Hello folks, it´s Laura here. On Monday we left San Pedro for the altiplano of Bolivia. We went with Cordillera Traveller and can recommend them, we had a great Bolivian guide. The border crossing is the most remote we have ever seen. Shortly after the border we crossed into Reserva Nacional de Fauna Andina Eduardo Avaroa which is very rich in minerals and has isolated communtities of indigenous people living in harsh and isolated conditions. We stopped at several lakes and a pool heated by hot springs which was lovely even though it was thundering and hailing when we were in it. We stopped at Geyser Sol de Manaña. It was steaming away furiously. I couldn´t go close to it because of the sulphur but Pete´s lungs are stronger and he got some photos. The most impressive lake was Laguna Colorada, a Ramsar site which is red due to the pigments contained in algae present there. There were lots of flamingoes, mostly Andean but also Chilean and Puna/James flamingoes.
For the duration of the trip we were on dirt roads in a 4x4 and at 3600-4900m altitude. We have never been anywhere so remote. The wildlife and scenery are spectacular. The first night was spent at a small dwelling in the middle of nowhere´at 4200m. We slept reasonably considering the altitude. On the second day we stopped at more lakes and interesting rock formations. One of the rock sights was depressing, lots of cans, rubbish and toilet roll strewn around from previous groups. It seems that unless bins and toilets are provided in every corner of the Earth that humans reach there will always be some idiots who ruin places with rubbish. We broke down twice but after the fuel filter had been cleaned the trusty Toyota carried us on to San Juan a small settlement at 3600m where we spent the night in a salt hostel.
On the third day we drove on to the Salar de Uyuni, an amazing salt flat which is the world´s largest at 10,582 square km. The elevation is about 3600m and in places the salt is 150m deep. In the rainy season it floods and is impassable. In summer there can be water close to the surface so a good guide is needed to avoid falling through. Our guide explained to us that the Salar rises by about 5cm every year, but the process was lost on me due to not understanding enough Spanish. It is also the largest source of Lithium in the world and some salt is harvested by locals. The next stop was the train cemetry on the outskirts of the town of Uyuni. This was thoroughly depressing, the land around the town is covered in rubbish and it is grim. We passed a night there in a basic hotel due to trouble at the border. The indigenous people of Reserva Nacional de Fauna Andina Eduardo Avaroa are due 10% of the profits from tourism but they have not received it from the Government for one and a half years, so they are striking and blocking all access to the reserve. Hopefully they will get the money soon.
On Thursday we rose at 5am for the transfer to another border. It was a long, hot and uncomfortable day. We had to pay 15 Bolivianos to leave the country and then we waited around for a couple of hours for a minibus from Chile to collect us. We´re glad to be back on paved roads.
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