Salt Flat 4x4 Jeep Tour Day 1

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On the first day we had to meet our group at the tour company at 8am. Choosing a company is one of the most difficult decisions to make. You hear of such horror stories of other companies and unfortunately there have been several deaths on the tours over recent years, so picking a good one was extremely important. After weeks of research and reading blogs, we had decided on a company called Cordillera, who we couldn’t recommend highly enough.

There were 4 jeeps in total carrying 6 in each, so 24 of us would be enjoying the journey together. We left San Pedro de Atacama to go to Migration from Chile into Bolivia and Entrance to National Reservation, where we would visit the White and Green lagoons, Hot springs and Geysers "Sol de Mañana". The border was amusing, just a shed in the desert. We were then served breakfast just outside the building, already at an altitude of 3000 it was below freezing.

We were lucky and we had a great group. Paul and Jenn were from Canada and Krystal and Thomas from Holland. The main issue with the salt flat tours is that none of the guides speak English. Which isn’t a huge issue as everything is so visual and being in the desert for 3 days, you’re happier that they are great mechanics. But we were very lucky and Krystal was fluent in English and Spanish so we were able to understand what we were visiting and not just looking at it. We also had a great driver, Miguel who would do anything for you. It was nice to be able to communicate with him through Krystal.

The tour would comprise of traveling through Bolivia, visiting many fluorescent-colored lakes that are created from a collection of different minerals from runoffs from the surrounding mountains.

The jeeps were surprisingly comfortable, and considering we would be spending 8 hours a day in them, the days went really quick. This was mainly to do with having a stop every 40 minutes or so for more photo opportunities. Our first stop was Laguna Verde, a beautiful Lagoon with a stunning backdrop. The mountains and cloud were positioned so perfectly and the lagoon acted like a mirror for an incredible reflection. We spent about an hour here taking it all in. It was beautiful.

We then went to the Termas de Polques hot springs, now reaching nearly 4400 metres. Tony experienced his first struggle at altitude when jogging 30 meters to the toilets and nearly collapsing from lack of breath. It’s a very funny feeling being at altitude, shortness of breath, nausea, thumping headache and the feeling of being drunk without having drunk anything. Ok, so we didn’t mind the last side effect.

Whilst at 4000 metres and in freezing conditions, we thought why not strip down to our bathing suits and jump in the hot springs. It was lovely being in there, but getting out and getting changed was a different experience. Well worth it though. Definitely the best view either of us has had whilst having a bath!

We spent the rest of the day visiting various lagoons, getting to know each other and taking in the incredible surroundings. We were amazed when driving through the desert to come across snow covered ground. We pulled over to take some pictures and even the guides were capturing the moment as they were quite surprised to see such a spread of snow. A snow fight was out of the question though, as just throwing one left you breathless. We visited a 4950m, Geyser Basin with boiling mud pots and unfortunately saw a casualty earlier that day of just how hot these are, so we made sure we stayed well back.

By 3pm we were already quite tired and eventually made it to where we would be spending the night. We had reached 4900m, headaches and exhaustion were coming thick and fast. It was a very basic accommodation and the 6 of us shared a room. We were told that temperatures would be well below freezing in the evening and that we should pack very warm clothing.

There is very little to do here and after dinner at approx. 8pm, we all went to bed. Although it took us till about 9pm to pile on the layers, as it was already freezing. Perdy had a total of 13 layers on her top half, so serves her right really that she didn’t get any sleep because she got too hot!
After an amazing start to our trip we were very excited about what day 2 and 3 would bring. Plenty more photo opportunities, that’s for sure.

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