Salar D'Uyuni

Our four day trip to the Salt plane of Uyuni or Salar D'Uyuni was a mindblowing trip of surreal and magical sights. It is almost indescribable and certainly impossible to capture on film. However I will attempt to record a small part of our experience in the deserts and mountainous landscape of south west Bolivia. The photos will do most of the talking in this post! The landscape we saw there will no doubt stay part of my dreams for a long time to come. We began our trip in Tupiza, just over the border from Argentina and a beautiful, friendly and relaxed town. We packed our jeep and with another couple, Viktor the driver and Emma the cook we set off for the high desert region. We ascended to a head squeezing height of 4885m and slept at a scaryily head banging height of 4600m, saw mountains, volcanoes, deserts, lagunas, geisers, insane rainbow colours in the landscape, thermal springs,  llamas, flamingoes, vicunas, a desert fox, a viscacha, felt shortness of breath, dizzy, brain-squeezing headaches, chewed coca leaves, drank coca tea, ate amazingly tasty food and had four of the most memorable days of my life so far...

Day 1

On Day 1 the terrain changed as we drove from dry burnt red rocks to green moss to grey mountains. At lunchtime we arrived at a grassy plane and ate lunch next to hundreds of llamas. There were a group busy mating, bizzarly humming away as they did so, and a couple of really new babies - the after birth of one lay nearby and must have been only one hour old. We saw many mines, a couple were big but most were tiny with only about sixteen miners and their families living and working there, manually extracting the minerals from under the ground. The sky was full of amazingly beautiful clouds for the entire day. We felt short of breath and dizzy as we climbed and slept at a height of 4200m.

I am chewing coca leaves that help with altitude but also sent my cheeks completely numb!

Beautiful, giggly Emma cooked us amazingly tasty food!

Here is the pueblo where we slept on the first night at 4200m next to astonishing mountains.

Day 2

We began the second day with a visit to the ruins of a pueblo that was built 200 years ago due to all the gold and silver to be found and mined nearby. We drove passed and were surrounded all day by volcanoes and reached the highest I have ever been 4885m. Due to the volcanic activity in the area the land was very fertile and covered with bright green grass under a blue sky. We encountered our first flamingoes on a laguna, complete with fascinating reflections which kept my camera busy the entire time! As we passed through the area the colours melted into each other as the flamingoes flew through them. We arrived at lunchtime at some natural thermal springs with the most astounding view across the multicoloured landscape of the desert and under a blue sky. Along the way we passed Laguna Verde and Laguna Blanca which meant we were fifteen minutes from Chile. The next place we jumped out of the jeep was at some geisers. We saw the vertical steam columns, smelt the egg of the sulphur and marvelled at the bubbling earth. Then we visited the Laguna Rojo, made red by tiny algae. Here were incredible colours flowing into one another - the red of the lake, the green, grey and yellow of the landscape the bright pink of the flamingoes, which harnessed the wind as they flew like the clappers passed us! Surrounding us were two volcanoes, Volcan Uturuncu at 6008m high and Volcan Llicancahur at 5950m high which marked the beginning of the Andes and was owned half by Chile and half by Bolivia. Altogether a day of surreal, dreamlike landscapes of immense beauty and breathtaking wonder. We slept at the height of 4600m but I only found this out the following morning which didn't help my panic in the middle of the night feeling like my brain was going to explode in my skull. 

Day 3

The third day began with the surreal piedras of the desert, the first photo is of the famous piedra de arbol or tree stone. We found the huge stones carved by the wind and weather to represent various things such as faces, trees and mushrooms! We visited more lagunas named locally as the 'Jewels of the High Andes'. So named for their various colours; green, red and green, white and clear, white clear and green, and white respectively. Small medicinal plants grew everywhere but no cacti or trees as they can't grow easily over 3600m. We saw three different types of flamingoes; Chilean (black and white), Andean (the biggest) and Hams (yellow and black on beak). Also an incredible desert fox legging it through the desert travelling as fast as our jeep, overtaking us and crossing our path to leap up the side of some desert rocks. We took lunch in the amazing desert, in view of the volcanoes, and a viscacha joined us. A viscacha is a small furry cuddly creature who looks like a cross between a rabbit and a chinchilla. Along our drive we also saw many vicunas, the timid and quite rare cousin of the llama and alpaca with incredibly soft fur. We saw yet another volcano in the region, this time still smoking! Volcan Ollague at a height of 5860m, again half owned by Chile and half by Bolivia. We arrived and slept on the edge of the huge Salar, or salt plane and slept in a hotel completely made of salt; bricks, floor, ceiling, decorations all.

