SATURDAY 29th July.
Salar de Uyuni
After a cold night in our salt brick hostel we rose before dawn.
Three cups of hot chocolate later I felt better.
Our modest salt brick hostel and our 7 seater limousines.
Looking back over the rest of the town as dawn breaks.
With the salt flats behind us we departed a little after dawn into the Bolivian Altiplano and our first stop was beside a train track near a military facility. I think that the stop was mainly to give us a leg stretch more than anything else. Our guide spoke about issues with both Chilean and Bolivian military patrols accidentally crossing the ill defined border and being arrested by the other side. It all seemed a bit childish.
The terrain had changed to a more desert like, very dry, rocky landscape and the mountains were a lot closer.
Our next stop was a "mirador" (view point) where we had a great view of an actively smoking volcano.
We made two more stops at a couple of semi frozen lagunas with flamingos as we travelled south and then stopped for lunch at the second lake.
I found the flamingoes quite impressive here and was surprised when some took flight how graceful they are. Quickly into the air. Very long necks stretched out as they glide effortlessly through the air and then they land like a Harrier jump jet.
After lunch we continued south and I asked our guide to make a stop at a rock wall formed by a lava flow where my GPS was pointing. Earth Cache questions answered about why there were holes at regular intervals in lines across the lava rock and my job was done. Having seen no vegetation for an hour or so it was surprising to see some amazing bright green moss or lichen growing on the rock wall.
Another cache collected and our next stop was at a "Stone tree".
Two caches here. A Traditional and an Earth. These rock formations are magma that has risen from the earths crust and because of erosion have appeared above the earths surface. Then, especially with the stone tree, further wind erosion accompanied by dust particles has caused the lower part of this rock to erode faster than the higher part.
Our final stop of the day was Laguna Colorada, the Red Lake and this afternoon it was very red due to the afternoon wind disturbing the sediment in the lake.
Another cache was found at the first view point and then another fee was paid for us to enter the national park and drive around the lake to a second viewing point.
We then made a short, cold, walk along the lake edge and climbed back into our cars.
After a long tiring day we arrived at our next salt brick accommodation at 5pm.
Unfortunately no twin room this time. We had two dormitories. Boys in one room and girls in another with hardly any room to put our bags between the single beds.
Unfortunately the dining room was inhospitable too and arriving tired and hungry dinner wasn't produced until 8pm and alas it wasn't particularly appetising either.
This would be our last night with our Bolivian tour leader and we were supposed to have some sort of party. She bought us a couple of bottles of red wine but only a few were interested in drinking. Being at 4400m altitude didn't help either.
Off to bed by 10pm and thankfully none of the boys snored. I was warmer than the previous night so I slept a little better.
Alarm set for 4:30am for a 5am departure with breakfast planned further down the road after 7am.
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