Day 427 – Huacachina to Nazca

Today we woke up and packed our bags before heading out for the included breakfast at Huacachina Desert House. It was the same as yesterday’s meal. After the meal, we asked the hotel to organise a taxi.

The taxi ride to the Oltursa bus station cost us 8 PEN ($3.51 AUD). We had purchased the tickets directly from the Oltursa website for 30 PEN ($13.16 AUD) per person (p/p) last night. At Oltursa we checked in our large backpacks and the staff member asked probing questions about our stay in Nazca. He called upon another staff member who was fluent in English to tell us about flights over the Nazca lines.

He told us that there are 3 levels of flights. Level 1 is just over 100m from the ground and normally costs $100 USD ($152.43 AUD) p/p, but there was a special offer for $75 USD ($114.32 AUD). He said it would include transport for today to our hostel from the bus terminal and return transport to the airport in Nazca. After thinking about it, we negotiated the price down to $70 USD ($106.70 AUD) p/p. We paid a $30 USD ($45.73 AUD) deposit with some left over USD from Ecuador. The airline is Aero Santos (http://aerosantos.com/index.php?p=s).   

Our Oltursa bus arrived at 11.40am. It was scheduled for 11.15am. There was a security check and then a separate passport check before we boarded. The bus was new and really empty, but it was a little stuffy.

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On the bus, there we saw a few English movies dubbed in Spanish. We were given a small lunch, which was rice and chicken.

Nazca

We arrived in Nazca at 2.10pm. We were told that someone would be holding a sign with our names once we got off the bus. This didn’t happen. When we got off, a whole bunch of people kept trying to sell us flights. Once we told them that we have some already, they asked what company we got it with. Most of the people left us alone after this. One person made a phone call who turned out to be our taxi driver. Along the drive, he told us about the other locations that he could take us to.

We checked into our accommodation, La Maison de Lydia. There is a small pool which didn’t look too clean. Everything else was really nice. There was a curious sign, saying that there is only 1 hour of water available. After settling in, we headed into town. Our hotel was on the edge of town, so it took around 20 minutes to walk.

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In town, we walked around looking for a cafe and somewhere to ask about tours. We found out that the Nazca flights could have been purchased for $65 USD ($99.07 AUD) p/p. However, we were told that the lowest level is only 200m above land.

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We ended up eating at the cute cafe, La maison Blanche. It was really nice and the staff were kind. I recommend the chocolate brownies, which was more like a cake. While we were eating, we wanted to find a museum to gain some knowledge about the Nazca Lines and came across a planetarium on Google Maps.

We went to check it out, but we could not find it. We gave up and walked back to our hostel after buying some snacks from a grocery store.

Back at the hostel, we talked to the owner, who told us that the planetarium was actually inside the hotel, dm Hoteles Nasca. The English presentation would start at 7.30pm. 

After chilling for an hour, we walked back to the reception of dm Hoteles Nasca. We bought tickets for the planetarium known as Planetarium Maria Reiche. The tickets cost 20 PEN ($8.77 AUD) p/p. We were there at 7 pm, so the staff told us to wait in the “Salon”. It’s a very fancy hotel.

At 7:30pm a gentleman came and took us to the planetarium. Before the presentation, he showed us Jupiter through a telescope. Then we went inside the planetarium, and saw a very cool presentation about the Nazca lines. After the presentation the gentleman showed us Saturn (including the ring) and various star consultations. The entire presentation was really well done and it was finished in 50 minutes. 

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Later, we had dinner at a cool restaurant called Papa & Pa. Mainly because I love potatoes. As per the recommendation from our hostel, we didn’t walk back in the dark, opting to catch a taxi from the central plaza to our hostel for only 4 PEN ($1.75 AUD).  

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