The Desert Man of Ica

Lloyd Hannis and two friends venture out into the deserts of Ica under the wing of ‘The Desert Man’, a rough and rugged fossil hunter come tour guide who knows the vast expanse like the back of his hand.

May 19, 2010 | Ica, Pisco, Nazca Guide

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Sandboarding and buggy-riding in Huacachina

To one side of the southern regional capital of Ica, and the fertile valley it sits in, is a huge expanse of sand that stretches out for miles in the direction of the coast. Completely barren and devoid of moisture, the winds shift the sands as they have for centuries forming huge dunes that bask and bake in the strong sun. Bleached white with light during the day, and taking on deep warm tones as the sun sets, the dunes hide among them small oases of tiny lakes and palm trees. But there’s no time to sit, stare and take in this scene of exquisite natural beauty, yet another of millions to be found across Peru. It’s time to sandboard!

December 12, 2008 | Ica, Pisco, Nazca Guide

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Some Nazca Lines aircraft over 50 years old

The amazing shapes and lines drawn on the plains of Nasca have led to a growth in passenger numbers at the Maria Reiche aerodrome of some 110% in the past 10 years. This however has not gone hand in hand with proper renovation of the terminal’s aircraft.

December 3, 2008 | Ica, Pisco, Nazca Guide, News

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Maria Reiche

…Tirelessly, she spent day after day of her life under the hot sun cleaning rocks from lines, and working on her theories as to what they were for. She for one came to the conclusion that the lines were some kind of calendar, marking solstices and the passage of stars and constellations…

December 1, 2008 | Archaeology, Ica, Pisco, Nazca Guide, Modern Peru

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Cemetery of Chauchilla

Laying untouched for centuries, this isolated spot in the dry Nazcan desert was used as a place to bury and preserve the mummified dead of the Nazca culture. Since then, the countless hundreds of tombs found here have been pillaged and destroyed. What remains is at first a fascinating sight for visitors – bones, ceramics and cloth scattered across the sands, pieces of ancient fabric blowing around in the wind – but that fascination soon turns to despair as you realise the amount of precious historical information lost.

November 18, 2008 | Archaeology, Ica, Pisco, Nazca Guide

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Lost city of Cahuachi

The Nazcan city of Cahuachi was a stunning and magnificent place. Stretching along the dusty hills above the Nazca River valley are an as-yet unknown number of pyramids and temples – a good number of those rolling hills are not at all natural features. Some estimates of the area the city covered are as much as 24km2 – bigger than even the famous Chimú city of Chan Chan.

November 14, 2008 | Archaeology, Ica, Pisco, Nazca Guide

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The Nazca Lines

Etched into the barren rocky desert plains of of Nazca, in the region of Ica, is a mystery yet to be solved. Stretching for miles, and only visible from the air, are a series of lines, geometric shapes and figures that are 2000 years old. Created by the Nazca civilisation, their true purpose has yet to be determined.

November 12, 2008 | Archaeology, Ica, Pisco, Nazca Guide

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Aqueducts of Cantalloc

The Aqueducts of Cantalloc, also known by the more hispanified Cantayo, are one of the Nazca civilisation’s greatest achievements – building them was a far more difficult task than creating the Nazca lines.

November 11, 2008 | Archaeology, Ica, Pisco, Nazca Guide

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Patrimony destroyed by earthquake

The incompetent INC, that’s Peru’s Instituto Nacional de Cultura or National Institute of Culture, has once again found itself responsible for destroying Peru’s priceless heritage.

Not content with exploiting and destroying Machu Picchu, and despite the vast revenue way into the tens of millions of US dollars they pull in, they had housed precious artefacts in cheaply constructed museums that are not earthquake proof in Ica and Paracas.

August 21, 2007 | Ica, Pisco, Nazca Guide, News

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The Huaca Centinela and the Chincha culture

The Huaca Centinela was one of the principle centres of the Chincha people, a group of farmers, fishers and merchants that lived in the fertile valley that is now named for them. The Chincha nation existed in the area between the years 900 and 1495 when they were folded into the Inca Empire.

June 28, 2007 | Archaeology, Ica, Pisco, Nazca Guide

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Haciendas of Ica

Haciendas are something characteristic of Peru’s countryside. Haciendas were not only the residence of the owner, but an administrative centres and deposits. Haciendas were always built in grand style, they were large but functional. They had chapels with gold-leaf alters, and galleries of arcs and patios that looked over the countryside.

June 27, 2007 | Ica, Pisco, Nazca Guide

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El Carmen

The town of El Carmen, in the Chincha region of the department of Ica, is in the center of an area that is home to the majority of Peru’s African descendents. It is here in Ica that the majority of slave-owning haciendas were located and when the slaves were finally freed they set up small towns like this one. Their descendents continued to work at the haciendas until their decline and some still work the land to this day, but now its for their own benefit not anyone else’s.

June 26, 2007 | Ica, Pisco, Nazca Guide

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