Salar de Uyuni pt. 2
More stunning scenery on day 3 (and a slightly tired and grumpy Sophie). We were able to get really close to the flamingo´s on one of the beautiful lagoons as well as Vicuña, Llama and Alpaca. Reaching the edge of the Salar De Uyuni by dark we spent the night in a Salt ´hotel´. Everything from walls, flooring, tables, chairs and beds were made from salt (good for Sophie´s ulcers) and we even had our first shower. Tonight it was Sophie that cut the village power by attempting to plug in a hairdryer (genuinely!).
Our final day started at 4am (IN THE DARK) to make our way to the middle of the salt flats for sunrise… a one-off experience well worth the effort. Its hard to describe the scale of the salt flats at over 11,000sq/km and to believe that under the hard salt crust (1m-20m thick) lies vast amounts of water. We visited one of the 14 islands in the salt flats which is home to some acient cactus and provided stunning views. Breakfast must be mentioned here….freshly baked bread and pancakes from our fabulous cook who had clearly been up earlier than us that morning.
Given some of the stories we had heard about bad tour companies we were so lucky to have a great guide, cook and fellow travellers…
Salar de Uyuni pt.1
The largest salt flats in the world at 3650m above sea level. We arrived in Tupiza just in time to book ourselves onto a tour for the following day. By chance we teamed up with another couple who were really lovely from Holland which was lucky as we were spendng the next 4 days and 3 nights sharing bedrooms and a cramped 4×4 with them! Both Santos our tour guide and Janet (our cook) only spoke Spanish so we were once again maxing the phase book.
Day 1 we headed into the mountains reaching 4200m. We passed several remote villages (how do they get their post!) finally arriving in San Antonio De Lipez (4260m) to spend the night. The food was fantastic and with coco leaves, vino and backgammon all was going well… until we discovered we nearly hit the floor on the seriously old matress and Chris caused a village power cut trying to charge his camera!
Day 2 and we were feeling the altitude with banging headaches among the group. Today was our favourite with inca ruins, old mining villages, first sightings of flamingos (love love love), colourful lagoons, desert landscapes and hot springs (bliss). The Laguna Verde although looked inviting with its colour was actually given its colour by the high arsenic content (so swimming was off the agenda). At over 5000m the freezing temperatures set in for the evening (as well as Sophie´s night-long headache). When the power was suddenly cut at 8pm we were forced to bed early.
Southern Hemisphere Shenanigans... 