Day 4

On our fourth and last morning we awoke before the sun and headed across the salt plane towards the island in the middle. Now among the eight jeeps that had stuck together, looking after one another out in the wild only three decided that they would brave the water on the salt plane (as it is the rainy season making a lot of places in Bolivia inaccessible). We were lucky enough that Viktor was a very experienced driver and felt able to take us! We stopped to watch as el Sol rose and then continued to the island. Just as the sun was rising in the sky we climbed the small hill on top of the mountain to take in the vista of the entire salt plane. The hill is covered with exceptionally old and huge cacti. We admired the view for some time and then took breakfast on the edge of the plane. Then we drove onto the lake until we were completely surrounded by bright white terrain under a powder blue sky holding puffy white clouds. As we passed over large areas of water the reflection of the sky created the most surreal landscape yet!! It was breath takingly incredible. Then we came to stop in an area of complete white under the blue sky. Here we had the typical fun with perspective that people always have in photos of this place. Finally we drove to the salt hotel in the middle of the salt plane, paused and then continued towards Uyuni and the other edge of the salt plane. Here we saw people working on the salt, gathering it into piles for trucks to come and remove it to transport it around Bolivia. Finally we drove to our hostal in Uyuni had lunch together and then went our separate ways. What an incredible experience and one we are unlikely to forget for the rest of our lives.

Tupiza and Cowboys shoot outs

It took us five or so hours to cross the border but we made friends and played cards which made the time go quite fast. When I eventually got to handing our passports over it was one man behind one computer from the 90s typing in all our details with his two index fingers! Bienvenido a Bolivia!!

Immediately I loved what I saw. People busying everywhere. Bright colours and hustle bustle. We started seeing all the ladies in their traditional dress and one of our friends remarked 'it's like they've just stepped out of a photo.' Very true. 

We made our way to the bus station and bought a ticket for a two and a half hour journey for £1.50. After the expense of Argentina this was a very welcome amount!! We were on our way from Villazon to Tupiza.

We loved Tupiza. A very chilled out, relaxed and friendly town. There was so much to look at and explore. So off we went!

We followed the train tracks out into the quebradas (ravines) which were a spellbounding burnt red colour and carved by the rain and wind into such intricate shapes. On our way back a storm started and the sound of the thunder reverberated around the ravines in an immense sound.

Then it was time to make like a cowboy and gallop off into the countryside to see if we could take part in any cowboy shoot outs. Yee-hah!

Here Sam on his slightly mental horse but mine was a proper loonie tunes! She kept bolting at every opportunity!! A kid took us out, just me and Sam. He was a real horse boy, such control. On the way out of town he picked up his mate and throughout our trip they kept galloping off leaving us to saunter through the desert on our own. It was so amazing!

The shapes of the rocks were incredible. Below is El Puerto del Diablo, an amazing formation.

Tupiza was not only chilled out and friendly but it was also very cheap. We were living at a fantastic hostel which was more like a B&B for pittance and the food was so tasty and amazing. We had a three course meal and a big bottle of juice for £2.40 each. Absolutely incredible.

It was time to leave Tupiza now as we had booked ourselves onto the Salar D'Uyuni tour with another couple. I was so excited I almost couldn't sleep! Very very happy indeed to finally, after all these years, be in Bolivia!! Hooray!

San Ignacio, Salta and Estancia Sayta

We left hot and sticky Puerto Iguazu and made our way back down south through Missiones to visit the well restored ruins of a Jesuit Mission in San Ignacio.

