We arrived late in the afternoon at the village of San Pablo to visit the Museo Maria Reiche. This is the former home, research base and now resting place of the German born Dr. Maria Reiche, Phd, who devoted her whole life to studying the Nasca Lines and fighting to get them protected and preserved for all time.
It is a fascinating place with copies of her original notes and diagrams on display, along with photos and graphs explaining how the Nasca constructed an underground irrigation system that fed a series of deep well water channels in the area.
The Museum was added onto her original one room house, which still contains the original furniture she used. If you look inside, it has been set up to show her (a sculptured manikin of her), sitting at her typewriter desk working, with all her sketchs and survey drawings (copies of the originals now stored in the Peruvian National Archives) hanging from the wall.
On the east side is a new gallery with Nasca Pottery and aerial photographs of the Nasca Lines. In the garden at east end is the tomb where she was laid to rest after she passed away.
Her work was instrumental in getting the Nasca Lines recognised as a World Heritage Site.
From here it was a short drive up out of the valley this small museum and town was in, out onto the broad flat Nasca Plains. Here we stopped at a viewing tower set up to allow people to look down on the Nasca Hands and the Nasca Bush.
This is one of the driest places on the Earth. It has not rained on these plains for centuries, which is why the Nasca Lines have lasted such a long time. Recently there was an unseasonal heavy rain storm in the hills to the east. The flash flood that resulted from this deluge did do some damage, which the aerial photos I took next morning will show.
We then proceeded south east to the City of Nasca, arriving just after sunset. Our hotel here was a Casa Andrea, quite lovely and comfortable.
After checking in we went out to a local restaurant for supper before turning in for the night.
Good night to all from Nasca, Peru
Read more about the mysterious Nazca Lines here http://www.escapedtonazcalinestours.com/
