Wednesday, March 2nd - 

We were up early today, had breakfast and were on the road by 7:30.   No one was lingering long in the showers or the bathroom as it still hadn't been cleaned since last night, so it was easy to get going.  We mix the travel arrangements up each day so a different driver and different passengers in each of the 4x4's.   Our GAdventures guide is always in the front vehicle, supposedly leading, and after that there seems to be an order that is followed as well.  However, the roads are not really words so quite frequently the other drivers will take off on another route for a while but eventually we all get back together and in the right order.

Our first stop of the day was for a bathroom but it wasn't open so we had to keep moving on.  Bathrooms are hard to come by in a deserted desert.  The second stop of the day, shortly thereafter, was another bathroom break and that one was open which was good.  This stop was in a small valley and along a clear small stream that flowed through some of the softest, greenest looking grass I have ever seen.  It was a very picturesque sight with the lovely vibrant green strip in the middle of nothing but almost white sand.  There were even some llamas grazing on the grass just to complete the pictures.  

As we drove along throughout the day we would have other similar "oasis" to contrast with the sand and tufts of grass growing on it.  The desert is rolling in places and flat in others but there is literally no high vegetation except at the riverbeds, many of which are dry.  There are still strange rock formations showing up along the way, really just piles of rocks standing above the ground and creating some interesting shapes.  And occasionally we see llamas, vicuña and even ostriches along the way.   They appeared to be roaming wherever they wished but we could also see stone-fenced corrals on the hillsides where the animals (not the wild vicuña) are sometimes penned.  It was another beautiful day, cool and fresh but with a brilliant blue sky and bright sunshine to make the hills and mountains glow.  And yes, we could still see snow-covered mountain tops from time to time.  In some places there was so little snow (it is there summer time) that the mountain looked like it had powdered sugar sprinkled on top.

We went past one area that looked like a big lagoon (Capina I think) which was an area where they mine or extract borax and borium sulphate or something like that.  It just looked like another salt flat to me but not as big, but apparently these products are big business to Bolivia.  There were some neat rocks formations at this stop as well, which some of the gang decided to climb.

Eventually we made it to the entrance of the Eduardo Avaroa National Reserve of Andean Fauna.  This park was established in 1974 and covers over 700,000 hectares of land between 4,000 and 6,000 metres in elevation, and borders Argentina and Chile.    Flamingos and vicuña are the main species that are being protected and over the day we saw lots of both.

 

Sand, stone, grey, reddish. - hillsides lots of colour - reddish, brown, white, etc.

Long roads stretching ahead forever before disappearing over a hill into a valley or around a hill - 

The Hot Springs or Aquas Termales Polques are located at the end of Laguna Salada.  There are several natural springs in the area that reach a temperature of 40 degrees Celsius and a pool has been made at the one end so you can go in and have a relaxing dip.  Several of us did this and it was indeed very nice.  However, by the time we got changed, had our dip, got dried off and changed again, we were basically out of time.  Luckily the drivers had fixed lunch for us so being a bit late was not a big problem, and the hostel where we ate had a clothes line out back so our bathing suits and towels were almost dry by the time we finished eating.  

Aside from the dip we had just a little time to walk around and take some pictures.  The lagoon itself was quite large and really calm so there were some great reflections of the surrounding mountains and of the sky.  The water was a pale blue almost clear colour over the light sandy soil beneath and a great contrast to the browner and redder hills in the background and the vivid blue sky with white clouds.  It was just a picture perfect setting.  

Our next stop was the Geysers of Sol de Mañana, probably the highest point of our tour at 4,990 metres.  This area of approximately 1 sq km is one of constant volcanic activity.  There are pools of boiling lava, holes emitting sulphuric gases, lots of vapour emissions and at times geysers shooting 50 metres high.  The strange part is that you get to walk right up to them while they are bubbling, steaming and really hot.  It's probably very dangerous but they don't seem to mind that people are walking around the area.  I guess they assume people will have enough brains to stay far enough away that they don't get hurt.  However, these holes just seem to pop out of nowhere.  You would just be walking along and suddenly there was another hole bubbling away.  The big ones you really couldn't miss but the little ones were a big trickier.  The group had fun taking pictures in front of the bubbling pools and James even gave himself a warm mud facial from one of the not so bubbly pools.  Of course we told him he looked much younger after he washed it off.  Overall the area was very bleak and strange looking and yet very impressive and fascinating at the same time.

