Bolivian Heights

Hola amigos!

How do you like our new Bolivian hats?!

We realize that's it's been a while since we've updated our web log here, but it's not for a lack of trying. You see, we have been traveling around Bolivia for a few weeks now, but have had a hard time connecting to the internet. It turns out that Bolivia isn't connected like we're used to. However, that doesn't mean we're complaining. We have had a lot of fun in this country.

Just after crossing the border into Bolivia, the first thing we saw was a wonderfully welcoming sign. Second thing, streetside billiards tables.

Not wanting to waste any time, we immediately booked a tour of the famous Uyuni Salt Flat for the following morning. The tour was four days and three nights of riding around some of the most scenic parts of the Bolivian Altiplano (high plains).

On our first day, we encountered what looked like a dried up lake of white powder. Though it looks like it may be salt, it is actually Borax, a base component of detergent. It's been a while since I've done some heavy duty work, so I thought I might get my hands dirty, or clean rather.
Before I go too much further with the tour, I must introduce the rest of our tour group, who were a lot of fun to be cramped into a car for 6 to 8 hours a day with. From right to left, Ramon, Angel, and Miguel, hailing from Madrid, Spain.

They provided a constant source of humor and fun that lasted the whole tour. Any time we stopped for photos, these guys were goofing around in some fashion. Below, Ramon had decided to become one with this plant, only to find out later that it had a bit of sap on it.

Here, Miguel thought he might help our driver unload the car, but instead struck a pose that we became extremely familiar with over our four days. For whatever reason, he really likes to extend his arms in his photos. I think it really works for him.

And here, rising from the bubbles of a geyser, Angel ignored the spray from a very active pool of boiling mud.

Angel was an extremely useful guy to have around on this tour. He had a very special watch that indicates the altitude of his location at any given moment. Here's a peek at his altimeter around the geysers that we visited.

And that reading is in meters. Equating to 16,437 feet. The air was a bit thin up there.

Though impressive, geysers aren't completely new to Laura and I, as we have both been to Yellowstone National Park, so we spent only a few minutes outside of the car in the cold. The Spaniards, however, were absolutely enthralled by the steam. They must have spent a half an hour wandering around taking silly photos. They really were a constant source of entertainment.

Below is a shot of our trusty driver/guide Samuel. He is doing a condor pose for this photo. He was also a lot of fun, and also really good at changing a tire. It was amazing that we didn't blow more than one tire, with all of the extremely rocky roads.

And finally, perhaps the most important person on our tour, our cook Marisol. Yeah, that's right. We were provided with a cook who rode along with us! She was a really sweet Bolivian woman who had to put up with a lot of hungry males.

Marisol made us wonderfully delicious foods, like the tamales filled with llama meat.

Sometimes our meals were eaten right out of the back of the truck, tailgate style. Sometimes we had a picnic on a stone table. But always, the food was delicious!

Marisol and Samuel sat in front and a big bag of coca leaves was often set between them. It was amazing how many coca leaves Samuel could fit into his mouth. The locals chew the leaves with a bit of ash to activate the enzymes that help with the effects of high altitude. Everyone in our group got to try some. Our cheeks went numb. Apparently the locals don't have this problem as they are used to it. We felt like rookies.

Our tour took us through beautiful little villages and through gorgeous high altitude scenery. We just bumped around in the back of the jeep, listening to way too much traditional Bolivian music. The Spaniards learned the words to some of the songs (not difficult to do) and sang along in high pitched voices. Below is a photo of some of that beautiful scenery I mentioned. This lake is aptly named Laguna Verde (green lake).

More beautiful scenes with mirror like reflections in the still waters.
Weird rock formations were also a feature of our tour.

One really cool thing we saw was Laguna Colorada (colored lake). Yes, it is red. Apparently this is due to some sort of algae that grows in the water. It was surreal.

The photos don't exactly do the lake's color justice. It was very red.

We were dropped off on one part of the lake and were able to hike along its shore before being picked up again. We were thrilled to see that llamas were also on the shore. The colored tassels in their ear helps to identify who they belong to. It also happens to make them look very cute!

At Laguna Colorada, we had a bit of a llama roundup. This was not the first time our group had tried unsuccessfully to get right up by them.

The baby llamas were the cutest. We liked this speckled one a great deal. It didn't run away.

Other frequently seen wildlife on the tour was a cousin of the llama- the vicuna. While llamas are domesticated, vicunas are wild. They also have issues with humans coming close to them. The photo below shows them running away from us after an attempted vicuna roundup.
What else did we see? Flamingos! I have always associated flamingos with warm weather and Florida. I now know better. It is amazing that any of these animals thrive in such a harsh environment. It is cold at 16,000ft!

As we worked our way through this incredible scenery and past all of this wildlife, we had a much welcome soak in some thermal baths. It felt very nice, although the water had to have been pretty dirty since I know for a fact none of us had shower facilities the night before. The lodging for the first two nights was very modest. Mud brick buildings. No heat. No hot water. Marisol had her own kitchen/bedroom. Our group was in a dorm room. Luckily, there were plenty of blankets!

On our final night, we had an upgrade: we stayed in a salt hotel located about 10 minutes from the flat. Due to the ecological impact, people can no longer stay in the hotel that is physically on the flat. It is now a museum. Yes, the building is made entirely of salt blocks. Even the furniture and flooring were salt. It was one of the more unique places we have stayed in our trip. As you can see, the dining room was tastefully decorated with a flamingo carcass. Class all the way, baby!

Day four of our trip was the grand finale. We woke up very early to watch the sunrise on the salt flat. It was worth it!

We had fun playing with the sun as it made its appearance.

Because it is impossible to judge distance on the flats, you can take some pretty fun photos.

Besides being an amazing tourist attraction, the salt from the flats is a commodity. It is extracted and sold. Here you can see mountains of it being piled into the truck.

People live on the edges of the flat and these children, like children anywhere in the world, liked to splash in the puddles of water near their village.
It was an amazing tour with a really good group of people. Thanks for sharing the experience with us, chicos!

(And thanks for letting us use some of your photos, chicos!)