When I have solid ground under my feet again after the flight over the Nazca Lines, we go to eat something. I persuade Sara to check out the nearby Pyramid of Cahuachi. She’s a muffle for archaeological sensations, but by the end of lunch she agrees. We drive forty minutes through a desert of gravel until we get there. And there’s nobody there but us.

The pyramids are roughly recognizable and well cared for. An old man comes to us from a house and does not want to collect an entrance fee, but tells us to park on the other side of the very neat parking lot. There is still no one here but us. Apparently there must be a party somewhere else that nobody invited us to.

Once again I motivate Sara and Leon to walk with me to this unique site of history and both get ready after some grumbling. I ask the old man how much the entrance fee is, but he is irritated by my question and patiently shows me like an idiot where a tourist has to enter the site and where to come out again.

Okay, I don’t want to force any money on him. So we’re off and I’m expecting one last protest, which doesn’t happen.

We wander alone through the ruins and look at the remains of a large temple. Here, too, heads rolled when the weather was not right. Now only lizards run around here. It is very hot.

The great pyramid can still be guessed at. There are no further descriptions of the other buildings or pyramids. What can you expect even without admission. We take a few photos with Leon as a fictitious weather victim, then we’re done with the tour again.

The old man is waiting for us and I now expect to be asked to pay. No Still not. He asks me to sign the guest book. At least the intended ring block. We are already the fourth today. The man wishes us all the best and leaves, but then I can’t contain myself any longer, pull out my wallet and put a few soles in his hand. It doesn’t matter whether he can use it to preserve the pyramid or finally finance a denture, both are for a good cause.

On the way back I let the drone start again and expose the panorama and the temple in all their glory, then it goes through the desert back to the town of Nazca. Tomorrow we will continue our journey across the Panamericana.

We refresh our supplies, I have our air filter cleaned as a precaution, and off we go. We leave Nazca to the north and see the lines from the ground. It is very difficult to somehow recognize that these are geoglyphs.