Despite paying extra for a special bed none of us slept on the overnight bus from Arequipa to Nazca. It was a bumpy journey with lots of turns and at one point I’m sure I looked out the window to see us driving along the side of mountains. I decided to trust in the driver and tried to sleep more.

We arrived in Nazca around 6am and were immediately harassed by companies trying to book us on a plane. I’d done 0 research as I seem to be doing more and more and my guide book is pretty old and talked about finding a good company to take the flight as there have been accidents. What I’ve since learnt is that the Peruvian government has stepped in and sorted out the safety. So if you come to Nazca just head straight to the airport and book your flight there. They all charge the same and follow the same routes and safety standards.

We decided to head to a hotel to try and get some coffee and to work out the next steps. Both Sam and I wanted to get on the plane. One of my goals of this trip has been to get on a tiny plane and I thought that some of the passenger plans I’d used would be tiny planes, but it’s 2018 and of course everything is now official. I was also disappointed that the plane did not have any chickens or a boat instead of a parachute but there is still time. Next I want to try a sea plane.

Anyways I’ve also always wanted to see the Nazca lines and getting in a tiny plane helped me tick off two things. After googling didn’t really get us anywhere and the guide books were out of date we decided to jump in a taxi to the airport. Upon arriving we were harassed by some sales people so I left Sam with them and went to speak to the Peru tourist information who were really helpful. It was here that o was told all the company’s were safe and in that time Sam had struck a deal so I said let’s just do it and I’m glad we did as the company was really good.

It was $75 for a 45 minute flight plus the tax of 30 soles. I think I’ve paid less to fly to Spain but hey this is a tourist destination. We were told the flight would be leaving in half an hour so I stocked up on water, went to the loo about 50 times and nervously waited. Luckily for us the weather was good but be warned they do have to wait for good weather and will also wait for the flights to fill up, so at the flight time we were told 10 minutes, then another 10 and another. We didn’t have to wait too long and by around 10am we were going through security. Not bad considering we had only arrived in town 3 hours before.

It was here that I met Javier from Spain who was on Honey Noon with his wife Marina. Marina had not wanted to go on the flight either and I couldn’t blame her. At that point I didn’t want to go either but I’m glad Sam was there as I’m not sure I would have had the guys to do this on my own. He also been on planes a tonne of times. There was also another couple from Spain and soon our co-pilot came to meet us and took us out to the plane.

After a quick safety briefing and some photos we were allocated our seats. Before you get on the plane you need to be weighed and it’s the first time since March I’ve had the chance to jump on the scales. I’ve actually lost a stone, or at least I had at that point, which is good considering the amount I’ve been eating. I think I’ve had a lot more in the last couple of weeks so that could all be a lost dream. Anyways we sat in the plane and awaited takeoff.

So we got to put on our headsets and it really felt like I was just in a normal plane. Despite the fact I’d get to operate the door controls and I didn’t even think about opening it once during he flight. It was actually really professional and our pilot and co-pilot ran through a tonne of safety checks before we hit the runway. From there is was fairly standard as we headed to the runway, there was a queue of planes and you could see them taking off and landing.

Taking off felt pretty normal although I didn’t feel the kick of the jet engines as you would on a normal flight and it was a little slower.

And then we were in the air. As I said it was a good day to fly as there was very little turbulence. The one problem is that they do right turns over the lines and tilt the planes as I hope you can see in the pictures below.

I don’t know if you can really see the lines in the pics above. I only brought my phone with me as I’d read that using your big camera to take pics can male you feel sick. Also it’s a distraction from the flight and I decided to just go with it and enjoy it.

I did feel a little weird on the turns but nothing too bad so I was great full for that but I was also very happy to land again. It had been fun but this was enough for me.

We landed found Alice, and then went back to town to find some food before getting a bus on to Ica. Javier and Marina joined us and coincidently they were getting the same bus to Ica also. So on we jumped for the two hour trip.