Bolivia februari 23 - 26/2011

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Bolivia

A simple building at the foothills of the Licancabur vulcano marks the border between Chili and Bolivia. It almost falls apart. An earthquake is not necessary. The top of the Licancabur is capped with snow, like the other vulcano´s here around. They have an altitude of about 6000 meter. ´Some eight years ago they had far more snow´, tells our driver/guide Nilven. ´Climate change!´

With Nilven of the excellent ´Expediciones Estrella del Sur´ we make a trip of 4 days across the Reserva Nacional de Fauna Andina Eduardo Avaroato to Uyuni, together with two other people: Douwe from the Netherlands and his peruvian girlfriend Claudia. The landscape is breathtaking. Everywhere are signs of vulcanism: the hot springs where you can bath, the geysers, some vulcano´s still have some activity. We walk in between steam and sulphur damps, the muddy ground is bubbling. I remember water boils at this altitudes at 90 degrees Celsius ´Do not come to near´, warns Nivel. ´Every moment somewhere else the ground can open.´Still these kinds of vulcano´s which are continuously active are not the most dangerous ones. The sleeping vulcano´s which erupt only once in a while are the most dangerous. I think people are likewise.

In between the vulcano´s are laguna´s in all colours. The first laguna we see is the Laguna Blanca. There are several Flamengo´s in the lake: the Flamengo de Miller, the Flamengo de Chili and the Flamengo de Andes. Close to the Laguna Blanca is the Laguna Verde. It is completely green. ´It is because of the arsene in the water´, tells our guide Nivel. I remember how arsene was used by farmers to kill rats and by women to kill their husbands. The Laguna Verde lacks all life, no flamengo´s, no other birds. Empty, while next door the Laguna Blanca is full of life.

Not far from these awkard lakes is a lake which is even more special: Laguna Colorada. We see a red lake with bright white in between. ´The white is Borax´, explains Nivel. ´It is used to make windowpanes for cars and to molten solder.´ I myself remember that we used it as a mouthwater to cure little wounds. Borax is a mineral, an salt of boric acid. Actually it is poisonous. That is why it is forbidden in Indonesia as a food additive.
´And the red colour?´, we ask. ´That is caused by red algae´, says Nivel. I cannot believe it. When we come near the lake we smell H2S. I guess the red colour is caused by Purple Sulphurbacteries. With their red pigment they are able to absorb the sunlight for their photosynthesis and the H2S is used as hydrogen source in stead of water. Anyway it is a beautiful sight, though there are not so many organisms who would like to live is this poisonous mix of borax and H2S. Wrong! The lake is full of Chilean flamengo´s!

I do not understand flamengo´s. How can these elegant, highheeled birds live in such a mess? I understand that you need long legs to be as far as possible from the dirty water you are standing in. But then they strech their necks and put their beaks, even their whole head in the water. Paleontologist Stephen Gould noticed already how strange flamengo´s are. While walking, flamengo´s sieve the water on micro organisms. Like ducks and other waterbirds do. But the waterstream is in an opposite direction. The sievesystem of the flamengo´s is completely adapted to this opposite situation. Strange birds!

The night we spend in a hostel in the middle of nowhere at an altitude of about 5000 meter. It is phantastic, but we hardly can sleep, it is freezing cold, we have headache, a feeling to puke and our breathing is irregular. It is clear we have Altitude sickness, Soroche, as they call it here.



The second day

We descend to lower altitudes and indeed our soroche disappears. We see more laguna´s. One is yellow because of the sulphur. There are a lot of birds. We hear there are 80 species of birds here. One waterbirdspecies circles all the time around its axis, like a derwish. We guess it is a technique to catch waterinsects.

