The Bolivian Southern Desert

South America Day 25

The Southern Desert.

After a cold night we set off at 8.30 in the 4x4s again. Today we would explore some inhospitable terrain in the southern tip of Bolivia.
As soon as we were under way we started seeing vicuñas. They were everywhere! I guess that's why they're not protected in Bolivia like they are in Peru. The locals don't seem in too much of a rush to kill them.
We stopped briefly in a small village to get supplies. It would be the last shop we would see for a couple of days.We skirted around a small salt lake and ended up in a valley that looked more like a place on Mars. The spec of civilisation was actually a military base & being that it was a matter of a few kilometres away from the Chilean border, was the front line of defence for Bolivia. Our driver gave them some treats & cocoa leaves. These guys do it tough out in the middle of the dessert.

Vulcan Ollague

The first scenic spot was Vulcan Ollague. It's an active volcano (just). You will see a small plume of smoke coming from near the top.

Below, see it is active. Promise! Granted it's not like the lava spewing volcanoes in Hawaii, but it is active.

At one point we had to hop out of the cars & walk up this hill. Apparently the road was so rough that us passengers without our seat belts would have been bashed around too much. Better we went for a stroll.

Laguna Canapa

This was our lunch spot. Laguna Canapa is one of a number of salty lakes in the Bolivian dessert. Not a bad outlook for a picnic.

The amazing thing is how much life thrives despite the caustic environment. The flamingos love it! It's exactly the right conditions for the algae they eat. They were not at all what I'd expected to see in the high altitude dessert.

We had ideal conditions for photographing these pink birds.

I just like the photo above because of the sparkles off the water

 If you've ever seen flamingos take off you will relate to the photo above. They wind up & to a wonderful ballet stile tip-toe across the water.

Landing isn't quite so graceful, particularly with the much that they have to land in (below).
I have added more flamingo & other bird photos to my Flickr site (click here).

Even our familiar gull friends were there. I also took photos of Sand Pipers, Finches & Plovers.

Below is a Red Backed Sierra Finch, above is a White Rumped Sand Piper.

Laguna Hedionda

We finished up lunch & headed off to the next lake (Laguna Hedionda). Not as nice as the previous one, but we stopped for a look anyway.

Even the crested ducks seem to like the saline waters. There must be some sort of life in these lakes.

Laguna Honda 

The next lake was a little more interesting & had a green tinge.

While we were admiring the view of Laguna Honda, our driver whistled and threw some food out on the ground. Within a minute this Andean Fox appeared to have it's photo taken and take a left over chicken leg. I was as excited to see this one as I was to see the fox in Alaska, but the circumstances were a little worrying. We kept hearing in Canada about the problems with habituating wild animals and that was exactly what was happening here. Unfortunate, but I got my shot. I shouldn't feed into it.

The middle of nowhere.

The next couple of hours were pretty rugged. The bumps & corrugation were severe & the 2 girls sitting on the back bench seat were getting bashed against the roof of the 4x4 and all our spines were copping a hiding. The dust was getting into everything.

We made two stops during the grind to our accommodation. The first stop was at a rocky shelf. I couldn't understand why we had stopped until this little guy appeared from a crevice. It's a Vizcacha. A bit like a rabbit, but more like a chinchilla because of the tail.

Once again, the tour operators left food for the animals. Not ideal, but once again, I got my shot.

The Stone Tree.

The second stop for the afternoon was this very strange wind sculpted rock. When you look at it it's hard to work out how this strange shape evolves. As soon as you get out of the car it becomes obvious. Aside from the wind being ice cold that late in the day, the first thing you notice is the feeling of being sand blasted, particularly close to the ground. So the sand wears away at the soft sandstone & does it more at ground level. As the sand level shifts the top of the rocks are left more or less unharmed.

