Eduardo Avaroa Andean Fauna National Reserve

South America Day 26

Eduardo Avaroa Andean Fauna National Reserve

It was a cold night & the 7am start wasn't any less icy. I have no idea how cold it was but I certainly had a couple of layers on. It all looked clear & warm outside, but as soon as we stuck our noses out the door, the eyes started to water. Once the sun came up it soon warmed up but the cars didn't start easily.

Sol de Manana

Our first stop for the day was the geysers. with all the volcanic activity in the Andes, it was inevitable that we would see something like this at some point.

The first geyser is actually man mande. Everyone took turns at putting their hands in the steam.

I couldn't help but jump through the steam. I'd tested the temperature with my hand but had underestimated that velocity it was pumping out at because it blew my hat off. Kerri got the shot though.

These are some of the real geysers complete with colourful mud and steam. We stood around for quiet a while looking at them. It's a hard thing to take photos of because of the swirling steam. Bubbling mud and steam has a similar memorizing effect on me as waterfalls or a camp fire.

Vicuñas again have found a hostile place to live & seemed to be feeding on something. I couldn't see any vegetation so I can only assume they were licking the mineral salts coming from the geysers. (Ok, I know, enough about the Vicuñas. I'm done.)

Laguna Collpa.

We stopped briefly at the hot springs on the shore of Laguna Collpa. I can't recall anyone getting in because it was still quite cold & dressing down didn't seem that inviting. We were to return there at lunch anyway.

It's just a shallow brick pool that captured the hot water as it comes out of the ground. Pictured is the warm stream that comes from the outlet of the pool. It then runs into Laguna Collpa.

Valley of Dali

 Heading south of the hot springs, we traveled across a wide valley of course, but soft sand. It was called the Valley of Dali. It was surrounded by the most strangely coloured ranges like the one in shot, Cerro Amarillo. It was such a strange place that (again) could be a scene from the surface of Mars.

Laguna Verde

A short drive on the other side of the ranges led us to this beautiful lake, Laguna Verde. The volcanic peak on the far side of the lake (Vulcan Juriques) is across the border in Chile.

 No garden variety camera can pick up the entire lake. This aspect looks across at Volcan Licancabur (also in Chile). When we arrived there was no wind & the lake surface looked like glass.

Not long after we arrived at this amazing place, the wind started to pick up & the entire lake turned this incredible green colour. I guess that's why they called it Laguna Verde (Verde translates to green). This is my favourite photo from Bolivia.

We were dragged away from Laguna Verde & taken back to the Hot Springs for lunch. This time some of the crew had a swim, but it didn't seem that inviting with such a big crowd & the ambient temperature had climbed as well.

Laguna Colorada

After lunch we started our epic journey back toward Uyuni. Our route took us to the opposite side of Laguna Colorada (Colorada is Spanish for red) to where we had stayed the previous night. We stopped briefly to admire this red lake, the flamingos and the nasty little whirl winds (see below).

At Laguna Colorada the wind picked up the salt off the lake & turned into mini tornadoes. I'm glad I wasn't any closer to this one!

Shortly after we left Laguna Colorada we climbed a little & were suddenly no longer in the dessert. The landscape was covered in grasses and we were clearly in farm land again. This Rhea bird was running along beside the car briefly. It looked like a stunted Ostrich.

The rest of the trip was forgettable, but very bumpy. By the time we'd made it to Villa Mar (a small farming village) we'd definitely had enough. At least there were warm showers! (Or was that a warm shower?)

We crashed early because it was a 5am start the next morning. The night was cold again.