Part 30 Bolivia’s “Lagunas Route”
(Click on a photo enlarge it.)
The Lagunas Route is a Must See
in Bolivia. Towering volcanos watch over a stark high-altitude desert. They
push pointed white caps upward into a deep blue colour that can only be seen from
high places. The desert’s surface is mostly sand and gravel, smoothed and
rounded by the wind. Sometimes debris fields of boulders spewed by angry,
exploding volcanos spread out for multiple kilometers. Sometimes it is
petrified lava flows that intrude. The few lakes that dot the area are
strangely and beautifully coloured by local minerals, principally borax. Temperatures
reach as low as minus 20 degrees at night. Being there is like being on another
planet.
High Altitude Desert
Mostly Sand and Gravel
Sandy Tracks Through the Desert
Plants and animals that exist in
this harsh environment are highly adapted. We saw zorros (dog sized foxes)
chasing mice, a few vicuna and lots of flamingos. The few, unusually shaped and
coloured plants can be found only in or near one of the shallow, undrinkable
(for us) lakes. In the canyons where scarce creeks carry glacial melt water, it
seemed that high altitude and low temperatures prevent any kind of plant
growth.
A van picked Isabelle and I up at
the Aji Verde Hostel in San Pedro de Atacama and took us to the Bolivian border.
The forty-minute ride brought us from 2600m to 4400m elevation. We noticed
frost on the graveled ground as we waited our turn to exit Chile. The tour
company put on a nice breakfast for its clients after which we cleared into
Bolivia and boarded the Land Cruisers.
Sunrise Frost and Fog at 4400 Meters
Our Bolivian driver was named Freddy.
He was a retired policeman and the oldest driver in our group of six Land
Cruisers. He had been driving the Lagunas Route for seven years and was highly
skilled. He drove with care and patience, clearly the slowest of the group.
Each time it appeared that we were in for a big bump he managed to place his
wheels just so, and there was no bump. He brought the vehicle through every
kind of surface imaginable without getting stuck. We always felt safe with Freddy.
He was an expert.
Jeremie and Joy, a young French
couple joined us as well as two US young women named Ali and Lauren. They were
all seasoned travelers. Jeremie and Joy had already visited Russia and
Mongolia. They had ridden the Trans Siberia Express, a week-long train journey
through remote parts of the former Soviet Union. Ali and Lauren had traveled
extensively throughout the far east.
The Lagunas route began for us at
the southern-most tip of Bolivia, 4400 meters above sea level. The route slowly
climbed over two days to a maximum of 4926 meters (16,000 ft). It winds its way
past numerous lakes and surface features created by volcanism. Soon after the
border Lagunas Blanca and Verde came into view. The early morning light was
magical, the air calm. The surrounding mountains were reflected without
distortion by the wakeless lakes. We hiked around the area to get different
views. Porous volcanic rock was everywhere.
Laguna Blanca
Early morning Light
The Salar De Chalviri is an area of
salt, sand and gravel that has been smoothed and rounded by the wind. A non-sequitur
had been introduced, that of huge and random chunks of volcanic rock placed
there long ago by exploding mountains. Time passes slowly in the remote
highlands. From a distance these rocks look small but they are in fact at least
the size of a house. It is tempting to think that someone has layered and
shaped the rocks but is was the wind that has sand blasted them. Differential
erosion due partly to wind direction and to differing lithologies within the
rock’s layers has contributed to the resulting surreal shapes. One small area of
Salar De Chalviri had been nicknamed the “Salvador Dali Desert”. No one knows
if these landscapes inspired Dali’s surrealist paintings but they certainly
resemble them. The “Arbol de Piedra” in particular bears a striking resemblance
to Dali’s, “The Enigma of Desire”.
Distant Volcanic Erratics in the "Salvador Dali Desert"
The famous Laguna Colorada (Lake
of Colours) was our last stop on the first day. We hiked around it for better
views and watched the colours in the water change with the moving angle of the
sun. When the sun was gone the water appeared black. The flamingos didn’t mind.
They spend each night sleeping on one leg in the shallow briny lake that
protects them from preying Zorros.
