Up, Up and Away!

Made it to country #40. Bolivia! 

So glad the boarder crossing from San Pedro de Atacama, Chile into Bolivia was set up to take a classic photo including flag, `migration sign` and parking for the trucks that, for three days, took us through some pretty incredible scenery finally ending in the Salar de Uyuni (Uyuni Salt Flats). 

It really made the moment easier to document and honestly some days I find myself getting a little tied up in documenting what´s going on around me vs. actually allowing myself to be immersed in it. We all have things we are working on right?

Okay so there were 3 4x4 trucks in our group traveling together with 6 `tourists`in each Pathfinder. My truck included Miguel (our driver who was always dancing between silent indifference towards us or grumpy with a few smiles splashed in every few hours)... then Tara (Aussie) and her BF Jon (Kiwi), Sam (Quebec) Maya (Swiss) and Manuel (Swiss as well but not traveling together). The rest of the crew was a mix of 6 Germans, 2 Canadians, 1 Slovac, 1 Brazilian, 1 Pol. 

Day one included some spectacular views of the region`s Lagunas, almost all named after their colour due to the sediment and minerals in their waters. Here´s a peak but as my friend Neil says ... `if you haven´t been you really must visit` (said jokingly in his English accent).

 Above is Laguna Blanco... the reflection made me want to just sit down and stare for a few hours but we were only permitted to stay 20 minutes before getting back in the truck to see more stunning beauty down the way.  To the left here is Laguna Verte with a volcano in the background for good photographing measure. There were tons of stacked rocks on the shore. When we asked Miguel, in our broken spanish, if it was locals who had placed all the stones here he looked at us like we had two heads and said.`No, touristas. Bolivians don´t have time to stack rocks`. Right. Point taken. Moving on. Literally.   

Next major event was to take a dip in the thermal pools about 30minutes away. Having done this the day before I was considering skipping it. Changing into my bathing suit in this brisk weather, in the open of course, and then having to change out of it wasn´t so appealing but then I saw the pool/views and tested the water temperature and had to change my mind. I mean how often do these opportunities come up right? I´m trying to subscribe to the motto of saying Yes more often.

From left to right here´s a pic of Manuel (Swiss), Moi, Barbora (Slovac), Andreas (German), Two of the German med students in the back and Sam (Quebec). I just wish you could see the flamingos in the water behind us. I should have mentioned that there were a ton of stops each day. Didn´t really stay in the car longer than an hour without getting out to see something relatively spectacular and most often it was more like every 15-20 minutes. Nice way to travel for three days. Constantly wandering around amazing views.

Headed to the Geysers next. Again I´d been to the geysers in the Atacama desert in Chile the day before but these smelled worse (more like Rotorua in NZ) and were more bubbly. The other difference is that these bad boys are at 5,300m. Yah sit down and chew on that for a while. We weren´t aware of it at the time but let me tell you there were plenty of folks who suffered from the altitide later on that day as a result. 

Probably didn´t help that we stayed over night at 4,300m next to Laguna Colorada which is the most erie colour of burnt red/orange but was filled with Flamingos. Beauty.

A glimpse into our accommodation for night one where it dropped below freezing (no heating of course). Beds on cement footings and in spite of it all I think I got a relatively good nights sleep! Lunch that day was hot dogs and powered mash potatoes plus salad. 

Day two was more lagunas and rock formations. The one on the left is called the Rock Tree and is one of the most photographed things in Bolivia I think. Having this image feels like a right of passage. I prefered the rocks that looked like Mushrooms or the one I could crawl into that looked like a condor.

  

As always we saw more Vinuas (wild - below left), and their domesticated cousins the Alpaca, and Llama (below right) which get amazing colourful accessories to prance around in (which helps identify their owners)

Night · 2 I got to take a shower. Sadly it was ice cold. 

 Ice cream headache without the yum.

Happily though it was surrounded by quinoa fields. How pretty are these? Reminds me of my awesome cousin Tuna who taught me to cook with the super food Quinoa. Miss you my dear. 

 Our final day was best called `game day`. We visted the train graveyard outside the town of Uyuni. The Bolivians have taken the metal and made swings and sea-saws so we, of course, took a few minutes to be kids again and then headed into the worlds largest salt flats at 12,000km square and 10,000km deep. 

It is BEYOND me why Bolivia doesn´t export any of the salt since they do go out and collect it as you can see on the left but putting economics aside the area allows you to play with perspective since there is almost nothing on the horizon...  

Sam bought a Raptor toy before the trip so that we could come up with some creative photos. I think they came out pretty well. Sam is a feature film digital animator so he took his time setting this up. 

 Pretty amazing 3 days and I´m glad to report that 5 of us had exactly the same plan to head to Potosi that evening on the 6hr night bus while another 3 were booked to show up in Potosi the following day so much of the crew remained intact for 8 days total. Nice to be with familiar faces even if it is only for a week and I don´t really know them. 

Had to photograph the tyke to the left as we waited for the bus and then there was the lady in charge of collecting tickets... no one was messing with her.

As always, hoping everyone is well and enjoying the spring conditions in Canada that I keep reading about on Facebook.

Much love

Stacey