The Jesuits were a group of Christian Missionaries that came to the newly ‘discovered’ parts of South America to set up communities which allowed for the cultural cohesion of both the Christians and the Guarani, who were the indigenous people that inhabited this area of what is now Brazil, Paraguay and Argentina. The missions were mostly set up in the 17^th century and worked very productively and effectively all over this large area until the Spanish rulers perceived them as a threat and expelled the Jesuits to which they finally conceded and left around 1738.

The Missions were an interesting social experiment. They created living and working systems for both the Guarani and the Jesuits and had a clear hierarchy. The work and productivity was mostly based around the arts. The creation of sculpture, music, paintings etc culminated both cultures and created a new fusion. The Jesuits and the Missions also served to protect the Guarani from invading forces who wished to enslave the indigenous population and put them to service under the Spanish and Portuguese rulers.

What first struck me about this area as we arrived on the bus and wandered around the town of San Ignacio was the brilliant burnt red of the soil. It reminded me of the colour of the terrain in Australia. Not to mention the continued blazing of the sun and the unbelievable heat of the area. 

When we arrived at the ruins we looked around the fantastic museum which held artefacts, filmed testimonies, examples of stories and music of the Guarani and Jesuits. Then we wandered around the site of the Mission itself. The walls were the same brilliant red of the soil, with incredible carvings and sculpture on them, something they term ‘Guarani Baroque’. Due to the huge model of the layout of the Mission it was easy to see that in the ruins as we wandered around. All in all very interesting, not least to see a not so evil side of the effect the conquistadors had on the indigenous populations of the area.

Then we caught a bus headed to Salta for twenty hours or so. 

So our first stop was to try the famous empanadas that Salta is famous for, a particular type of empanada called a saltena. It has more sauce. We ate a LOT of them during our time in Salta. They were yum.

Salta differed greatly from other Argentinian cities we had been to. In fact it didn't feel like Argentina at all. Things were cheap, it was a really hectic place but the people were really relaxed and friendly. There is a huge and beautiful plaza that people just hang out in and we managed to find good coffee places to sit and people watch. We also visited a fascinating museum called Museo de Montana Alto which was really informative about Incan history and culture. The most fascinating part of the exhibits were the information and videos of the mountain children. That is to say the Incan child sacrifices that were buried at extremely high altitudes and therefore froze, perfectly preserving their bodies for centuries until mountaineers/archaeologists found them and (somewhat controversially, although preventing looting) removed them to the museum. They are studied at only fifteen minutes every month to find out more about the cultures and practices of the Incas. There are three children and they are rotated every month. We saw the Lightening Girl who had fallen asleep after being plied with chicha and in a procession she was walked to the top of the mountain. The children that were chosen were taken from wealthy and highly respected families. After she fell asleep she was buried in the mountain. It was so eerie seeing her. She was so so life like. It was if she was still sleeping. Our voices dropped to a whisper in the quiet, cold and dark room. She sat there crossed legged, we could see the skin on her legs as if she was still alive, her hands were placed on her lap and her head was slumped forwards. It was incredible to see her.

Some more saltenas brought us out of our stunned stillness!

Then it was time for our stay on an estancia (ranch) to go horse riding with the Gauchos (cowboys). We got picked up from out hostel and driven about 50km to Estancia Sayta. 'Todos es possible con Enrique'. Enrique met us as we drove into the estancia and with a twinkle in his eye urged us to have breakfast with the others that had arrived and were already there before us. Then we were up from the lovely long outside table and into our chaps for the first of our two three hour horse rides.

Here is Gaucho Gil. The length and breadth of Argentina by the roadside you will see miniature red huts, surrounded by red offerings. These are to Gaucho Gil who used to wear a red handkerchief around his forehead. The story goes that Gaucho Gil used to rob from the rich and give to the poor so he was a hero. But when the government was trying to rid the land of Gauchos (due to prejudices, them not paying taxes etc) he was captured and hung. As he was about to be hung he said to the Governor if you take my body to my home and bury me there then your children will recover and not die from their illnesses. The Governor, his children fit and healthy, scoffed and ordered his execution. Sure enough shortly afterwards his children did fall ill. So the Governor ordered Gaucho Gil's body be taken back to where he was born and miraculously the Governor's children recovered. Here he is. There are whole shops dedicated to offerings to him.

