On tour in a 4x4

We were up very early the next morning, Adam had not slept well at all due to a bad headache but felt better after breakfast. At 5am we were back on the road, and first of all we drove through the ruin of a village just as the sun was coming up and had a bit of a walk around but again due to the altitude and the time of day it was freezing.

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Back in the warmth of the jeep we drove on and saw lots of little rabbit type animals jumping about the place, they were really cute. Our next stop was at the administration offices for the Reserva Fauna Andina Eduardo Avaroa where we had to sign in. There was a mangy looking cat here that the Finnish girls and I took a shine too and we all fussed him a little bit.

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We were driving through a kind of high altitude desert by now, it was very dusty with very little vegetation just the scrubby plants like those which make up the pampa.

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For this reason it was quite a surprise when we came across an oasis with bright green moss growing out of a shallow pond.

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We stopped here for a little while and we clambered over the rocks to get some nice pictures of dragonflies and some more of the rabbity animals. While we were doing this Margherita agiley made her way into the centre of the oasis and used the water to dampen her hair so she could plait it.

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When we were back into the car she gave us jelly and lollies, we were like little kids.

Our next stop really had the wow factor. As we drove over a little mound the vast landscape spread out in front of us, with the distant mountains and coming into the foreground a white expanse on the ground.

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As we got closer we could clearly make out that this was in fact a salt lake and the hints of blue in the centre came into focus, and movements of pink became visible. These were actually a large number of flamingos feeding on the abundance of algae.

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We were all slightly taken aback by what we were seeing, it was the combination of colours I think which had the largest impact. The contrast of this stark, bland brown canvas and then the reflective white, misty blue, green/yellow algae and the joyful brightness of the flamingos.

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We got out for a bit of a walk, trying to get as close as possible to the birds but they were pretty skittish. Still we managed to get some good pics, we got quite a lot of the stinky algae on our shoes in the process but it was worth it.

We stopped for lunch by the side of another lake where there also happened to be a hot bath. It was pretty crowded when we turned up and most of the us from the two jeeps decided we would stay dry but Antonia and Ian went in for a dip.

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Lunch like dinner was very tasty and we quickly devoured everything in front of us. We then drove through the so called Dali desert which was given this name because of some surreal rock formations that are present here.

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The colour of the mountains is also quite surreal and set against the constant cornflower blue sky it looked even more striking.

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Visually our surroundings were some of the most enthralling we had seen on our whole trip and certainly different to anything else we had clapped our eyes on.

Within about thirty minutes we came to a stop by Laguna Verde or Green Lake. It was an icey green in the afternoon light but apparently it changes and it maintains this colour because of the wind which keeps the water in constant motion.

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The biological reason for the colour is the high levels of arsenic in the lake, because of this there isn't a whole lot of wildlife in the vicinity and none of us was rushing in.

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We drove back past the hot springs and our last stop of the day was some geysers which are interspersed between some very hot, bubbling mud pools. I was feeling really exhausted by this point, it had been a very long day and I had a headache so only got out for a short while, Antonia didn't get out at all so it was mainly the boys who had a look around. The smell, due to the sulphur was really bad and they were quickly back in the car.

When we arrived at the little hostel that was to be our home for the night we were all very relieved and stretched out on our beds. Soon enough Margherita had laid out our afternoon tea and we were quick to guzzle down some cocoa. While we were sipping our tea I noticed a little kitten running around outside and I of course went to scoop it up.It was so very, very cute and I spent a lot of the evening playing with the kitten. However I had a bit of competition for the its attention, from a cute puppy who really wanted to play with it.

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There relationship was so funny and even though the kitten was tiny and the dog a giant by comparison the kitten stood its own and would whack the dog on the nose repeatedly. It was really amusing although I was scared the dog would get over excited and it could quite easily fatally injure the ballsy little cat. The Dutch couple were not fans of my adopted kitten though and I think a bit annoyed I bought it by the dining table but everyone else liked it and I wasn't sure what they were worried about.

We were all thankful because it wasn't quite such an early start the next morning. I had to say goodbye to the kitten which was sad and I did think about smuggling it but I think it would have missed the puppy.

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The previous afternoon we had seen the next natural wonder from a distance but now we had the pleasure of seeing it up close. Laguna Colorado, is a remarkably red lake which retains this colour because of algae and it is stunning.

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We spent a long time gazing at it and also walking along its edge. Again the colour contrasts were magical; the grey of the sand, the cloudless, blue sky with just a lingering, almost full moon and the unnatural red lake with yet more feeding flamingos.

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My mind kept thinking that it was like we were on Mars or some other planet.

Reluctantly we left the lake and made our way over to some rock formations in the middle of the desert. One in particular is interesting and is described as looking like a tree.

