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Published: October 13th 2007
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The amazing colours of the mountains
We couldn´t take enough photos of these vistas! After a few days of relaxation in sunny Sucre and a very drunken evening (ending up in a kareoke-discoteque with one of Richard´s friends from NZ) in the not-so-sunny Potosi, we headed for Tupiza to start the Southwest Circuit tour - part of which is the unmissable Salar de Uyuni.
We decided to take a 5-day tour to cut down on the amount of travelling on the second day, and to also give us a chance to see Laguna Celeste. Our group consisted of our guide William, our cook Talia, and another couple Hayley and Ricardo from the US. It turned out to be a great group, which can make or break a trip like this - so we were pretty lucky I think. However, William did like playing his one and only 80s tape quite a bit.... you know that era when they had just discovered synthercysers? Quality! I am still waking up with the same songs in my head!
This trip covers quite a few hundred kilometres and so there is a LOT of driving in a bouncy and dusty 4x4. However it takes you through amazing landscapes where we could have easily asked to stop every
Hubble bubble....
A field of mudpools and various other sulphuric ground movements! minute or so to take pictures. We chose to start the tour in Tupiza so that the final day was the Salar de Uyuni - saving the best till last!
We saw plenty of llamas, vicuñas (posh llamas), some emus, vizcachas (rabbity-kangaroo things), and we were even lucky enough to see some condors circling just above us. Most amazingly the various colourful lakes are home to thousands of flamingos, which in the wild are almost neon pink. When they fly you can see their black wings, which against their pink and the other various colours on the landscapes are just fantastic. When a large group decide to take off its really quite a sight.
We were taken to an old mining community where you can literally see the gold and silver in the rocks (there be gold in them there hills)..... strangely the Bolivian authorities have decided not to mine the area and so it is a complete ghost town. It seems odd that such a poor country doesn't tap into these reserves but hey, thats what we have come to expect.
We also visited various stunning lakes, the most startling of which are Laguna Verde at
5000m (bright aquamarine with the 5930m Volcan Licancabur in the background), and Laguna Colorada (bright red lake with white mineral edges and 1000s of flamingos). All of which prompt a huge WOW when they come into view for the first time!
We were given the chance to take a dip in some natural thermal springs on one of the days. However its incredibly cold and windy in all of these places despite the blue sky and sunshine and so Richard and I opted to roll up our trousers and dip our legs in. But, after a few days without a shower and with the springs being the PERFECT bathing temperature we were soon stripping off and jumping in. It was beautifully warm and with such a stunning backdrop you just couldn't resist.
On our last evening we stayed in a small hostel overlooking the Salar de Uyuni - the amazing salt flats. Our hostel was made entirely (well almost entirely) of salt which was pretty strange. Richard got a few strange looks when he kept licking the walls (eeuurrgghh!) and we enjoyed a much needed hot shower and got ready for our ridiculous o'clock wake up call to
see the sunrise.
The Salar de Uyuni is the worlds largest salt flat and pretty high up at 3650m - thats a good 2km higher than any point in the UK! It is basically part of a prehistoric lake formed during an upheaval that dried to a few "puddles" and salt pans. We were amazed to see fossilised coral that must have been living in this saltwater lake/sea at this altitude. As soon as you drive onto the flats the sheer scale of the place hits you. We jumped out to watch the sunrise and take it all in. Incredibly surreal!
Then it was photo time. Everyone who goes to the salt flats get the funny "your small, I'm big" pictures...... but they are so much fun to do!!! We were all saying how we really didn't want to do that many but once we got started we are all jumping around saying "lets do another one!!" Ah, so much fun! I hope you all like the one of me tickling little Richard.... its a personal favourite...
All in all, we had a really great trip, and it was a fantastic way to finish Bolivia! Roll on
On the road
Our 4x4 and the road ahead Argentina!!
PS. We also wanted to add that while we mourn the defeat of the All Blacks, we are pretty excited about England´s victory (sorry aussies, hehehe). However, its perhaps for the best in marital diplomacy that England don't have to play the ABs..... as it could have ended in tears, or someone not talking to someone else! I´ll let you decide who that would have been depending on your patriotic allegiances! 😊
Cath
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