The Paracas National Reserve in Peru offers breathtaking coastal landscapes and abundant wildlife, but its windswept deserts and rugged shores can feel stark and unforgiving, making it as humbling as it is beautiful.
Peru: Nazca: Lines, Tombs and Pyramids in the Desert
About the Nazca Lines
The Nazca Lines are a series of enormous geoglyphs etched into the arid plains of southern Peru, dating back to between 500 BCE and 500 CE. These vast designs, created by the Nazca culture, include straight lines, geometric shapes, and depictions of animals such as hummingbirds, monkeys, and spiders. They were formed by removing the reddish-brown surface stones to reveal the lighter earth beneath, a technique that has helped preserve them for centuries thanks to the region’s dry, windless climate. The sheer scale of these designs means they are best appreciated from the air, which is part of what makes them so mysterious.
The purpose of the Nazca Lines remains the subject of scholarly debate. Some researchers suggest they were part of religious or ceremonial practices, perhaps linked to astronomy or water rituals, which were crucial in such a dry environment. Others have proposed that they functioned as giant calendars or markers for observing celestial events. Theories range from the practical to the fantastical, with fringe ideas involving extraterrestrial influence, though mainstream archaeology attributes them entirely to human ingenuity and cultural expression.
My visit to the Nazca lines, cemetary and temples
It was an early start, the sort where you half-sleep through the alarm and spend the first fifteen minutes wondering why you thought this was a good idea. My morning bus was due to head south from Huacachina to the desert town of Nazca — a name that’s half archaeology lecture, half travel brochure.
The journey was a shade under three hours, mostly through a backdrop of sand in all its many shades. A few bumps in the road, a lot of sun glare, and the occasional roadside shack selling something unidentifiable. Our first proper stop came not far from Nazca itself, at a tall metal viewing platform overlooking one of the world’s great archaeological puzzles: the Nazca Lines.
👀 First Glimpse of the Lines
Climbing the steps, you see… well, not everything. In fact, you see two specific shapes — “The Tree” and “The Hands” — sitting quietly in the dusty pampa below. From up here, they’re crisp, deliberate shapes. From ground level, though, they’d just be shallow grooves in the earth.
The Nazca Lines aren’t a casual doodle in the sand. These enormous geoglyphs were made somewhere between 500 BCE and 500 CE by the Nazca culture, covering hundreds of square kilometres. Some are straight lines running for miles; others are hummingbirds, monkeys, or odd human-like figures. You can only properly see them from the air, which is why most of the people on my bus were already planning to hop into small planes later in the day.
How the Nazca people managed to create them without being able to see the whole picture is baffling enough; why they did it is another matter entirely. Was it religion? Astronomy? A water map? Nobody’s got the final answer, and I’m not sure we ever will.
✈ Why I Didn’t Fly
There’s a 45-minute aerial tour that lets you swoop over the lines in a small aircraft. For some, it’s a bucket-list moment. For me, it was a hard pass. The over-95-kilo passenger surcharge (you take 2 seats) provided the perfect excuse to bow out gracefully — no need to explain my feelings about tiny planes banking over hot desert air.
So, while the rest of the bus headed off to the airport, I had my own plan for the day: a pair of guided tours to ancient sites around Nazca. First stop — the Chauchilla Cemetery.
💀 The Chauchilla Cemetery
After a bit of waiting (and a few gentle prods via phone), my ride turned up — a battered taxi piloted by a wiry, excitable man who was to be both driver and guide. Joining me in the back were two young Latino lads, who wisely braced themselves for the drive.
It was forty minutes of tarmac overtakes and dirt-road rally manoeuvres. At least it was entertaining.
The Chauchilla Cemetery is out in the middle of nowhere. The desert stretches in every direction, the horizon barely broken by low hills. Once a vast burial site, it’s now reduced to a few restored graves — the rest having been plundered long ago.
The ancient Nazca took their dead seriously. Mummification was common, with the bodies buried seated, wrapped in layers of cloth, and accompanied by goods for the afterlife. Many were positioned to face the rising sun in the east. Thanks to the dry climate, hair and even skin have survived for over a thousand years.
We followed a marked loop, stopping at open tombs shaded by canvas. Inside sat bundles of cloth with human skulls peeking out — eerie yet oddly peaceful. My guide, calling me “friends” despite my being just one person, eventually let me explore alone. In the stillness, with nothing but the hot wind and the crunch of sand underfoot, it was surprisingly moving.
🏛 The Cahuachi Pyramids
At three o’clock, a van arrived for the next leg: the Cahuachi Pyramids. The drive started through farmland — maize, prickly pear, potatoes, fruit trees — before the desert crept back in. And then, out of the sand, the site appeared.
These “pyramids” aren’t the stone peaks of Egypt. They’re adobe mounds and stepped platforms, built from mud bricks and shaped for ceremonial use. Around 1,500 years ago, this was the centre of Nazca religious life, a place of pilgrimage and ritual. Priests and shamans gathered here for ceremonies linked to water, fertility, and the agricultural calendar.
Excavations have found temples, plazas, courtyards, and offerings ranging from pottery to textiles — and even human heads used in ritual. Why it was abandoned around 400 CE isn’t known; droughts or floods are popular theories.
Even in ruin, the place has a presence. We wandered through the outlines of ancient buildings, the air bone-dry, the silence broken only by wind.
🛻 Back to Base
As daylight faded, we returned to Nazca town to wait for the overnight bus to Arequipa. I wasn’t exactly thrilled about a long night on a coach, but after a day of ancient mysteries, desert landscapes, and hair-raising taxi rides, the thought of sitting still for several hours didn’t seem too bad.
Final Thoughts
Nazca isn’t just the famous lines. Yes, they’re impressive and mysterious, but it’s the combination — the Lines, the mummies of Chauchilla, the solemn ruins of Cahuachi — that makes it special. You get the sense of a civilisation deeply tied to its land, its rituals, and its beliefs.
Planning your visit to the Nazca Lines and other sites
📍 Location
The Nazca Lines are located in the Nazca Desert, in the Ica Region of southern Peru. They cover an arid plateau stretching over 50 miles (80 km) and are a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
🚗 How to Get There
By Air: The nearest airport is Maria Reiche Neuman Airport in Nazca, with small planes offering aerial tours.
By Bus: Several coach services operate from Lima (approx. 7–8 hours) and from Arequipa (approx. 9–10 hours).
By Car: Driving from Lima via the Pan-American Highway takes around 7 hours.
🌐 Website
www.peru.travel/en/attractions/nazca-lines
☎ Telephone
+51 1 574 8000 (Peru Tourism Board)
🕒 Opening Hours
Observation Tower: Daily, 8:00 am – 6:00 pm
Flight Tours: Generally operate from 7:00 am – 4:00 pm (weather permitting)
🎟 Entry Fees
Observation Tower: Approx. S/5.00 (Peruvian Soles) per person
Aerial Tours: Approx. US$80–100 per person (varies by operator)
The best time to visit Nazca
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