Many of the lagoons in the reserve have colourful names and for very good reason.  The minerals in the water and the shallowness of the lagoons means that the colours are quite distinct.  Laguna Verde or Green Lagoon, for example, has a high arsenic and copper content and appears very green.  Laguna Blanco is white and has another mineral in it.  We didn't visit either of these famous lagoons as they are farther south on the border with Chile and we didn't have time to get that far.  

We did stop at other lagoons though and they all had beautiful colours in them: green, white, red, etc.  The Red or Colorado Lagoon is 60 square kilometres but only averages 45 cm in depth.  An algae species in the lake gives it its distinctive rusty red colour.  Swirls of white mixed with the red give the lagoon a very soft appearance almost like an ice cream swirl or sour cream swirl in a borscht soup.  This lagoon is also the main nesting site for the three types of flamingos found in Chile: the Andean, Chilean and James flamingos.  I found it hard to tell them apart at times but we did see all three types.  

At the Red Lagoon we stopped for quite a while so we could all climb down to the shore to get closer to the flamingos.   That also meant that we were able to get closer to the small herd of llamas that were down by the bank.  Both the flamingos and the llamas were fun to watch.  The mature llamas have coloured ribbons on their ears to mark who they belong to so they look quite colourful and silly at times.  The young llamas are spared that humiliation.  The older llamas have a very thick matted coat that makes them look very dirty while the young llamas look very clean and cuddly in their new coats.  The flamingos had their heads in the water most of the time and, unlike other flamingos I have seen, none of them were standing on one foot.  

Our next stop was at the Arbo de Piedra or Stone Tree, which is really just an area of volcanic rock formations but the one looks very much like an old tree.  We had a few minutes here to wander around, climb the rock formations and take some pictures.  

The views throughout the whole day were stunning.  We had some green in the early parts of the day but then very dry land in the latter part.  The land was mainly flat with rolling hills in the background and high snow-covered mountains in the distance.  As we were on such a high plateau, the snow covered mountains did not look very high.  It was only the snow that gave away their height.  I had never experienced a high flat plateau before and this one was really spectacular.  I took way too many pictures and still they will not do the landscape justice. 

The roads we were driving on were all dirt/gravel/sand roads.  Sometimes there very deep trenches dug into the ground from the tire tracks, and sometimes there appeared to be no tracks at all.  And even if there were tracks, the drivers never seemed to follow them.  How the drivers find their way is amazing, but I guess they are used to it and they use certain large landmarks to help them move back and forth.  We were a convoy of four vehicles but all of our vehicles didn't follow the same path, and there were other vehicles out there as well but not many.  It seemed like such a vast open area as we drove and drove and drove all day long. 

By the end of the day we were driving through an old river bed and canyon so we had rock walls going up on each side of the vehicle and not a lot of space to maneuver in some places.  We even had some water sitting on the bottom of the canyon in places.  This part of the drive seemed more like a theme-park ride than a tour but it was still enjoyable.  Eventually we got out and on to the flat plateau again.  We went a bit further but stopped to wait for the other two vehicles to catch up.  From there we continued on to our accommodation for the night and we were just arriving as the sun was setting behind the hills.

I believe this was the Laguna Hedionda or smelly lagoon.  At least that's the lagoon I think we stayed at; here were so many it did get confusing after while.  The rooms here were very nice - again with many pounds of heavy blankets to keep you warm during the cold night - and each room had its own bathroom so that was much better than the night before.  Randy, Gillian and I were sharing again.  As we didn't get in until almost dark we didn't have time to walk around the place much before dinner, which was another soup and main course meal and it was very good.  After dinner some folks went out to look at the starts which I should have done too as it is one of the best places for star gazing.  However, after getting in and showering I changed directly to my pyjamas and just couldn't be bothered changing again to go outside.  

Bed time was early but I just couldn't get to sleep.  We were still up very high and I just couldn't get to sleep because it felt like I wasn't getting a good enough breath.  As nothing else was working I  propped myself up against the wall and put on my warm alpaca hoodie to stay warm.  Sitting up seemed more comfortable and eventually I did fall asleep and get at least a few hours of good sleep before it was time to get up and go again.