies rose and set. Unfortunately other academics have found her evidence wanting.
2 For the eyes of the Gods
Many believe that an ancient culture constructed the lines for the eyes of the gods, not for human viewing at all. All of the lines point towards the Andes, suggesting worship of the mountains and the precious water that flows from them to this arid area. Their creation may also have been a reaction to a unique series of solar eclipses in Peru at the time, when the eclipsed sun could have been taken for the “eye of god”.
3 Water works
Another water theory suggests that the lines indicate where rich sources of water flow under the desert floor. They may have acted as a guide for thirsty ancient Nazcan people, so they could locate water when they needed it, wherever they were in the desert.
4 Alien ancestors
One of the best known Nazca theories was put forward in Erich von Daniken’s “Chariots of the Gods” where he claims the lines were alien aircraft landing strips. He argues they are simply too complex to be drawn from earth so they must have been made from the air. Other theorists agree on this point, some proposing the ancient Nazcans must have constructed hot air balloons from the primitive materials available at the time.
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