Si pu, No ve

I know that I said that I don´t like traveling like a conventional tourist, but to visit the Altiplano and the Salar de Uyuni (which is the largest salt flat in the world) there is only one way to get there.  That way, unless you know how to navigate the open Bolivian desert, is to take a tour in a Jeep.   

Vicuña herd



So I signed up for said tour with Atacama Mistica, a company that gave me a $30 discount through my new friend Miguel.  I should have been more warned when they said they had a car with 5 French people with one space open for me.                                                                                                            

We headed out on Thursday, taking a shuttle to the Bolivian border.  Fortunately I didn´t have to pay the $135 visa to enter Bolivia as a US citizen because I had been there 4 years before.  Score!

The boarder control was a small dilapidated building with no bathroom, although they did have a `peepee bus`as our guide called it:

There was more than just peepee behind that bus. . .

Stuffed into a Jeep with the 5 Frenchies and our sweet Bolivian guide named Leo, I was surprised at how alone I felt.  Although I have been traveling alone on this trip, I haven´t felt that lonely.  It took 5 uninterested and semi-rude French people to make me feel that way.

Girlz rule!

They weren´t all so bad, and eventually they grew on me, but it was clear that I would truly be excluded.  Fortunately, I made friends with the only girl in their group, Julie.  We stayed up in the nights gabbing in Spanish about cultural differences, how we love to travel and really just bonding over the fact that we were both girls.  The 4 guys stayed up playing cards, chain smoking and drinking whiskey even when I and many others advised against it at an altitude of 4,000 metros.

Jumping like an American in this cliche photo.

The first day we stopped at a series of beautiful spots.  Many of which were brightly colored lagunas.  During the entire 4 day trip I continued to be caught off guard by natures ability to create such fantastic colors.

The Laguna Colorada was litterally a deep red color.  Different minerals allow the lakes to take on different qualities.



Laguna Verde

Many of the lakes draw flocks of Flamingos.  Contrary to what I thought, flamingos can live in freezing climates. They come to the Altiplano because they like to eat the micro-organisms that live on the surface of the water.  They also like to bend their knees backwards and leave their carcasses around the lake when they die.

Later we stopped to check out:

 The Arbol de Piedra.  Rock tree.  Meh. . .

 A smoking volcano. Cool. . .

Amazing geysers that stunk like sulphur and screamed and hissed

And bubbled like crazy!

And hot springs.  Despite 40 degree weather, me and hundreds of other tourists disrobed to jump into this tiny pool of naturally hot water.

After our long days of driving blindly through the desert some how Leo would find our lodging for the night, which normally looked like this:

Except for one night, when we stayed at the Hotel De Sal, where everything was made of salt! 

We would be served a meal of hot dogs, instant soup and sometimes a peach slice or two. 

 Because the generators shut off early to conserve the limited energy, lights would go out at around 8:30 and I would be asleep by 9:30pm.

For a pre-paid touristic adventure, it was still a considerably rugged one.