Warm as toast last night - can't believe that the hot water bottle stayed warm all night!
Up early to catch sunrise over the salt plains. Absolutely magnificent and not another soul in sight ... beautiful colours in all directions and shadows that went on and on forever. Definitely panoramic territory; the i-phone is the easiest device to use for this (tried with camera but couldn't figure it out). No need for sunnies just yet but gloves and beanie were nice!
A brief stop at Fish Island (Isla de Pescado) - some problem with another vehicle from the same company ...
Smooth driving on salt flats; we are heading south and towards the mountains - we will go close to the border with Chile today.
We leave the salt plain and the road becomes quite rough; boggy at first on last bit of the salt plain then dry and dusty. Fortunately William drops the speed accordingly! We see vicuñas and llamas (no alpacas - too cold): pumas live here (predators of these camelids) but we don't see any ...
Pass the town of Aguaquiza and decide to miss the archaeological site of Chullpares, pre-Inca mummies and the caves of Galaxy Cristal - apart from having seen enough caves to last me a lifetime, Luis our guide didn't make it sound like a ‘must-see’ - and he says we are behind time already. We have a big day today!!!
There are plots of quinoa - red, white and black. The black is more expensive (contains more minerals), is exported and not eaten much in Bolivia.
We come to the town of San Pedro de Quemes where Chilean soldiers burned the village in 1879 in the Pacific War: the war against Chile when Bolivia lost the littoral. It comes up all the time in conversation with the Bolivians: this issue of no longer having no sea; I suspect beneath the veneer of friendliness with Peru that the Peruvians have never been forgiven.
We pass through the village of Cabrera - lovely tall grasses.
Then we travel through the Salar de Chiguana to see the semi-active Ollagüe volcano - also 3 other volcanoes (they don't count the Chilean ones we can see!) making this a special place in the Pachamama religion for the local people. Pachamama is a goddess revered by the indigenous people of the Andes; she is also known as the 'earth mother'. She is talked about all the time by the Bolivian guides.
The Uyuni-Chile railway goes through here too and there is a military base close by.
We reach the border with Chile at Avaroa at just after 10 a.m. We climb to 4100 m to reach a viewpoint for a splendid view of Ollagüe - there is a plume of volcanic ash issuing from a secondary (lower) crater on the Peruvian side. There is volcanic rock and, typical of the altiplano, there are lovely corn-coloured grasses (paja - which has good insulating qualities and so is used by locals in their roofs); and everywhere are some green cushion plants (yareta - Luis explains that these grow 1.5 cm every year in the first 20 years and 1 cm per year thereafter; often dried out and used as fuel - even for trains!).
We climb up and back down through a very rocky pass: a real bit of 4-wheel driving. My Friend would have enjoyed this!
By now it is pretty cold.
The white colour at the edge of these lakes is Borax which is extracted and dried locally and then exported.
On we go to the Silolí Desert: the road is incredibly rocky and dusty, particularly through the Inca Pass. We come into the Valley of the Viscachas (a rabbit) - and we actually get to see a couple!
Then to the viewpoint of the Mountain of Seven Colours (Cerro de Siete Colores) at 4700 m.
Several sets of cyclists are making ‘heavy weather’ of it in the soft sand even with their huge tyres: cold, windy, dusty plus the altitude - and nowhere much that is protected for camping at night. Crazy!!
If I haven't mentioned already, it's now damn cold (es frio!): 4 layers plus puffer jacket, beanie, gloves, scarf.
We go through the national park control and part with 150 Bolivianos.
There is an electricity company here seeking to generate power from the thermal activity of the nearby geysers. Am wondering what control the national park authority has over such activities within its 'border'???
Here too is the Laguna Colorada (Red Lagoon) - which is caused by red sediments and pigmentation of some algae. The wind was blowing hard here and it was freezing.
Brilliant sunset and later on (braving the cold) the night sky is amazing: the clearest sky I ever seen with the brightest stars - so many! - and the Milky Way spread across above us.
The country looks fantastic, the rabbit looks more like a hair, very much adapted to the environment.
ReplyDeleteBigger variety of animals and birds than I expected...interesting and what a landscape!!!!
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