4x4 on Mars

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Between a pampas tour in Rurrenabaque with pink dolphins and a jeep tour in the Salar de Uyuni, the salt flats was my second choice ... thank god the flights to the jungle were unreliable and we headed south the Uyuni. The three day jeep tour on the Salar de Uyuni presented the most breathtaking scenery I have ever seen. After an extremely uncomfortable and bumby night bus from La Paz (go high class) to Uyuni we found our tour company, El Deserio and the three of us, Michael and two Argentinians - Franco and Rodrigo- piled into an eight person land rover with our guide and cook. To start the tour we stopped in a tiny little village where they sold souviners of salt and had buildings made of blocks of salt. We then drove onto the Salar de Uyuni. I really can´t even describe it ... over 1200 sq km area of salt, the white just went on forever and ever. The salt went about 10m deep and then there was water and sediment. The first part of the salt flat had workers collecting the salt and after driving only a few minutes and passing a salt hotel we were surrounded by only white. The reflection on the salt due to the tiny layer of water covering the salar was unbelievable and made an illusion that there really was no horizon.

It seemed that we were driving into nothingness, just a white blanket of salt and clouds but then we came to the Isla de los Pescadores, where there were giant cactuses that were up to 1000 years old. They were the fattest prickly plants I have ever seen, and the views from the Island were amazing. Of course the three of us had to complete our boy band/spice girls photo shoot with such great reflections and back grounds. After the Island we headed to San Juan, a tiny, would be dusty town if it wasn´t raining in the middle of nowhere, worse then Sandspit if you will. However we did have very comfy concave beds and cheap bolivian wine to keep us happy. The next morning, after wonderful fruit and yogurt (the food on the tour was supurb) we headed off into a desert that looked what I would imagine Mars to look like ... it was also above 4700 meters. Through the desert appeared amazing volcanic rock formations... presenting one with the name of tree rock. The fact that these hoodo like rocks were in the middle of the desert was very impressive.

This day was full of flamingos and lagunas. I always thought of flamingos as a tropical bird, but in the freezing cold altitude there were tons of them. Three different species of flamingos strive on the algae and plankton that live off the mineral rich waters. The first lake was of normal color but after a drive further through the desert and came to Laguna Colorada - a brilliantly redish pink colored lake that was made more amazing by the lightning in the distance. The sky and lake had the most intense colors and the smell of the flamingos was quickly forgotten.

On the last day of the tour we woke up extremly early to make it to the Sol de Manana Geyser Basin. We were there for sun rise and the amazing geysers and sulphur pits were breathtaking. The bubbling mud and steam rising from the ground was absolutly crazy making it easy to forget watching your step and creating potential danger of falling through the cracked earth (no worries no did) After a short drive we arrived at the Termas de Polques ... a very popular breakfast stop and one of the warmest termas we´ve encountered in South America, complete with naked europeans. After breakfast we departed for our last stop, Laguna Verde. The lake was a stunning blue, like a glacier lake of North America but surrounded by contrasting red mountains that made it look more spectacular. The color was due to the rich mineral content, including copper, lead and arsenic and to add to the scene the summit of Volcan licancabur was directly across the lake creating a beautiful reflection.

All in all the Salar de Uyuni presented the most breathtaking and diverse scenery I have ever seen in only three short days. Going with out any expectations this was defintatly a highlight of my trip.

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