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We messed about in the area for sometime and Adam did a little bit of rock climbing!

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Next we continued on through the desert and again saw some amazingly coloured mountains, which definitely deserved a picture or two.

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By now things were getting a little busy as we were joined by more 4x4. Tours which begin in our destination of Uyuni only take a couple of days and so we were now meeting up with them which was a bit of shame as we were all fans of the peace and quiet. We then saw a series of lakes, I think there were five of them in total but one stood out more than the others again for the unusual colours present. In amongst the usual white, and blue there was a striking streak of yellow.

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This is because of the high levels of sulphur and it was beautiful. We had our lunch around this lake and again spent time photographing the plentiful flamingos that continued to fascinate us.

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After lunch we drove through more dusty desert and when the wind got up it would momentarily blind us, thankfully that wasn't a lot of traffic about!

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We stopped again for a short while and caught a glimpse of an active volcano which is continually smoking.

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Then it was quite a long ride to our hostel for that night but we were all looking forward to it because it was made entirely from salt.

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It was very close to the salt flats that we would be visiting the following morning. When we arrived it certainly made us smile, it is definitely a bit of a novelty and none of the other buildings in the village were made from salt so I'm not sure how economical or practical it really is but it was fun for the night. Before dinner Adam and I went for a bit of a walk where we saw some great cacti, flowers and even some little piggies.

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Then we had our last meal cooked by Margherita which was a lovely lasagne and we were stuffed by the end. After dinner we had another quick look at the stars and then had an early night because we had to be up at 4:30am.

So when we woke up bleary eyed we all climbed into the jeep and entered the salt flats. Just over half an hour later we reached a rocky island called Isla Incahausi and here we climbed out. Raphael explained that we should climb to the top and watch the sun come up over the salt flats and then come back down for breakfast. It was quite a tough climb in the altitude and I managed to accidentally impale my hand on a cactus which was surprisingly painful. However soon enough we were at the top and we all gathered to watch and take pictures of the warm glow on the horizon as it began to reveal more and more of the white expanse in front of us.

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When we reached the 4x4s once more we had been joined by a little ostrich who was intent on sharing our breakfast. I thought I'd be really scared of this gigantic bird but it was actually quite sweet in a way, well when it wasn't poo-ing everywhere!

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The guides seemed to enjoy messing about with it and manoeuvring it away from our food. After breakfast we said goodbye to our feathered friend and made our way out into the middle of the flats where everyone set about taking some funny pictures based on perspective. It was actually really hard to get it looking believable and almost always if you look closely you can tell.

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Adam and I tried to incorporate our little moomin mascots we had brought along but it was hard to get us and them in focus so everything looks a bit dodgy. Still it was fun to try!

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The rest of the tour was somewhat altered because it was election day in Bolivia and for this reason most of the towns are closed. Everyone has to vote and so they suspend transportation so no one can avoid this. For this reason we had a bit of difficulty actually entering Uyuni where our tour was to come to an end. For quite a while we were driving around the baron outskirts, the two jeeps in contact via mobile phone as Raphael and Margherita tried to find out how best to get us inside. From what we gathered if we just tried to enter normally they would make us pay a large fine. It kind of felt at one point like we were going to hear a helicopters propeller above us and a voice over a loud speaker giving out instructions. In the end we came to a stop at a train graveyard where there were a number of rusting old locomotives slowly eroding.

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We had a bit of fun climbing inside the various sections before having a bite to eat.

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Then Raphael explained that we were going to drive a little closer to town, park up and then walk in.

Which is exactly what we did. On the walk in my knees really started to feel painful and I was beginning to think I might need to get them seen to. Raphael, Margherita and the other driver and cook took us to a hotel where we all got cheap rooms. We said our goodbyes which were actually tinged with a bit of emotion because we'd had such a good time. Then everyone retreated to their rooms for some sleep. Later we all met up and walked to the bus station to see about moving on but nothing was open because of the elections so we decided to return later. Which we did but everything was still closed so the Dutch couple, the Finnish girls and us went to get a pizza before heading back one more time. We wanted to get to La Paz but ideally some time the following day rather than having to go over night but this didn't seem possible. Everyone else was going to different places and managed to book their tickets so before going to bed we said our goodbyes.

We spent the following day in Uyuni because there was no bus until the evening. My knees still were not good and I made the decision that I would have to try and see a doctor in La Paz. For this reason we did very little, we paid to keep the room which thankfully was cheap and we took things easy. Both of us were a little concerned before getting on the bus as we'd been told that in a suburb of La Paz people quite often get their bags stolen from the storage areas. For that reason and a couple of others it wasn't the most relaxing bus ride but I'll explain more in the next entry.

More Soon,

Laura & Adam