Offroading to Bolivia

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After throughoutly enjoying our activities in San Pedro it was time to move on and with some sadness say good-bye to Chile. What a country! We really enjoyed the diverse landscape, from the mountains and hikes to the cities and wine areas then into the northern desert it certainly provided a great experience for us.

Much of our travels from place to place to date has been by bus, this time though we decided to take an opportunity to be a little more adventurous. We arranged a tour via an offroad truck and crossed into Bolivia at the remote crossing of Laguna Verde at the sourthern edge of the Reserva Eduardo Avaroa. This 7,147 square kilometre nature reserve is home to a surprising array of wildlife, brightly coloured lakes and lagoons and lunar landscapes with snowcapped volcanic peaks as its backdrop. It was well worth spending 4 days in a 4x4 to get off the beaten track a little and see some a remote region of Bolivia!

The offroad adventure ended in the town of Uyuni, which at its peak was Bolivia's main gateway to the outside world and a symbol of industrial progress and modernization. The town is now largely dependant on tourism to see the spectacular scenery of the Salar de Uyuni (Salt Flats) and its railway yards are left abandoned with the slowing decaying skeletons of the now redundant trains.

The salt falt covers some 9,000 square kilometres and is by far the largest salt lake in the world. Though not a lake in the conventional sense, below the surface of the thick hard crust of salt (which is easily capable of supporting the weight of a car) is ground which is saturated with water. Its a truly awesome place, and feels like being on another planet. We had so much fun playing with the prospectives on the salt flats and taking different pictures.

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Photos

Wildlife
A group of Guanaco are feeding and drinking in a pristine lagoon.

Solitary truck
Saw a lone truck making its way across the isolated landscape.

Red Lagoon
We came across this lagoon and its red algae mixed with the beginnings of a salt flat, with an imitation of table mountain in the background.

Flamingos!
No these aren't plastic, but the fablous pink fowls loved this red lagoon and its algae.

Dolled up Lama
So almost every lama we've seen (and we've seen a few at this stage) has some kind of decorative braids in their ears. We finally asked why? The answer we received is that there was a festival recently and the lama and women all get dressed up.

Hidden Valleys
The landscape was truly remarkable, there were so many rocky outcrops yet in between lay these lush, fertile valleys.

Camel Rock
So as this rock looked very much like a camel I decided to play jockey for a bit, surprising I didn't go very far.

Tiny village
We stumbled upon this little town, however no one was around with the exception of this little girl.

Statue
This is the first statue I have seen including the glasses of the subject, not really sure it works. Perhaps he should have worn his contacts the day he sat for the sculpter

Salt Flat at sunrise
On the striking cactus-covered Isla del Pescado.

Railway graveyard
In the middle of the desert there are all these old, rusting trains left to the whims of time.

Comments

[Sandy Holmes]

Love
I am thinking of re watching Butch Casidy and the Sundance Kid in honor of your visit to Bolivia. Love reading about your adventure. Love Sandy