Sam's first horse! He was a dopey sort. Can you see the leaves hanging from his mouth? Well he kept them there the entire ride, occasionally refreshing them but always leaving some hanging out his mouth like a country bumpkin. Brilliant.

We crossed quite beautiful landscape and the horses were very safe and controlled. They were very well looked after, looking healthy and happy. However I didn't really relate to mine very well. He was a bit tired and didn't seem to have a personality. I was looking forwards to when we would be allowed to gallop! Except I was a bit disappointed with that too as the Gauchos did it alongside you, holding your reigns which meant that I felt pushed to one side, and he kept asking me questions as we were galloping. It was all I could do to keep upright what with all the sideways pushing, giggling and questioning! I would have much rather done it by myself as I had before. I felt that they were being a bit backwards with safety there. 

After our first ride we arrived back at the estancia to a huge feast. It was exceptional food, so many plates of delicious food that were meat free (for a cotton picking change in Argentina) and enough meat to more than please the carnivores. There was no stopping the delicious wine top ups either! Sam had to take to hiding his glass!! 

Somehow after all that food and drink we were into our chaps and atop our horses again ready for our second ride. This time, due to the boring and frankly dangerous way they hold your reigns, make you lean sideways and bark questions about your life at you as you're trying to stay upright, I was determined to gallop by myself. The chance came and I willed my horse to gallop, 'Ya! Ya!!' To my amazement he did! It was brilliant! I got to the other end and the Gauchos were not happy. Shaking their heads and fingers at me I feigned a 'what? It was the horse' but I gave it away as I couldn't stop smiling!! Unfortunately fate didn't like what I did either as shortly afterwards a Darth Vader like evil wasp came along and decided I was worth stinging seven times!! AND on the bum. They all swelled up and I started to feel quite weird by the time we got back. I was too full and absolutely knackered so after a lay down I just couldn't get up so I didn't. I slept through dinner which was a strange experience according to Sam. Enrique the main Gaucho lived up to all of the stereotypes as he guided everyone through a conversation that was so utterly caricatured it was text book. Meat, wine, women, the different words for vagina, 'saucy' joke after 'saucy' joke. All meanwhile not allowing anyone to say no to a wine top up so that everyone's glass remained full for the rest of the night. I sounded funny the morning after not having been through it myself but Sam said that everyone was mainly laughing in consternation! Funny. Todos is indeed possible con Enrique.

Iguazu Falls

We arrived in Puerto Iguazu, the most north easternly point where Argentina meets Brazil and Paraguay, after a very long and stuffy bus ride. We only had a couple of bus rides left and we had yet to find such a bus that fitted with the fabled ‘amazing’ standard of the Argentine buses that we had heard so much about before in Colombia. Even from inside the semi air conditioned bus we could tell that the outside temperature had risen quite considerably. Upon leaving the bus we were hit with a wall of heat so fierce it made me dizzy! We searched and found our hostel under the searing forty degrees heat and both had long cold showers.

After talking to a few people we decided that we would visit the Brazilian side of the falls first then the Argentinian side. From what we could gather the Brazilian side held more panoramic and overall views and the Argentine side allowed you to get closer to individual waterfalls and had more trails and land to explore. So after cooking ourselves a dinner we had an early night in an ice cold air conditioned room.

Unfortunately we were so comfortable in our cool and sleepy bed that we didn’t get the earliest start that we had planned but still after coffee and media lunas we were on our way to Brazil!

The journey took hardly any time at all and no fuss at immigration on either side. When we arrived at the visitor centre though our eyes started to take in the inordinate amount of tourists in several very large queues. It was a weekend and the Argentinian summer holidays. After asking around we began to realise that we might be sometime before we can actually buy a ticket. Then there was another queue for entering the park and another to get on the buses that take you to the start point of several trails and to the cataratas (waterfall) trail.

It was all very well organised and although we were there for quite some time it didn’t feel like it and before we knew it we were zooming down the lane to the start of the cataratas trail. On the tourist sheep bus we travelled through the jungle on a neat tarmacked road. It was odd. I did hear some sounds and definitely smelt some smells that I remembered from spending time in the jungle before. I tried to imagine the jungle before the tourist road was built.