Laguna Colorada

We're made it! Phew!
A small building on the shore of Laguna Colorada was to be our shelter for the night. The desert was even colder here as we had gained even more altitude & lost some cloud. We had to keep the place locked up to stay warm.
Unfortunately, after dinner some of our group & most of the other group (who were also staying there) decided that a card game was a good idea. The cards weren't that much of an issue, but the cigarettes were a different story. Somehow they figured that because we were in Bolivia where smoking inside is still not only legal, but socially acceptable, that it would be fine for them to smoke us out of the place. We weren't even safe inside our small dorms. Not cool! It's very inconsiderate particularly with the altitude & the close quarters.

Uyuni Salt Flats

South America - Day 24

Uyuni Salt Flats

We were able to get a bit of a sleep in & organize our gear so we'd have a small bag of essentials for the next 3 days. Kerri & I managed to find a cheap nylon carry bag to get us out of trouble. We also grabbed a good stock of bottled water.

We were split into these three Land Cruisers. I can't say I was impressed by the condition of them, but I'd seen worse around town. The biggest worry was the lack of seat belts. The scenario going through my head had a roll over involved. The lack of seat belts wasn't going to help us stay on our seats.

Just as we cleared the outskirts of town we stopped at this Train Cemetery. It was strange to see these old steam engines gutted & left to rot.

Off we went into the white abyss. we could see mountains on the horizon, but it was mainly just white & the azure blue of the high altitude sky. First stop wasn't too far out of Uyuni at the place where they mine the salt (see piles of salt in the picture above).

At the mine site there was a small building made of salt blocks. Inside were these strange salt sculptures. As it turns out, it's a hotel.

As soon as we were on the salt flats, everyone had the cameras out trying to take some crazy shots on the salt flats. You can see everyone milling around in this photo. Everyone had ideas of the optical illusion shots they were going to take (more on those later) not knowing that this wasn't the place to do it. That came later. We all still had a go anyway.

As you can see in this shot, everyone had the same plan in mind. I didn't really see the point. I had a better idea.

Now everyone knows that South America is the place to get Cocaine, but this is ridiculous! It burns your nose though. Must be pretty strong.
Below are the new additions/replacements for our tour, Corina & Sandra. They were stuck in our car & we all started to get along pretty well. It was good to have someone closer to our age group to talk to.

Isla del Pescado

We set off again across the vast white abyss. At a couple of points in the middle of nowhere there were memorial crosses like the ones you see on the side of the road where a road fatality has been. It turns out that the salt flats aren't entirely flat & occasionally there are little soft spots that can trip up unwary drivers.
Eventually we arrived at what was once an island in the middle of a giant lake. Now it's an island in a giant salt lake, Isla del Pescado. It was our stop point for lunch & the place where we could take our crazy photos.

Most islands you would expect to be covered in trees. Not this one, it was bristling with cactus.

Even in the middle of the dessert with not a plant in sight other than cactus, there was still life. This black hooded sierra finch seemed quite at home despite being 20-30 kms from the nearest land feature. 

Optical Illusions.

I've seen much better versions of these photos. I'm not sure what was going on, but they just weren't coming out right. I think it was a bit hazy which took the edge off the bright white. I'm still not sure.

Tight Rope

Can Dancing.
Sponsored by Red Bull

My favourite.Who's a pretty girl? Who's a pretty girl?

 Pyramid

Toyota Add?

I'm not too sure what the thought process was here, but after a number of attempts, the girls all jumped at the same time & I managed to get this photo.

 After a very quick walk around the island it was time to leave this strange place into more seemingly endless kilometres of white nothing. With few points of reference, it was very difficult to gauge where we were and how far we had to go.

The last stop was at this slightly different mining operation. This time instead of the salt being dried in piles & bagged, it's cut out in blocks.

The Bolivian Desert.

We eventually exited Solar de Uyuni and were back on dry land. And it was dry! And dusty but it didn't stop the vicuñas (above). It wasn't too long until we reached Bela Vista, our accommodation for the night.

The accommodations in Bela Vista were fairly simple but effective. The rooms were 8 bed dorms with a single (very) cold shower and a toilet. There was also a kitchen and fairly drafty dining room. With the high altitude and the lack of cloud cover, the temperature dropped sharply as soon as the sun left us. This humming bird is yet another example of nature surviving in the most hostile conditions. It was in the tree outside where we were staying. Even in the most arrid places on earth, humming birds find enough flowers to thrive.

