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Published: September 12th 2012
After our recharging trip down to the Amazon (warmth and low altitude) we were ready to head back up into the cold, high altitude corner of South Western Bolivia. From La Paz, we had booked an 11hr bus to Uyuni , but unfortunately (or fortunately!!) the bus was cancelled and there are no other busses running that day. Our travel agent then suggested a flight that was only slightly more expensive than the bus. SCORE, a 1h40min flight instead of an 11hr bus trip on dodgy dirt roads! Or, so we thought. It was only after we had paid, that the lady told us to make sure we go to the military airport and not the International airport. GREAT, we had just booked and paid for a Bolivian Military flight, which didn’t sound all too exciting after having just read that the “Alive” flight was also a military flight!
We arrived at the airport at 5 am on Monday morning to find a very sleepy military airport with a bunch of regte moustache touting, leather jacket and aviator sporting pilots, hanging around. They all definitely looked like “proper” pilots so we relaxed a little and checked in. After seeing the
Train Cemetary
Where old trains go to live in the desertplane we relaxed a whole lot more as it was 3 times the size of our Rurre flight and looked like a normal airline, much to James’ disappointment as he hoped we would be flying into a camo painted C130 and would be wearing parachutes during the flight. In the end to flight was very pleasant and gave us some awesome aerial views of the massive Salar de Uyuni.
After meeting up with some great travel companions from Poland and Czech, and sorting out a tour company to take us across the extreme landscape, the 6 of us (plus our driver Javier) piled into a Land Cruiser and set off on a 3 day trip into a wild corner of Bolivia.
The main attraction of the trip is the Salar de Uyuni , the world’s largest salt flat. It is estimated to hold nearly 10 billion tonnes of salt and approximately 25 tonnes is extracted annually, which majority seems to be dug by hand! The salt crust is a couple of meters thick in some areas and apparently holds around 60% of the world’s lithium deposits; and is that flat (only a 1m height difference over the entire
10 000 km
2!) that it is used to calibrate satellites. Interesting, hey!?
The 3 days were mostly spent in the 4x4, traversing the vast landscape and making our way down to the Bolivian/Chile border. Every now and then, we’d pile out of the car to stretch our legs and marvel at the scenery.
The salt flat was incredible, with absolute nothingness around us. We stopped at Isla Incahuasi for lunch, a little desert oasis with huge cacti, in amongst the white expanse.
Our first night was spent at a salt hotel, where everything from the walls to the tables, to the bed support was made from salt blocks. Totally incredible! And watching the moon rise over the salt desert was one for the books.
The next day we left the salt flat behind and headed into a landscape that was incredibly desolate, with absolutely no vegetation and kilometers of sand and gravel, dotted with unbelievable rock formations. We visited a number of shallow multi-coloured lagunas, filled to the brim with pink flamingoes, gorging themselves on the delicious toxic algae.
The last day was an early start to make the sunrise over the Solar de Manana
geysers, where active steam jets, bubbling mud and the constant smell of rotting eggs lets you know that the ground below you is far from dormant! It was an amazing sight, especially seeing mud boil and pop like a regular pot of porridge!
The temperatures were pretty chilly at 7am, and combined with the high altitude (4800m) we were ready for some warming up! Our next stop was a gorgeous clear hot spring, where we quickly stripped down to our cozies and relaxed in the 35 degree water. I won’t describe to you the getting out and getting dressed though! But, in the end totally worth it!
Our last stop before heading to the border was Laguna Verde. The blue colour is the result of high comes from high concentrations of lead, sulfur, arsenic and calcium carbonates, which incredibly, allows the laguna to stay liquid, even at minus 21 degrees!
By late morning on our last day, we arrived at the most quaint and quite border post ever. From there we said goodbye to our friends and headed into Northern Chile’s Atacama Desert and the town of San Pedro de Atacama.
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TJ
non-member comment
AMAZING
There are days at work where I feel stuck in my office and wild with frustration, then I read your blog and live a life of adventure vicariously through the two of you #blessed