Then we were walking along the wooden trail path and under the shade of some trees and through some vines I caught my first glimpse of Iguazu Falls. (1) It was literally breathtaking. I stopped and stared at it, not really able to believe that it was real because it looked so perfect. We walked on, eyes fixed on the falls as they came more and more into view. There were lots of other people all around us but they too seemed to be so transfixed that there was a kind of hush that descended on the moving masses of humans around me. Then we started taking photos and we didn’t stop the entire day!

As we progressed along the walkway we saw the falls from different angles. We saw the Argentinian falls come into view completed with a huge Argentinian flag (of course) at the precipice of Garganta del Diablo. (2) We were able to see great widths of the enchanted masses of water falling and falling. The huge falls were cut into in great swathes by rock formations and huge bushes. This led to breaks in the water falling and magnified the paradisiacal effect of the scene before my eyes.

Amongst the shady parts as we ambled, multi-coloured butterflies fluttered around, strangely shaped birds hopped and warbled and we had to watch our toes as the Coatis (cute racoon/anteater creatures) started to nibble at them. (3) The sky was a bright pale blue and the greenery around us seemed so lush and jungle like and so vividly green. At some points during the walk we would look up in the sky to see many, many huge birds soaring wings outstretched round and round above the waterfalls. Even with all the people around us, it wasn’t hard to close my eyes and imagine that I was on my own finding this place for the first time. It is a magical place.

Further along the walkway took us closer and closer to a huge part of the falls. A standing platform enabled us to watch the sheer power of the water rebounding back up onto the falls itself. And the noise – it was so immense! (4)  There were different height levels of these standing platforms which all afforded a unique and enthralling perspective on the mesmerising water. We kept having to shake our heads to confirm what we were looking at! (5)

My favourite part of the walkway on the Brazilian side was the long windy walkway that stretches out before the falls and out into the large flowing river and culminates in a view right over one small but really powerful waterfall. Again, despite the hundreds of people we had to squeeze passed, I found it so easy to gaze in a steady awe at the greys rock boulders with sprigs of lush bright green grass springing from them, which punctuated the azure and crystal water as it flowed away from the immense power of the falls that had put them in motion. All the while we were walking along this walkway we were being soaked with the fine mist spray that had been picked up by the wind. It was an unearthly experience.

The next day we ventured out very early to the Argentine side of the falls. We got a local bus and arrived very quickly. In keeping with our experience in the rest of Argentina the organisation was sporadic, mismatched and a little confusing but after we made the mistake of joining the legions of other tourists on the little green train we decided and were able to do our own thing and walk the rest of the trails.

It was a lot more peaceful this side, a lot less people enabled us to wander and meander a lot more, and continue to take a gazillion photos. A second day out in the strength of the sun felt very dangerous though and we were covering up as much as possible. I’m so very glad that the sun was out however as there were many different brightly coloured butterflies fluttering around and we saw huge lizards lumbering across the paths and tiny curious monkeys in the trees who had tails that curled into a spiral. The best thing that the sun did when combined with the spray from the falls was create huge rainbows, beautiful! (6)

The Argentine side allowed us to go very close to the tops and bottoms of different waterfalls. It was crazy the contrast between the peaceful sliding of the water as it flowed towards the fall and then the torrid loud movement as it tipped over the edge and crashed down to the rocks below. There were points on each walkway that allowed you to look down right over the falls as the water fell to the bottom. (7)

We decided to get the green tourist train to the crescendo of the Iguazu Falls, the Garganta del Diablo or Devil’s Throat. After walking along many walkways across large sections of river and through wooded parts, the walkway opened up to the most colossal sound and the most unbelievable sight. The falls stretched around the high up edge of the land as an unfathomable amount of water was falling over the edge in colossal swathes. It was all we could do to stand and watch the incredible spectacle before us. The sheer amount of water was almost too much to comprehend and the sound was enormous. There was a fair amount of spray continuously soaking us and rainbows everywhere!  (8)

The walkway  spread around the highest of the falls and enabled us to look straight down the colossal body of water as it fell. It was an incredible experience and one of the most beautiful things I’ve seen in my life.

(9)