The Nazca Lines are something of a mystery. Discovered in 1911, they are believed to be the work of a pre-Inca tribe, although no one is quite sure what they were designed for: a stellar constellation map, a tribute to the gods, or a water divining system? Whatever they are, we were keen to see them for ourselves.

This was going to be our first proper experience of the Peruvian tourist industry, and we had been warned that their approach to tourism was a little more relaxed than we've been used to. Stories of long waits and bun fights for planes were not uncommon. And so we awaited our pick-up prepared, armed with lots of water and reading material. Our guide Oscar greeted us with the news that as a result of early-morning fog, flights were already running 2 hours behind – putting our scheduled 11am flight back to 1pm. He insisted we should still head to the airport, just in case things sped up again.

At the dedicated Nazca Lines airstrip, we were greeted with a waiting room full of tourists – more than we'd seen since our arrival in South America. There were an astounding number of Japanese tourists, all of whom had opted to take an hour long overflight, rather than the standard 30 mins. This delayed our flight further – estimated flight time now 2pm.

We watched the American documentary called “Digging for the Past” or something equally trite, and laughed a lot as the Indiana Jones wannabe presenter tried to shed some light on the reason for the Lines' existence. Miraculously, he also 'discovered' some new lines on his very first flight! However, having seen it 3 times through, we were starting to get a little bored. It was at this point our guide took pity on us and drove us back into the town centre to get some lunch. Estimated flight time now: 3pm.

We returned to the airstrip at 2.30, by which point I was getting pretty nervous about our flight – never a fan of small planes, our experience in New Zealand had made me question getting in another small plane at all. And yet still we waited, another 2 hours to be precise. By the time our flight was called, at about 4.30pm, I was a sweating, nervous mess. Gripping James's hand tightly as we sat in the plane, I tried to quash my fears and shut my eyes as we taxied the runway.

And then we were in the air! The next 25 mins passed in a blur as our pilot careened first one way and then the other, allowing both sides of the aircraft a good view of each set of lines in turn. This was a good idea in theory, but the sharp jerky movements of the plane soon made us both feel pretty nauseous. With each call of “Left side! Right side!” I found myself desperately seeking out the horizon – no mean feat when the plane spent most of the flight at a 45 degree angle.

All that said, the Lines were pretty awesome to see, and an overflight really is the only way to see them. It was amazing to suddenly be flying over all these intricate lines, carved into the sand of the desert. My favourites were spider, which was incredibly detailed, and hummingbird, which was enormous. Still it was baffling to consider why these lines were here at all – the German archeologist Maria Reiche spent her whole life trying to unlock the mystery of the lines. Flying over them, I began to see why.

And then almost before we knew it, we were heading back for the runway, for an incredibly smooth landing. Glad as we were to have seen them, my overwhelming feeling being back on solid ground was relief. And a little nausea.