Adventures of a Wandering Thirtysomething: Sights and smells of Peru

Sights and smells of Peru

Posted by Matt VerHeul | | Posted On Monday, June 17, 2019 at 3:07 PM

Anyone who watches a lot of History Channel would certainly be familiar with the famous Nazca lines. Every television show containing the words “aliens” or “mysteries” in the title has dedicated a segment to these enigmatic figures in the desert. As we learned throughout our time in Peru there are countless mysteries related to these ancient civilizations yet to be discovered, making them ripe for speculation.

What we know about the Nazca lines is that they were created by the Nazca people, a pre-Incan culture around the time of Christ, and they appear to have some correlation to the stars. What we don’t know are how and why these giant figures, visible only from the sky, were created two thousand years before man could take flight.

Located several hours from any major cities, the lines are not terribly convenient to see. But with a 4 a.m. start from Lima we could make it a long day trip, so I booked the tour. When booking the trip, the booking agent asked if we’d like to add in a boat tour of the Ballestas Islands. Since we were already traveling the 9 hours round trip, we figured we might as well squeeze in some wildlife

viewing too.

The rocky Ballestas islands, a few miles off the coast, are home to thousands of birds as well as sea lions and Humboldt penguins. Wifey loves penguins and, after a quick boat ride out to the islands, we spotted them waddling across the rocks in no time. I was happy to have surprised her with this little extra experience.

The boat slowly cruised around the front of the islands as we enjoyed the wildlife and the ocean breezes. Wrapping around to the backside of the islands we saw sea lions and the thousands of birds that call these little rocks home. We also started to get our first whiff of what makes these islands famous.

Distracted by the promise of penguins, I failed to pay much attention to that fact that the Ballestas Islands have for hundreds of years been used to harvest a prized resource: guano (a.k.a. bird crap). On the backside of the islands it did not take long for the gentle ocean breezes to turn against us,

accosting our senses with a foul stench. As the boat drifted from island to island the smell crescendoed from bothersome to vomit inducing. Christina and I began gripping our seats trying to catch a moment of fresh air. The gentle waves suddenly felt like riding out a storm on Deadliest Catch. The slow lurching of the boat was torturous as we yearned desperately to escape the smell. Just when it seemed breakfast was not going to stay down, the boat mercifully circled from behind the island leaving behind the guano aroma cloud.

Back on solid land our stomachs settled down and we proceeded to the local airport to catch our plane. Having spent plenty of time in Cessnas these last few years, I wasn’t terribly concerned about the flight. But after the stomach churching boat ride I was hoping it would be smooth.

It took about an hour to reach the Nazca lines and it was exactly as we’d hoped, an easy smooth flight. That meant I was spending my time pondering our altitude and fussing over how I was going to get the best view of the lines below. The plane dropped altitude and I knew that meant we were getting close. Everyone was excited. The pilot flipped on the radio to let us know the first of the Nazca line figures would be coming up on our right and promised they would circle around to ensure both sides of the plane could get a good view.

No sooner had I spotted the Nazca line below when the plane took a dive. Banking hard right, my window was nearly parallel with the ground below. Just below me out the window was a perfectly framed view of our first Nazca line. So much for my worries about getting a good shot. As the plane leveled off I turned to Christina, a huge grin on my face. The surprising and somewhat insane maneuver the plane had just pulled was exhilarating. Christina’s look could be described more as a combination of fear and nausea. Before we had time to say anything the plane was preparing to bank left, putting the figure directly below Christina’s window. This time, as the plane leveled and the surprise wore off, I too started to feel the nausea and braced myself for another wild ride.

There were 13 Nazca lines to view on our flight and by the last one neither of us felt like we could take one more. They were incredible to see and truly can only be appreciated from the air, but it was a welcomed relief when the final of our 26 passes was complete.

While thankful we had taken the day to see the Nazca lines and the penguins of the Ballestas Islands, we eventually arrived back at our hotel unwilling to move from the bed. For the rest of our trip just thinking back on this day made our stomachs churn. Sometimes when we travel there are days that we are glad we did once but would never do again. This was certainly one of those days.