3/1 Pisco Peru, Paracas National Preserve, and a - distant sound of The Twilight Zone Theme - mystery

Okay, it is really Friday, 3/2 and I'll get to that excitement in a moment.  First, lemme tell you about yesterday.

We docked in Pisco and I took a tour of Paracas National Preserve.  Although many of my fellow-excursionators had no idea there was anything in Peru except Machu Picchu, maybe a few jungle-y trees, and a few high hills named Andes, there is more to Peru than that!

There is desert.  And I do not mean a something sweet to eat after dinner (although there is plenty of that).  Did you know Peru is the world's largest exporter of asparagus?  Third largest grower, but #1 exporter because, to quote my excursion guide, 'those other countries actually like to eat it!!?!'

The desert is coastal.  The Nature Preserve is coastal desert and, where the land crashes into the ocean it creates some pretty spectacular scenery.  On average it gets less than, sometimes significantly less than, 2 ml of rain/year.  Paracas means rain of sand.  Which rain apparently makes those uni,pressive Saharan sandstorms look like brief and dusty afternoons.  (Have I mentioned I really like the Peruvian people I have met?  They are enthusiastic, positive, and just downright interested in everything they encounter.) .........

Which brings us to the mystery.........    

I got great photos of the famous and infamous nonazca lines!  

 These mysterious shapes in the sand can only be seen if you happen to be standing, flying, or jumping over them!  They appear to have some inexplicable meaning (more about this later).

 The 'lines' on the right appeared as if by magic one morning.  No one understands where they came from......although the locals refer to them, in their picturesque language as 'dang dune buggies are destroying this place'.  No one has been able to interpret the meaning of this complex phrase.

😸 Okay, that was fun.  Lots of passengers did fly over the Nazca lines.  Lots of passengers got really airsick 'cause the planes zipped through the air with the leastest of ease.

Of, photo #1.  As far as the tiny fishing village on the coast was concerned those lines really were inexplicable.  But, when NASA built roads and used that inland desert to test the early versions of the Mars Rovers, the villagers welcomed the company.  Then went back to fishing and concentrating on survival. 

Today, 3/2 we are docked at Arequipa (AKA Matarani).  Which multi-named city is approximately 70 miles or a 3 hour desert bus ride away.  When we booked excursions we noticed the shortest was about 8 hours.  We stayed 'home' at a tiny industrial port.  John has taken a 30ish minute shuttle ride to Mollendo (a small village until John returns with better info). 

I took a nap.

For anyone interested Arequipa is going to be part of the InterOceanic Highway Peru and Brazil are building together to connect the Pacific and Atlantic via a land route.

I'm going to look that up now.