We were picked up by our guide and driver for the day, Brady and Jose, for the four-hour drive south to Ica. The main activity for the day was the flight over the Nasca Lines, but on the way we stopped at El Catador bodega in the town of Pisco to learn about how pisco, the beverage, is made. The family there has been making pisco in the same way for over 100 years still using equipment and methods from long ago. We tried their Vino Perfecto Amor, the wine of perfect love, which tasted a bit like a sherry. Philip tried all their piscos, and I tried a couple of them. The pure pisco at more than 80 proof had a bit of a kick.

At the airport in Ica, we boarded a high-wing, light aircraft of AeroCondor Airlines for the flight over the desert to see the Nasca Lines. The flight was an hour and fifteen minutes long--25 minutes out to the site, 25 minutes touring the site and 25 minutes back to the airport. This flight is a bit longer than if you took one from the town of Nasca.

After reading and hearing stories of how bumpy and jerky the flights were, we felt like we were prepared for the experience. When we were waiting for our flight time, we watched another group go out to board their plane. As they were walking out and their guide was walking back into the terminal, she jokingly called back to them, "We'll pray for you."

When it was our time to fly, the six passengers were sorted by weight and told where to sit on the plane so that it would be balanced properly. The plane bumped and bounced along on the way out to the site flying over both desert and mountains. When we neared the Nasca Lines, the pilot announced what was coming up. He would say the name of each formation and whether it was on the right or the left, "Monkey, right side. Monkey, right side." Then he dipped the plane daringly on the side to get a better view of the drawings. He flew over each of 14 drawings from both the right side and the left side views. That made for a rather nauseating experience, first leaning to the right and looking straight down, then swerving around to let the folks on the left side have a good look. I was glad to be back on the ground when the plane finally landed and just a bit shaky from the whole experience. None of the photos I took were worth saving; Philip got a couple on his phone. If you want to see somebody else's pictures, here's a good place to look. We saw the trapezoid and other geometric figures, the monkey, condor, astronaut, spider, hummingbird, dog, hands, and more. Even though the flight was planned to show 14 major figures, there were others visible along the way, too.

After lunch at the hotel, we went to visit the Museo Regional de Ica to see artifacts from the Paracas, Nasca, Wari, Ica-Chincha and Inca civilizations. Brady, our guide in the area, had once worked at this museum so he had extensive knowledge about the collections. He went through the museum with us and explained about the cultures of the people who had lived in the area. He taught us many things, including about an ancient form of brain surgery, why some of the skulls are elongated, and what the drawings on the pottery mean. All very interesting.

The hotel in Ica was unremarkable. However, we did have our first pisco sours, the national drink, there. The pisco sours tasted a little like a margarita, but instead of salt they were topped with beaten egg white and a dash of cinnamon. Pretty tasty.