First I want to explain how to pronounce Uyuni - our first destination in Bolivia. If you break it down like this - oo - you - nee, that will help. This will be the only city/village we will travel in that has paved roads. I said there would be some interesting surprises awaiting us as we headed out across the border, and there was. Not just the proverbial line ups and waiting to get documents stamped - but much more. Bolivia is a developing country with huge infrastructure challenges. We were about to see and experience that soon.
Climate/Weather
In my first blog I talked about how dry the Atacama Desert was. San Pedro de Atacama and the southern border of Bolivia are not part of the rain shadow effect between two mountain ranges - one that stops moist air from forming. The region we started our trip in was accustomed to a January/February rainy season. The rains were often violent, causing severe wash outs in the dirt/sand roads and snow in the higher elevations.
The Dirt/Sand Tracks
Realistically you can not call what we traveled on for four days, roads. We were about to embark on the worst four days of vehicle travel we have ever experienced. Mud, ruts, puddles, streams, boulders, washouts, washboard, sand dunes - I think that basically covers it. Eight to nine hours a day bouncing around in a Toyota Land Cruiser was a bit exhausting, but it was the only way you could experience the amazing sights of Southern Bolivia.
The constant pounding on our vehicle took a toll. Our driver Elmer had to pump up the Land Cruiser's tires every second stop.
Salvador Dali Desert
The first part of the trip took us through a very arid valley that was named after the famous Spanish artist, Salvador Dali. Beautiful scenery.
Vicuna
The first animal we saw was a Vicuna. This is not a llama, which we would see many of later. The Vicuna which is smaller, tends to live in the wild.
Altitude Sickness (Mal de Altura)
This is one surprise we wish we could have avoided. Thought about it, but didn't get the pills we should have. The whole of southern Bolivia is situated at very high altitude. It is not that you are going up and down in altitude, you are at between 4,000 metres to 5,000 meters ( 13,100 ft to 16,400 ft) the whole time. That means sleeping at night at those altitudes. Not easy when your heart is racing and your head is pounding. When we finally made it to Uyuni, we tracked down the pills that helped. Kathy was the first to get sick. We stopped in a small village and Cesar (our guide) got her some Cocoa Tea (a raw material of cocaine). A little bit of relief.
Llamas
The village we stopped in had a heard of Llamas being watched over by some of the native women. Throughout our four days, this would be the dominate animal we would see.
Volcanic Outcrops
As we drove farther into the Bolivian desert we came across some amazing geographic features. Volcanic outcrops from the original formation of this landscape.
Anaconda Canyon
As we worked our way north we came to an area know as Anaconda Canyon. This was Bolivia's version of the USA's Grand Canyon. Maybe not as big and massive as the canyons in the USA, but Anaconda Canyon had a beautiful vista for us to enjoy.
Uyuni
Just before we arrived to Uyuni we came upon a lagoon with flamingos. In two days time we would be seeing thousands of these beautiful birds as we returned to San Pedro de Atacama in Chile. Our first day took us 12 hours and we finished in the dark. To say we were tired - would be an understatement. But the most intriguing part of the trip awaited us tomorrow - The Uyuni Salt Flats.
