If you drive south of Lima on the\u00a0 Pan Am Highway in Peru, you’ll drive by (and through) the Nazca Desert<\/b>\u00a0along the foothills of the Andes. \u00a0This is one of the driest places in the world. \u00a0The average rainfall is less than an inch (<2 cm) a year and some years there’s no rain at all.\u00a0 The\u00a0Nazca Lines are an amazing group of geoglyphs etched into the surface of the desert. \u00a0There are about 300 hundred figures that comprise the Nazca lines including, besides lines, geometric shapes and pictures of animals<\/span> and birds.<\/p>\n

Along the highway you can stop at the Mirador tower, built along the Pan Am highway. \u00a0This tower allows people to climb up and see a few of the Nazca lines for free. \u00a0The view is limited, \u00a0but there are definitely a few symbols and lines you can see from here.<\/p>\n

The best way to experience the Nazca lines is from the air — in fact, it’s the only way most of these geoglyphs can be appreciated (apparently you can also see some from the tops of the hills around Nazca). \u00a0We rented a ride in a small plane which flew us over the best of these lines, the photographic results of which you can see below. \u00a0It was pretty rough flying, even though a short flight, and I’m glad I didn’t lose my breakfast.<\/p>\n

Most everyone asks, \u00a0“If you can’t see them except from the air, why were they made? \u00a0And who made them?” \u00a0The answer, in short, is that no one knows. \u00a0The lines are very precise and were completed centuries before human flight. \u00a0Some have speculated that they were signs left by an alien race? \u00a0Landing strips for UFOs? \u00a0A giant astronomical calendar (marking where celestial bodies rise at certain times of the year)? \u00a0Others think humans created them for space aliens — to let astronauts (gods) know where to find them. \u00a0It is probable that they served some unknown religious purpose, but only theories exist — no one knows why they were made or what they mean.<\/p>\n

They are ancient, constructing sometime between 450 and 650 A.D. \u00a0It’s amazing these lines have survived so long, but this is largely because of the lack of rainfall and relative windlessness of the region. \u00a0The designs are shallow lines made by removing a few inches of the reddish pebbles at the surface and uncovering firmer whitish clay. \u00a0The area encompassing the lines is nearly 500\u00a0km^{2<\/sup> (190\u00a0sq\u00a0mi), and the largest figures can span nearly 270\u00a0m (890\u00a0ft). \u00a0\u00a0The site was declared a\u00a0UNESCO World Heritage Site<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0in 1994.<\/p>\n}

Whatever their creator’s intentions, the lines are fascinating and worth a diversion to see. \u00a0Here’s some of what you’ll see if you fly over the Nazca Lines.<\/p>\n

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