Travel to Uyuni

South America Day 23

Travel to Uyuni

Our trip has now changed over to a new tour called the Andes to the Atlantic Experience. The first section would take us to the Uyuni Salt Flats. Our day was going to be a lengthy travel day starting on the bus from La Paz to Oruro where we would take a train.

Like Peru a few days previous, Bolivia was in the midst of an unstable period. There was a very good chance that we were going to be delayed on route to Oruro. We were on the go at 6.15am to get away hopefully before the protest march blocked our way for an extended period.

A couple of kilometres out of La Paz, we crossed paths with the march. The bus pulled over (with all the other vehicles) and we watched them go past. Some of them had marched from to outlying parts of the country. They were pretty worked up but they were still happy enough to smile & give us a wave.We didn't get delayed too long before we were on our way again.

We arrived in Oruro well ahead of when the train was due to leave. We were herded into a restaurant & fed lunch. There isn't much in Oruro but we wandered around for a little bit to kill some time. We then headed for the train station where the soccer fans could watch a game. I tried getting some sleep.

Finally we boarded the train (above) & were on our way to Uyuni. It was the start of a long dusty trip into the middle of nowhere.

Lago Uru Uru

Not too long after we got under way & clear of Oruro, we were suddenly in the middle of this shallow lake (Lago Uru Uru). I had no idea the flamingos would be so prevalent. It was a scene I thought was only possible in Africa. The flamingos were in greater numbers on the other side of the train.
After we cleared the lake, the sun started to disappear & the dust started getting into the train. None of the windows sealed properly & the dust was getting through any little crack it could. By the time we reached Uyuni at 10.30pm our heads we full of dust.

La Paz

South America Day 22

La Paz

Today was the day to explore La Paz. Had I not been coughing my lungs up we would have been off mountain biking the Death Road. (Look it up on the net if you haven't heard of it.) Mike, Hina & Smita had booked themselves in the day before. [Edit] Missing that ride is the one big regret of the trip. I guess you can't control everything.

We followed the walk trail that our trusty Lonely Planet had laid down. It was mainly markets & dodgy side streets. Somehow I stepped off the curb with one foot only to avoid a stall or something on the footpath (side walk for those North American readers...) only to get clouted by one of those crazy local vans! So (and Dad will appreciate the humour in this) technically I got hit by a bus.....The one highlight was the Parliament Building (above). Because of the political unrest in Bolivia, the place was locked down & guarded by heavily armed soldiers.

The afternoon was taken up with a city tour on an open topped double decker bus (just like the ones in London). Kerri took this photo (above) in the heart of the city & then nearly had her head knocked off by the overpass in shot.
It wasn't a bad way to see the city. La Paz is quiet a dangerous place (other than the chance of getting hit by a bus) and being away from bandits on a nice safe tourist bus was more my style. I don't like people much & La Paz has no shortage of them. There still wasn't that much to get excited about, but at least we knew what was there. It wasn't all boring.

Yes, La Paz has a San Francisco church (above) as well. Not one of the most spectacular we'd seen.

A bit of an engineering side comment now. I saw some wacky 110V wiring in Canada & the US, but La Paz really had some crazy stuff. I'm not sure exactly how the whole thing doesn't short out. This mess was typical of just about every street intersection.

This would be the highlight of the city tour. We got to have a look over the entire valley & the snow capped peaks that overlook the city. You'll be able to see the soccer stadium (below). The Bolivians, like all the South American people, are obsessed by football.

Later that day I managed to find a bottle of cough syrup that I haven't seen in Australia since I was at school, Neodiphen. I think they stopped selling it because it's packed full of codeine. It's the most awesome cough mixture because it knocks you out, let's you sleep & allows your body to fight the infection. How surprising that I started to turn the corner overnight & started along the road to recovery.
That evening we said our teary goodbyes to Em & Gem. It was sad to see them go because Kerri & I had become quite good friends with them. Lucky the world's a small place these days. I'm sure we'll see them again soon.

