Afternoon in Nazca

It was a very busy day in Nazca!  The afternoon was spent touring three different areas with Jeffery - our new local taxi man! Our first visit was to Cahuachi, about 25 km west of Nazca, where several pyramids are under excavation, and have been for the last number of years.  They treat these ruins with great importance, however we learned that an Italian archeologist is in charge of the ruins, and only works on them for one month of each year.  Excavation will take quite a long time at that rate.  While excavating they are also reconstructing, which allows you to get a better idea of the site.  The picture doesn't do it much justice...

 

This is the security guard, he showed us pieces of pottery collected from the site, and lives here all year round.

After the pyramids, we headed to Chauchilla Cemetery, about 30 km south of Nazca, which dates back to the Ica-Chinca culture around AD1000.  Until recently(about 25 years ago), ancient bones, skulls and mummies were scattered across the desert by tomb-robbers, looting whatever might be found in these ancient burial grounds.   The government has taken control and turned it into a tourist attraction.  Archeologists have collected many remnants, and organized the tombs for viewing. In the later years of tomb-robbers, they did not destroy the mummy, instead just removed it to get what they wanted then replaced it, so many of the tombs have intact dummies.  Further, during the clean up, one additional original and untouched grave was found, so it's on display for viewing and was used as the basis for setting up the others.  There may infact be more graves untouched, but the government is no longer putting funds to work here.  Some of the graves were very small, and only for a child, others were family sized, and some had separators between, indicating either members of family or deaths at various times.

Then, the Cantallo Aqueducts, about 7km south east of town, still in working order.  Below is a photo of the ventanas or windows, which locals use to clean the aqueducts each year. Dan was fascinated by these, in all their engineering wonder!  They were built over 2000 years ago to service the desert city of Nasca and the surrounding area with water from the mountains and river.  They have held up against numerous earthquakes, with little need for repair.  They are no longer used for water for the city, however continue to be essential for the surrounding agriculture supporting the city.  There is approximately 36 aqueducts scattered throughout.

This is the split where the mountain water and river water connect.

In our travels, we crossed many fields of cacti, and I commented on the white disease which looked as though it was taking over.  Jeffery clarified - these cacti are infected on purpose, and promised to show me when we stopped close to one of the fields...

He picked up one tiny white dust ball off of an infected cactus, no bigger than a few millimeters, and smudged it on his hand... and presto chango... a deep beautiful red, then burgandy colour! This is used to dye fabric and yarn as well as used in highly expensive make up products throughout the world.

Now as if our day couldn't get any better - our final gift was the most beautiful sunset against the surrounding mountains before heading back to Nazca to catch our overnighter bus to Arequipa.

What a stunner!