Intense Red, Sunset on Laguna Colorada (Coloured Lake)
The first night was spent in an
adobe refugio that was clean and comfortable. Dinner was simple but tasty and
we enjoyed the company of our car mates before retiring early. Sunrise on
Laguna Colorada was promised for the next day. No one in our group seemed
bothered by the altitude. The refugio was unheated but there were plenty of
blankets and sleep came quickly.
Early Morning on Laguna Colorada
The next day we climbed on huge
lava flows and volcanic boulder fields. Freddy described them as “rocas
volcanicas petrificadas”. The Three Jewels of the Desert, Lagunas Hedionda,
Honda and Canapa were stunning in the still, thin air. The powerful mid-day
light at high altitude and cool air make the lakes seem even harsher, again the
flamingos don’t seem to mind.
Laguna Hedionda
The end of the day saw all the
Land Cruisers moving across the southern portion of the massive Salar de Uyuni
on a system of causeways. The salar is flooded in early autumn, making use of
the causeways mandatory. One of the drivers tried to overtake another and slid
down into the salty muck. No one was hurt. The next 40 minutes were filled with
a spectacle of cooperation as the drivers collectively put the stranded car
back on the road. Everyone made it safely to the salt hotel, literally made of
cut salt, for a group dinner.
Approaching Uyuni (3800 meters), First Signs Human Habitation
Can You Identify This Relic?
Another early morning and an
hour’s drive brought us to the famous Salar de Uyuni for sunrise. Freddy took
us down from the causeway and onto the flooded salar. The water was mostly
shallow but Freddy seemed a little nervous. We made it safely to a unique and
unforgettable view of the sunrise. The air was calm for the third day in a row
and the reflected images of clouds and mountains were perfect. We moved onto a
dry section of the salar for breakfast. The rest of the morning was spent
enjoying the salar and working out some funny distorted perspective photos.
Flooded Salar
Salar Sunsrise
Ali As a Hood Ornament
Reflections
Playing with Perception
Huffing and Puffing
Salty Breakfast
Not Really Breakfast
Tonka Toy
Headed Back to Dry Land
Easy Does It
The tour ended in Uyuni where Isa
and I had time for a coffee near the Avenida Hotel. The Avenida had been home
for us on our previous visit to Uyuni. I had spent an uncomfortable final night
there with a fragmented collar bone before flying to Sucre for surgery. An hour
later we hopped in a different Land Cruiser with a different driver, Jimmy for
the 1 ½ day trip back to San Pedro de Atacama. Our motos were waiting for us,
safely parked in San Pedro at the Aji Verde hostel.
Jimmy was a very different driver
from Freddy. He was 24 years old and he constantly chewed coca leaves. We must
have hit every bump on a road that was only marginally better than the sandy
trails of the Lagunas Route. It seemed that Jimmy’s self-confidence exceeded
his skills and experience. We arrived well after dark but without incident, perhaps
a little shaken, at the refugio in Villa Maria. A simple supper was served to
us before we retired to our room.
Quinoa Fields
An early start in the darkness
brought us to the scene of another Land Cruiser off the road. This time it had
gone down a steep embankment that was about five meters high. Miraculously, the
car was still on its wheels and no one was hurt. All the Land Cruisers that
were headed for the Chilean border, about 20, were stuck because of the
blockage.
The drivers all pitched in to
help; the concept of reciprocity in action. Tools appeared out of the thin air.
Picks, shovels and long pry bars were used together with bare hands to clear a
path back up the embankment. Two tow straps were attached to vehicle below, the
first led to a tow vehicle on the road and the second to a team of men. Horsepower
and traction were transferred from the road above to the stranded vehicle by
the first tow strap. The men, via the second strap, applied deflecting force to
prevent the stranded vehicle from slipping along the embankment. Engines revved,
men strained and wheels spun. The stranded car bumped and slithered up the
embankment and onto the road.
It was a fast and dusty ride for
the next two hours. Jimmy, possibly inspired by the early morning events, drove
with noticeable caution and we arrived a little after dawn at the border for
breakfast. Soon after that Gisele and Adrian welcomed us back at the Aji Verde
Hostel and showed us to our room. The four-day excursion into some of the
world’s harshest, most remote and at the same time most beautiful places, the
Lagunas Route, had been a highlight of our South American trip.
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