Uyuni: Salt Flats and Silohi desert

We have just come back from Uyuni; a small town south of La Paz and close to the Chile and Argentina borders. Great trip, but it was absolutely freezing and there was no hot water capabilities anywhere in the area (and don ask about the toilets). Consequently we haven't showered in three days. That will be first on the agenda when we arrive back in La Paz tonight! On our first day we joined a tour group and visited the salt flats (thanks Tom & Lorren, Jade, Chris, Joe and Maeve). The salt flats used to be a huge lake, which joined lake Titicaca to the ocean. After volcanic activity thousands of years ago, the salt flats were pushed upwards and as they dried out, they became a desert covered in salt. It truly looks out of this world, and is so strange to walk on! As far as you can see there is just shimmering white against a turquoise sky. We stopped for lunch in a large building made completely of salt; the walls, tables and chairs were all constructed from thick blocks. The roads across the flats are barely perceptible, and whilst driving one has to invoke sailing skills, heading for one point on the horizon rather than following a track. Our hotel was also totally made of salt, including the bricks and mortar. It's the first time I've been in a hotel room with crunchy salt gravel on the floor rather than carpet!

Salt flats

Island in middle of salt flats

Sunset on the salt flats

  From the salt flats, we chugged past herds of llamas and learned that they are perhaps the easiest livestock to own. There is a head llama honcho of each pack, who takes the herd out to graze each morning and then brings them back each night. Llamas dislike other animals, including foxes, and so are quite safe to roam freely as they scare away any predators. They are so protective of their own that Bolivian families often leave their babies in the care of the llamas, who will keep them safe. The llamas are adorned with colourful threads intwined in their ear flaps, and different colours denote who the llama belongs to. A rather prettier solution compared to spray painting sheep! We also motored past fields and fields of quinoa, which is a major export for Bolivia and has shot up in price since becoming cool with hipsters in the US and Australia. Red quinoa has the most health benefits, and is used to build muscle in astronauts. Our guide claimed that quinoa is also the  reason that everyone in Bolivia lives to 90 without ever getting dementia, but I am less convinced of these assertions!

 

On our second day we visited the Silohi desert (thanks Freda and Andy), including the rock tree made famous by Salvador Dahli. Whilst Mr Dahli painted a lot of Bolivian landscapes, it transpires he never actually visited the country himself, taking inspiration instead from photos. The clouds here were beautiful - I don't know if it was the altitude or another reason but they looked like whorls of ice cream. I spent as much time looking at the clouds as at the scenery. The mountains were stunning, hewn from a reddish rock with snow lightly dusting the tops. The soil in Bolivia is very rich in minerals including lithium, borax, copper and arsenic. This turns the lakes various colours, depending on the quantity of each. 

Dali rocks

Rock tree

On this trip we reached a maximum height of 5010 metres, which is higher than the skydive we did in 2009! I suffered from altitude sickness here, having to nap in the evening rather than eat dinner. I did wake up in time to experience the hot spring fed swimming pool under the stars. I have never seen such a clear sky in my life; you could clearly see the Milky Way and when the moon rose it was light enough to not need torches. Full disclosure: the photo of the stars below was not taken by us, but by another chap in our tour group.

View of the stars whilst swimming in the hot strings

  We are now waiting at the airport ready to fly back to La Paz. Tomorrow we leave Bolivia and travel to Peru!

Corico smells like honey pancakes

It really does. After two days in La Paz, which smells like any city in a developing country (too many people, festering rubbish, petrol and cooking oil), the countryside three hours east of the city smells like honey pancakes. I assume there is a South American variety of honeysuckle which lollops across the verges and gives the whole area this pleasingly pungent aroma. The ecolodge we are staying in is absolutely stunning - we are set into the hillside (the climb to our cabana is literally breathtaking, due to forty stairs in an oxygen starved country), but goodness is it worth it. We have one room with a bed, fridge and tiny stove, an outside seating area, an outdoor bathroom and a balcony. The water comes from a natural spring, so is drinkable and the shower is warmed by the sun throughout the day. There is the most spectacular view from our balcony, with rolling hills and distant snow capped mountains. We watch wheeling birds visit peculiar hanging nests as the morning mist drifts lazily below us. As Nick sat on his deckchair with a cervesa (beer) in hand, he declared that this was the moment he would come back to in the future when life got all life-y. I have to say that I agree.  

The next day we got up early to see the cascadas (waterfalls) on a three hour hike (thank you Tyler, Mark, Alice and Duncan). We walked along a track which looked out onto the stunning view of the hills as the sun beat down on us. Of course, we smelled the honey pancakes the whole way. The road passed many minor waterfalls (which we took advantage of to cool our feet) but none could compare to the waterfall we finished at. It was hundreds of metres high and tumbled lacksidasically through lush green vegetation, gently showering us with welcome droplets. We paddled in the pool underneath the waterfall (we didn't swim though - the water was too cold for full body immersion) before catching a local bus home.

Waterfall walk

Cascada

Biggest Cascada

Today, we visited the moon.

Gosh, it's high here. I made the mistake of taking the stairs to our room two at a time, and needed a lie down afterwards to recover. There is not a lot of oxygen in the air, which takes some getting used to. Our highlight of the day was a trip to Moon Valley (thanks Emma, Jack and Jade!) where we wandered among pointy stacks of rock reminiscent of Star Wars. Health and Safety was mostly absent, which when mixed with an oxygen starved brain, made for some interesting moments! Likewise, when I got too excited and decided to run along the track and my lungs shrivelled. Afterwards, we visited the coca museum, which documents the use of coca use in Bolivia and it's illegal use as cocaine. It used to be compulsory for Bolivian slaves to chew coca leaves, as this made them more productive and less hungry. 

 

Tomorrow it's off to the ecolodge!

Honeymoon to South America

So here we are, with two days to go. Our bags are packed, travel vaccination records found (after Nick briefly misplaced his) and Gameboy brought back to life for the three (yes, three) flights that will transport us across the skies from Birmingham to Bolivia. We will be arriving in La Paz, which is the highest capital in the world, at an eye watering local time of 1.30am. Rather than dreading this discommodious hour, Matt from Chimu Travel has organised a transfer from the airport to the hotel, and so we will be swept straight there. I am inordinately excited about this (going so far as to call Dad to tell him about this height of luxury - isn't it the best thing ever?) before he informed me that this was pretty standard. Ah.

South America

Our first stop is La Paz, the capital of Bolivia.

Once we arrive, our first day will involve a trip to Moon Valley, before we head east out of La Paz for a few days in an Ecolodge. This involves driving down Death Road (of Top Gear fame. Jezzer is petrified as the road disintegrates under his tyres. Check it out after we have safely navigated the pass. They have now built another road, and traffic is now only allowed one way on Death Road, significantly improving the safety record. Phew.)

Roz