The Nazca Lines of Peru are one of the most famous mysteries in the world. They are often featured in shows and documentaries of the ancient world, alien conspiracies and more. They were one sight I was most intrigued about prior to my trip. They were also, in all honesty, the most disappointing part.
The town of Nazca is not near any other city or sight in Peru that draws a lot of tourists, and therefore it is extremely difficult to get to. For budget reasons, we took the bus, which took 10 hours from Arequipa. The bus itself was nice, with TVs equipped with movies to stream in English, meals provided and a bathroom. However, 10 hours on a bus through barren desert is not really how I would envision spending my limited time abroad. But with no airports within less than a 3-hour drive, it’s what worked for us.
We didn’t get to see the town at all, so I can’t speak much of what there is to see and do or eat. Our flight for the day was scheduled for the morning, however, as happens almost daily, the fog caused a delay in the flight schedule with no known idea of when it would let up and flights would begin. For this reason, most travelers have to keep an open schedule for the day and even be prepared for the flights to not take place at all. When flights did open up, we still had no idea when we would actually fly, but we were required to be at the airport to check in and essentially stay on standby. We spent maybe 2 hours in the airport exploring the gift shops and learning the history of the lines while waiting before we finally took off.
Our plane held 16 passengers. It was comfortable enough, at first. I don’t often get motion sick, but it happens at times when I feel hot, claustrophobic or generally uncomfortable. Shortly after take-off, our guide, who sits next to the pilot, began describing our route. For each figure we passed, the plane would completely bank to each side so all passengers would get the chance to view them. While the lines were interesting, the extreme flight experience is one I would say is not worth it.
At the end of the day, we had another 4-hour drive to our hotel for the next evening, Paracas, as there was no reason to stay another night in Nazca. From now on, I will be strongly advising our travelers that unless this is a true bucket list item, the travel and experience itself are just not worth it for your limited time in Peru. Perhaps on your second trip!
Kevin got right on our request and had us booked within the week
Linda Cummings
1 day ago
The info on the website was laid out very well. I did some comparisons with other tours and found Adventure Life met a lot of what I wanted in an Antarctica trip at the cheapest price. Requested a quote on Claudia contacted me right away. She answered a lot of questions the I had via email even though she offered to discuss via phone call. I’m more of an email person so appreciated how she accommodated that and answered all my questions. And when I was ready to book, she quickly got the ball rolling with getting our spots reserved on the trip my friend and I wanted. Thanks again, Claudia!
Hazel Araza
1 day ago
(1) great information on the website and throughout all the "materials." (2) Jane Packer is great: knowledgeable, responsive, takes a personal interest and tone, seems to care about the customer as a person not a sale.
Larry Bethune
1 day ago
great people doing a wonderful job to make our voyages happen.
trudy
2 days ago
For our first trip to Costa Rica, Adventure Life designed a tour that meets the interests, ecological and adventure, of our party; but also takes into account our physical limitations sine we are all septuagenarian. We are looking forward to the trip.