Salar de Uyuni, Bolivia

Salar de Uyuni slideshow

There was some pain during the three days, two nights stay at Salar Uyuni, mostly because of the dust and the freezing cold on the second night. We slept in a basic hospedaje, at 13,000 feet high, zero degree Fahrenheit with no heating, except during dinner, when yareta, the hard part of paja brava, wild straw was burned in a homemade type fireplace.

However, what I saw during the three days along with my two Spanish, and three Irish companions (we were all women) was beyond my expectations. Roberto, our guide, talked a little too much at times, but he was a really good planner and knows a lot about the area. We traveled in a caravan. The red Toyata Land Cruiser traveling along us, was composed of five guys, one woman, the cook and of course the driver.

The Salar Uyuni, over 4,000 square miles, the biggest salt dessert in the world, was formed 40,000 years ago, when Lake Minchin, a giant prehistoric lake dried. It holds half of the world's reserve of lithium.

We saw a train cemetery, massive trains used to transport minerals out of Bolivia, but now are rusting in the middle of now where.The island full of cactus in the middle of a salt desert was also an impressive sight. It is known as fish island, or Incalhuas island. The incas planted the cactus, probably for food supply.

The next day we saw Tunupa mummies. It was a community of very small people, an eight of a yard, who lived on quinoa and llamas, not yet domesticated (the Incas domesticated them.) According to legend, the chullpas, or mummies, lived before the sun was created, another version says they lived 5,000 years ago and left lots of artifacts, skulls and other bones in their homes, which are holes made on coral rocks. The truth is, when the Tunupa mummies lived or appeared is still a mystery.

We also saw Ollaque volcano, erupted 2,300 years ago and still active. In a mountain nearby, a meteor fell 250 years, making a large round impression on it, and killing lots of animals when it elimination deadly gases.Then there were the pink flamingos at Lake Hedionda and Lake Colorada. How beautiful they are. I never imagined to see flamingos in Bolivia! They were always busy trying to get food in the mineral, algae rich water, so it was hard to photograph them just standing up, but I got a couple of good photos.

To top it off, on the last day, we saw geysers, fumaroles, in a valley called Sol de Manana, at 15,000 feet above sea level. It was before the sun had even risen, after a hellish night of freezing cold and waking up at 5am, but it was worth it. It was so magic to walk around the smoke from the geysers and feel the warmth, still in the dark. The air outside the geysers was zero Farenheit - we were all wrapped in blankets, shawls, hats and whatever else we had. After visiting the Laguna Verde that morning, which was not very verde-green, because the winds were not right, we headed out for our prize: Termas de Polgues, hot springs, to warm up the bones at last! It didn't matter we were at 12,900 feet at about five Fahrenheit. The sun was already out by 9:30pm when we got into the hot water which was just perfect!

We also visited the Arbol de Piedra, a bunch of rocks placed together in an unique way, salt pyramids, Siloli desert with its uniquely shaped stone, llamas, viscachas, vicunas, mineral rich, colored shaped mountains to no end and water coming out of the ground. Nothing much grows in the area, though, except for the paja brava that feeds animals serves for heating and even construction, when mixed with mud.

The food was good, which we enjoyed with wine most of the times because of the cold. We ate pica brava, a traditional Bolivian dish of chips, sausage and tomatoes; chicken, llama, even pizza and pancakes for breakfast one day. The drivers were awesome, navigating roads I would never imagine were passable. What a great trip! It will be hard to top this one off. Words can not do any justice to this place. You have to see the slide show for this one. Enjoy!