Travel from Puno to La Paz

South America Day 21

We woke up in Puno to rain, but it was more serious this time. We were so lucky to catch Lake Titicaca on a couple of clear days. Our exit from Peru was a rather dreary trip on a bus alongside Lake Titicaca.

Copacabana

The border crossing was a bit odd. We had to go to the Peruvian border control point and get our passports stamped. Next step was to change our Peruvian currency for Bolivianos. We then had to go back to the bus, grab all our belongings & hike them half a mile up the road to the Bolivian control point. It was all a bit of a hassle with the intermittent rain.
We then boarded another bus (well a small van really) for the short drive to Copacabana. Not the Copacabana Beach everyone would be familiar with in Rio de Janero, Brazil. This one is at the water's edge, but the water in this case is Lake Titicaca. When we arrived we left our gear in the foyer of some hotel & set off to explore the town & find some lunch. The only thing that was remotely interesting was this church. The markets around them are almost exclusively to sell offerings for the church.

Kerri, Emma, Gemma & myself stumbled upon a quiet little restaurant for lunch. The food was really quite nice. Simple but fresh. As we left to head back to the hotel where our bags (and new bus) were waiting for us, the heavens opened! It was serious this time. We were completely drenched and no rain jacket or poncho was going to help. The streets were turned into river torrents. We made it back, but we weren't exactly dry...We boarded our new bus with another group & set off for Lapaz, the business capital of Bolivia.

At some point we had to cross the great lake at a narrow straight to avoid a long detour back through Peru. The trick would be getting the bus across. We all got off the bus and crossed the straight on the small boats pictured. For boats this size you would expect some sort of inboard engine. Nope. Little 20hp outboards that we'd attribute to a small run-a-bout or tinny.

We made it OK, but our bus didn't look quite so safe. You can just see it toward the back of the photo above.

This is how our bus crossed and probably the reason we were made to get off and take the ferry boats. These dodgy little barges didn't look stable at all. I was thankful that I'd taken my passport and valuables with me. The bus made it, but it was interesting all the same.

Apolobamba Range

About half way to La Paz we saw the Apolobamba Range for the first time. It's what I'd thought the Andes were meant to look like. We were following along the spine of the Andes mountains. This range is well over the 6000m mark as the snow caps will attest to. On the other side, the Amazon jungle 6km below.

La Paz

We reached the outskirts of La Paz. It looked pretty much the same as the other bigger cities we'd been to. At that point we were around 4100m above sea level. We drove past the airport which is one of the highest international airports in the world at 4061m.

Not long after, we took an exit & descended some 300m to the heart of the city below. The city centre & the more affluent areas (in contrast to most places in the world) are at the lower altitudes. This is due to the altitude. The lower the altitude, the easier it is to breathe & the healthier you tend to be. La Paz is the highest capital city in the world at 3660m. (Note that La Paz isn't the capital of Bolivia, but the business & administrative capital. No, I don't quite understand the difference either.)

As we neared the city centre, the traffic went from busy to mad! It was just like Lima. Eventually we came up to a round-a-bout that had 7 streets entering it. It was basically at a standstill. We sat in the bus for a good 20 mins half way across the intersection. It turned out to be only a few blocks from our hotel. It was an experience.
That night was all a bit sad. Our tour leader, Roberto was also leaving us. His job was done & he was about to back track from where we had come from that day & then on to Arequipa. He was going to spend some time with his family before starting another tour in a few days.
Our friends Emma & Gemma were also leaving us the next night. They were about to wing it from then on. They were planning to do the salt flats & Bolivian dessert like us & then going to Argentina.
On the positive side, we were gaining two replacements for the girls & a new tour leader. Corina & Sandra (the replacements) were from Switzerland. When I asked them whether they were German or French speaking Swiss, they told us "We speak both, but we are from the Italian speaking valley near the border".
Interesting. They were a little bit older than the throng of English 20 something girls on the tour which was very welcome in my books. More on our new found friends later.