Bolivia Southwest Circuit

We are back after 4 days of ups and downs with the ups being largely responsible for the downs. Confused, then let us explain.

DAY 1- We set off on our 4 day tour with the 3 great Alaskan girls we had met crossing into Bolivia as well as 1 Bolivian driver and 1 cook. We strapped our packs on the roof of our jeep along with several containers of gasoline and enough food and water to feed 7 hungry people for 4 days. It was quite clear this was not a trip to club med. On this day we climbed to a height of 4200m to a small village of 250 people that live largely off the llamas they keep. The climb was steep and dusty along a narrow gravel road surrounded by very dry and baron landscape. As we approached San Antonio de Lipez where we were to spend the night, we were intrigued by the hundreds of small black mounds littering the landscape. Our driver was amused to tell us these were merely llama banos (toilets) and looking closely you could see each circle piled with sheep like pellets or small raisins (easy to toilet train these pets). Llama around Bolivia are very photogenic as they all have red tassels hanging from their ears with the occasional one having a bow around its neck. We were all feeling good when we arrived in our "basic" accommodation (perfectly described) i.e no showers, 2hrs of electricity, no heating or hot water and one large dorm. As we were to discover this was not going to be the exception.

With hearts pounding from the altitude we had a slow walk up the hill and behind the village to watch sunset and return just in time for a fantastic dinner which included hot soup, llama stew and mashed potato with a couple of fried eggs for Leanne. After dinner it was a quick look at the most amazing night sky with some of the best views of stars that we had ever seen. Next we were off to bed at 9pm which turned out to be a late night by the end of our tour.

DAY 2- We awoke at 5am for an early start on what was the longest day driving (10hrs). This may seem peculiar but getting up at 5am was a welcome relief when you lie there for 8 hrs wide awake while your heart is fastly pounding in an ice box. Leannes suspicions were aroused when Matt declined breakfast and sat quietly on his Mate. Today we were headed up to the height of 5000m to visit attractions including, Rio Amergo (hot springs), geothermal mud pools and geysers, beautiful green and red lakes rich in arsenic and magnesium with the odd bright pink flamingo and the desert de Dali (a forest of rock and stone formations) as well as an ancient abandoned Bolivian village.

As we set off in the jeep Matts silence continued as his stomach cramped up and his head pounded hoping it would pass. Nurse Leanne cured the headache with some paracetamol but there was no such luck for his stomach. As we piled out to take photos of the numerous lagoons, Matt created his own pond as he threw up on the ground and collapsed. Leanne was desperate to help but unfortunately there are not many cures for altitude sickness and as we pulled up to the hot spings for lunch and to bathe, Matt ran to the toilet to open up the other end. As we visited the many attractions above Matt wondered around in a daze while Leanne took as many photos as she could. The scenery can be appreciated by Matt at a later (lower) time. Our nights accommodation was back down at 4200m and Matt observed every hill as descended hoping the next would be his cure but as we reached our home for the second and coldest night (-10 degrees)he headed straight to bed without eating and shivered in a fever as Leanne nursed him back to health. It was another sleepless night and the high altitude was the low part of our trip.

DAY 3 - We both awoke feeling great despite the lack of sleep and ready to tackle the day. This day we visited 5 lagoons which were home to pink flamingos although not quite as numerous as at warmer times of the year. We also drove past an active volcano steaming quietly and had lunch on the amazing lava formations which had cooled and eroded into many various shapes. The sky still remains perfectly blue and we are still yet to see a cloud in Bolivia. As we drove around the highlight of the trip, Salar de Uyuni, we got a gilmpse of what was in store for the next day. Our accommodation, although still filling the "basic" description did involve sleeping on slabs of rock salt with rock salt flooring. Before dinner we climbed the catcus ridden peak behind us to gaze down upon a truly awe inspiring site of Salar de Uyuni. Salar de Uyuni is the largest salt plane in the world covering a massive 12,106 km2. It is the biggest reserve of energetic minerals in the world such as lithium, magnesium, potassium, nitrogen, phosphorous and borax and the thickness ranges from 2-20m. You are literally looking as far as the eye can see at a sea of salt.

DAY 4 - We opted for the option of another early start to see sunrise from the middle of Salar de Uyuni. Headllights beaming it was quite a strange sensation as the jeep blasted across the horizon of pristine white salt plane. The rock hard salt dries to leave an interesting pattern with a web like pattern of circles on the surface. From the middle of the salar you can see many of the 14 islands poking up from the salt. We visited the largest one which was 1 km2 and is formed by calcaneous rock, coral and marine shells proving that this area was once under the sea. From this island we sped in our 4 wheeled boat to visit a working salt extraction village and finally to a train grave yard which would be of extreme interest to any budding train spotter as here in the open desert lies rusting some of Bolivias oldest locomotives.

We are now in Uyuni which is of little interest and merely a starting and exit point for the salar. We have booked bus tickets to Potosi to leave tomorrow morning and upgraded to a nice hotel room with heating and hot showers for tonight. Bliss!!!!

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