Salar de Uyuni and Southwest Bolivia

Upon arriving in Uyuni (an hour and a half earlier than expected! what a treat!), we were able to meet up with friends Mike and Penny, and book a three-day tour of the Salar de Uyuni with them! Nine people (the seven of us, plus a driver and a ´cook´) crammed into a jeep for three days, and it was actually more comfortable than it sounds!

The salar tour was absolutely amazing, i have never seen such a variance in landscape in such a short amount of time, where the landscapes have only one thing in common -- a seemingly otherworldly quality. As Phil said, it was a bit like something you would expect to see on the moon!

We first drove across the salt plains, which used to be a saline lake during prehistoric times. We drove to the Isla de Pescado (doesnt look anything like a fish, despite its name...), which was rocky and covered in huge cacti.



We then continued out of the salt plains and into the mountains. The entire trip was above 4000m, which likely contributed to the barren appearance of the landscape. We saw lots of Vicuñas (the ´wild, delicate´ cousin of the llama and alpaca) and lots of odd rock formations from wind.



We then visited a museum and archaeological site with some mummies buried in rock caverns, from about 1200AD. crazy! the climate has preserved some of them incredibly well.

The next day was laguna colorado (red lake) and... something else I cant remember. (sorry!) Oh flamingos! yes, flamingos. We saw lots of really cool flamingos.

Our final day was an early start, to see some active geysers and then to Laguna Verde, right on the Bolivia-Chile border. The mountains all throughout the region are gorgeous, with multicolored rock and often some snow (!).