Apart from the laguna´s everything is dry. Life is hardly possible in between the lavarocks. Some rockformations have weird froms. One reminds us of a painting of Salvador Dalí. Another one looks like a petrified tree. But the most surrealistic thing is that we find life between the rocks. It looks like moss and it is brightgreen. When we have a closer look we see little flowers. So it is not a moss. They have a sweet smell. Indeed some flies are pollinating the flowers. Nivel gives us the name: Yareta. It is an awkward plant, an umbellifera. It grows only in Chili, Bolivia, Peru and Argentina on high altitudes. It needs strong light and it is so compact to prevent heatlosses. That is why it also so close to the rock, to catch the reflected heatradiation. Some of these Yareta´s are more than 3000 years old.
While we are busy to study the Yareta´s we see even a bigger surprise. A rabbit (or is it a squirrel?) appears in between the rocks. ´It is a Viscacha´, tells Nive. It is a kind of Chinchilla. Viscacha´s are planteaters. We wonder how they can survive in this dry and barren environment, where plants are rare. But there are more animals here. Like the Ñandu, the Greater Rhea. It eats plants, insects, lizards and even scorpìons. We see this Rhea on our way to San Cristóbal.

There is not so much to do in Cristóbal. So we continue our trip to Uyuni. Just before Uyuni we visit a cemetery for old locomotives. They used to run in between Antofagasta and the inland. Antofagasta was in the past part of Bolivia. Now it belongs to Chili. Bolivia does not have any coastline anymore. The trains were used by mining companies, but the mining industry collapsed.
The second night we sleep in Uyuni in a nice hotel, called La Roca.


The third day

From Uyuni it is not far to Salar de Uyuni, the biggest salt lake in the world. We think Nivel has gone mad, when he drives suddenly with his 4wd car into the lake. But the water is not higher than 10 cm. ´A week ago there was about 40 cm water here´, tells Nivel. It looks like we are on the Southpole. But we do not drive over ice, but over a layer of 6 meter thick salt. The lake was formed when the Andes rose in prehistoric times. It is so flat that satelites calibrate their altitudemeters on it. The most important mineral is lithium, which is used in batteries. In the past lama´s brought the salt to Argentina.
We drive to the hotel, some kilometers out of the coast. It is completely composed of salt. Like all other tourists we make illusionary pictures. You cannot see a horizon. That is why you cannot see what is nearby and what is far.
There are some islands in the lake. Some cars try to go there, but they return. The water is too high. It is a pity, because on the Incahuasi island grow gigantic cactusses and quinoa plants. Quinoa was the sacred crop of the Inca´s and forbidden by the Spaniards. Nowadays you can still buy it. There are also fossil stromatolites, the first organisms which made oxygen on a large scale. They changed the atmosphere of the earth and made life possible for organisms like us.
We return to Uyuni, where we say goodbye to Douwe and Claudia and our excellent driver/guide Nivel. Another driver will bring us back to San Pedro in Chili. His name is Mister Erwin.
We drive across the beautiful Valle de la Roca to the little village of Villa Mar. There we will spend night.


The fourth day

It is 5 o´clock in the morning. It is dark and we drive over a bumping dirt road. This area is almost completely deserted. The frightened eyes of the lama´s we catch in the frontlights of the car indicate there must be some people living here. The night was extremely cold, the bed was hard, no sleep, no shower, bad food, no breakfast. After a while the road appears to be blocked by a big truc. Mr Erwin puts his 4wd gear on and continues offroad. Mr Erwin is in a hurry for some reason. After some hours driving we need a little stop. No time, decides Mr Erwin. He is in a bad mood, shouts at us. Finally we arrive at Aguas Calientes, where there are toilets. Mr Erwin has suddenly all the time of the world, drinks coffee. Linda explodes (like some vulcano´s do once in a while). ´Now we are in a hurry.´But Mr Erwin sees it in a different way. Linda has been inpolite to him and has to make excuses. Otherwise he will not drive anymore. Finally Linda makes her excuses. But it does not help. She has to leave the car. We ask some people for help, but Mr Erwin sticks to his point. After more than an hour arguing Linda and I decide to walk the last 2 hours to the Bolivian border. It is a hostile climat and we hardly have water. Finally Robin convinces Mr Erwin this is not responsible. When we are back at San Pedro we report the irresponsible behaviour of Mr Erwin to Estrella del Sur. Estrella del Sur is an excellent company, we can advise to everyone, but we suggest to think it over before you step in the car of Mr Erwin.

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Comments

[VERA]

^))))) BORDER!:)))

[Vera]

PRACHTIG!!!

[Vera]

I checked all photoes! GREIT!!!