Nazca Lines Scenic Flight – Unforgettable Day Tour, from Lima

This is a MUST DO if you are interested in pre-Incan culture. We started with a fantastic boat ride where we saw an interesting petroglyph on the side of a mountain along with tons of birds, penguins and sea lions. We skipped the Tello museum and just relaxed by the sea. We had an unexpected experience with a festival to give back to the Sea Mother with locals going out on boats dressed in local costumes to give offerings. The highlight for me was the Nazca lines though. They are difficult to photograph because you have to be fast but we got some great photos. I recommend looking at the designs prior to the flight so you can recognize them quickly. Our guide, Edwin, was a lovely young man who had made his way to Lima from a small mountain village to pursue his education. We learned a lot about the area and culture from him and really enjoyed his company. Our driver was a true professional in the chaos of Lima! I would highly recommend this trip!!

The local travel company worked very hard to accommodate our travel schedule. Our driver (Jose) picked us up on time, kept us on schedule all day and shared a wealth of knowledge about Lima, Paracus and Nazca Lines with us.

Hard review to write. Our guide and driver, were on time at 530 AM. Both were very nice, and our guide was well spoken and seemed to know his history pretty well. We arrived at the airport at approximately 855AM. Our guide seemed to think we were on a 930 flight but a text from the Richard Escalante the CEO of Peru4Fun agency said it was a flight at 9. Since we do not speak Spanish it was difficult to understand what was going on between the airline folks and our guide. We finally took off at about 1155. The delay meant that we definately would not be going on the boat ride to Ballestas Island (something we were warned about the night before) I sent Richard a text pointing out that we did pay for that and haveheard nothing but crickets since. The flight was good and pretty interesting. We were taken to a very good restuaunt after the flight (Super clean rest rooms!!!) and good food. We then went to Paracas. for maybe 45 minutes to see the red sand beach. (Sorry but that is a "Yawn" event) The we headed back to Lima. Took 3 hours to go down but 5 hours to come back. I think a lot went wrong on this tour, 80% really was not the fault of the tour operator, guide or driver. I have been a travel agent for 35 years and can pretty much go with the flow. Some of my clients would have been screaming idiots. I think the guide and driver did some things to try to make it better. Why we had to stop and get gas on the way home when the driver had 2 hours while we were in the air, will remain a mystery of life. Not going out to Ballestitas Island (whether lack of time or rough seas being the reason) was a disappointment. This was the most $$$ (1599USD) of all the tours from Lima to do the fly over and Ballestas islands. This was billed as a 10 hour event. The cost was more then 5 nights hotel room, tax, breakfast, cocktails. If you were my client I would ask just how high on the bucket list is seeing the Nazca lines? If it is not in the top 25 things, don't do it with this or any of the other tour operators. The tour folks could not controll the drive times but traffic in Lima is a nightmare. The 10 hour experience turned into 15 hours. The screaming barfing 5 year old did nothing to add to the enjoyment of the flight. The kid was not the old one sick. About 3 or 4 adults were as well. The fly over was sort of cool. Whether is is $1000 for 2 or $1599 for two, would I do this or recommend this 15 hour experience for a 2 hour flight? Not in this life time. Again this is not directed at the tour operator as much as it is the entire event. Better be in the top 5 of your bucket list to do this

Gaspar was an amazing guide! We couldn't have asked for anyone better! What an incredible experience! And Benjamín, our driver was a great driver! Gaspar explained everything in great detail. He even found us a great restaurant with a vegetarian menu in the town of Paracas. We had some spare time between lunch and our flight for Nazca Lines from Pisco, so he showed us a quaint little seaside neighborhood. It was a very comfortable and enjoyable tour. We saw amazing wildlife on Islas Ballestas-sea lions basking, hunting, loving and hugging, and of course Peruvian penguins being ridiculously adorable just being penguins, lots of pelicans and cormorants! It was all a feast for the eyes! And the Nazca Limes were simply mind blowing!

Nazca lines have been very high on my list of things to experience, so this tour was selected. Alex & Gasper were on time and ready to go! Be ready for a long drive, but I promise it is worth it! I am not sure was the special occasion was, but we hit a new record for police stops (5) in one trip. The great thing was that Alex had all his papers in order and the stops were nothing and we were off within a minute or so. Once we arrived in Paracas, we were taken to a restaurant for facilities (1 sol to use) and then we were placed with our group for the boat ride. The water was super calm and the presenter did a great job. We were the only English speaking people on the boat, so she would share information in Spanish and then again for us in English. It was a very sunny day (bring a tight hat & sunblock) and the trip to the islands went quickly with a few stops along the way to see the land before the islands and a cacti geoglyph. Even before we near the islands, wave after wave of sea birds were flocking around them, coming to them or leaving them. Once we arrived to the first island it was wildlife overload with sea lions and many different sea birds! We toured around the many islands which were covered in wild life and unique rock formations; and then I saw a penguin! As it was summiting the rock it kept calling out to which, two more penguins appeared! What an awesome time! We returned back to the docks, disembarked and Gasper was there waiting for us and back to the car for a short jaunt to the airport. Gasper shared that the Peruvian flag was based on area flamingo's and as we drove by the water, sure enough Gasper noticed a few of their heads peaking about the sand dunes! We arrived at the airport quickly...it was a massive airport that only had flights over the Nazca lines......Bad planning, but hopefully the government can fix the issues and get some more flights in and out (it is a very nice airport). Gasper was even kind enough to get us our "nazca stamp" for our passport! (it was actually pretty cool). There were 10 of us and we all fit comfortably on the plane. We flew for about 30 minutes of so before we started to see formations. I will warn you, the plane presents the lines to the right first then the left. When they do though; they bank very hard so get ready for a little amusement park type travel! Several passengers were ill from these hard banks back and forth. Me and my wife were fine as we were simply amazed at what we saw. You should also know, it is important to look with your eyes first then your camera/phone. For whatever reason, looking through your view finder, you will not see the geoglyphs and it is totally easy to miss the photo op! After the flight, we Gasper was there waiting for us, checked on whether we got sick from the flight or not and off to lunch we went. I told Gasper that we saw two large flocks of flamingos from the plane and sure enough, we drove by them. Alex, hit the brakes and pulled over so we could get some photos...Then off to lunch. We were given a couple options and we selected the Arnawa hotel. Oddly, the next day we were flying to Cusco & staying at the same hotel. Food was ok, atmosphere was fantastic. Once done, we were heading back to Lima. Again, more police inspections & heavy heavy traffic; but Alex got us through with no problems. The company throughout had fantastic communications and there were zero surprises, allowing us a stress free trip that we will cherish for a life time. If you have a chance to go, we highly advise taking this tour!

What can one say. Seeing the Nazca lines from an plane - awesome. Trip includes a boat ride to the Ballestas Islands. A fantastic stop to to view sea lions and some native penguins. Drive and tour guide very friendly and helpful.

I appreciate the efforts this tour company took to make my trip to see the Nazca Lines possible, as airport and flights were still restricted in Peru. My guide Richard was awesome and the driver (Juli?) was just great. Kudos!