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Published: October 17th 2007
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A llama´s life (and death)
A severe winter a few years ago wiped out thousands of Llamas up on the altiplano. You can't visit Bolivia without the obligatory visit to the Salt Flats...The Salar de Uyuni...It's legendary on the backpacking cicuit but I was sceptical about whether it would live up to the hype. The six of us (me, Hannah, an N. Irish couple, and a young french couple who were expecting a baby), left Tupiza in a 4WD, our bags strapped precariously to the roof, for a 3 night, 4 day trek to Uyuni. We were told accomodation was basic, (i.e. No electricity, no running water), it was going to be back breaking, and that temperatures would drop to -10*C at night. I started to wonder why i'd payed $100 for this...As we zig zagged our way up a dusty, mountain road, our heads boucing off the roof as the car careered over boulders, I realised why. We climbed to dizzying heights of around 3500mts and planet earth seemed to disappear below us as the landscape became more like that of Mars (not that i've been).
Somehow we narrowly avoided tumbling off the road and plumeting back down to earth despite some death defying 4WD trickery that even our driver, William, seemed surprised to have pulled
off...Margarita, the cook, chuckled away to herself at the fear in our faces.
The ground suddenly leveled out as we reached the altiplano, it was no less bumpy but at least we were no longer driving at a 90* angle, and if we happened to go a couple of milimeters off course we wouldn't nose dive the 3500mts back to solid ground. Somehow William knew the way despite a distinct lack of road markings or sign posts, and after taking in a myriad of awe inpiring scenery which makes you want to become some kind of eco activist, we rolled up to a nameless village, population, a couple of dozen, which would be our home for the night...we were showed to our mud hut and then went for afternoon tea. After a few glasses of Mate de Coca, a coca leaf tea, the dizzying affects of the altitude seemed to calm. We settled in for the night and after a suprisingly nourishing dinner of soup, and 'beef' stew (otherwise known as Llama), we were ready to hit the hay. We awoke the following morning to the sound of Roosters and hit the road, or rather
Flight of the flamingos
As we inched nearer, cameras at the ready, they inched further away, unitil they eventually decided to take off. it hit us, and once more we bounced our way through some spectacular landscapes, the horizon forever unfolding ahead of us. If it wasn’t brilliant azure laguns, it was bubbling mud-filled gizas, or Dali-esque deserts…our jaws were never far from the ground. We would stop every hour or so for a few snaps and to allow the dust that had filled the car to settle. Margarita, or Mary Poppins as i called her, would never fail to amaze us with an endless supply of food and drinks which she pulled out of a seemingly bottomless bag…dinner was always spectacular considering the extremely basic cooking utensils she had and somehow she would manage a 3 course meal with nothing more than one pot and a camping stove. Hats off to her!
On the last day we awoke to the sound of our 4WD choking on the iginition and it quickly became apparent that we weren´t going anywhere for a while. So we climbed a nearby hill and watched the sunrise over the brilliant white salt flats. Eventually, the 4WD coughed and splattered to life and we were off crossing the salt deserts at 140kph, not another
Laguna Verde
This brilliant azure lake gets it colour from the mineral rich waters...apparently! soul in sight…if the car broke down here, we were in trouble. A cactus island appears on the horizon, but the unblemished, white ground makes it impossible to tell how near or far it is. We eventually roll up to the island and scale the cactus mound to the top…from there you have a 360 degree panorama of the white salt flats that encircle the island.
Somehow, i find myself behind the wheel zooming across the salt flats at an unknown volicity, as the spedometer has packed up. Tracks in the salt seem to disappear and reappear depending on the light, and i wonder what possesed me to get behind the wheel, after all i´ve failed my test 3 times.
We cross the Salar de Uyuni and make a final pitstop for lunch where i meet a llama who pomises not to spit at me and kindly poses for photos.
By this point we’re all ready to head back to civilisation after 4 days totally off the beaten track having had an unforgetable experience which never fails to amaze…i wonder if i´ll see anything so spectacular again?
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