This morning´s activity was a 45 minute flight over the famous Nasca Lines, which are ancient figures carved into the salt plains by the Nasca people between 100 and 600AD. The only way to see them is from the air, which entailed boarding a 6 seater light aircraft which I didn´t feel too comfortable about, but I was well prepared with my motion sickness pills and I coped OK. You realise how uneven the air is in a light aircraft, which feels very unstable. The pilot swept us round each figure in both directions, banking steeply for photos, which made everyone feel very queasy. Louise in my plane started being sick into 1 of the sick bags about halway through and sadly missed seeing half of the figures. Its amazing how they´ve been made, and nobody really knows what their purpose was. There is one of a monkey, a spider, a man with an owl head, a condor, a parrott, a whale and other myserious shapes. I got some photos but you have to look closely at what they are. It was hard enough making them out from the plane.

After the flight we all went for dinner in a restaurant on the square in bustling Nasca, which is a typically chaotic South American small town which is mainly a stop off for long distance lorry drivers. I tried Peru´s national soup, which is very egg orientated but very nice. We´ve this afternoon free at our out of town hotel and I´m going to enjoy a dip in the pool before we board a night bus (first one!) to Arequipa. Sleeping pills at the ready!