Got back late yesterday from our three days out of range in southern Bolivia. 🇧🇴. It’s another 5am start as we have a travel day and head to northern Argentina. I can’t sleep so I’ll write instead.

In still trying to process everything that we’ve seen , the spectacle of it all, so many highlights, so many wonderful moments, truely been a highlight of this leg of our adventures.

As is always the case an early start and we were off in our 4WD. It’s kinda cozy the 6 of us plus the driver, but from the outset we regularly rotate. The back seats being a particular squeeze!

By this stage we are still on dirt or gravel roads , that will change to something that doesn’t even resemble roads , but for now our very skilled driver keeps us on track, but it’s bumpy and we are in close proximity! Unfortunately our guide Tina is in another car, so we only get to see her on breaks. We are kind of going into this blind, never really sure what’s next, how long to the next stop but we just ride with it.

After what seems like an hour and a half or so we stop for a photo op and leg stretch and it becomes the first of many just wow moments in that you find yourself a tiny speck in this magnificent and huge landscape. We are told that what we are looking at is both Chile and Bolivia. And that we are only 5kms from the border ( you know I love a border!), and after taking a few pics we head that way. Kinda joking that it would be fun to quickly crossover. Well, before we know it we are at the border and we are crossing into a demilitarised zone. Our driver doesn’t speak English and for all intents and purposes it looks like we are going to cross. We head straight to the border arm and then take a sharp left and just like that, it’s Chile on our right and Bolivia on our left. And off we go. Driver is completely unperturbed, bd clearly this is a normal route , but we had no idea what was happening! 😂

We were at the Tofagasta crossing ascending back into the mountains! Turns out that a lot of the next few days will be on the border between Chile and Bolivia. Bit of history there I’ll dive into in my next post ! But fair to say for now Bolivia not happy with the outcome ! Even though it’s been over a 100 years.

Next stop was a volcanic lookout. Everyone was quite excited because Mt Ollague was active and smoking. Let’s be clear this was no White Island scenario! There was the odd whisp of steam coming from a vent , which was great. But t in be honest we were both getting used to the thin air over the 4000m mark.

With that done it was back in the 4WD off to see some high altitude lagoons , where , we were told if we we were lucky we would see Flamingo”s. Turns out we were going to be very very lucky.

We were heading to a series of lagoons , each different and with its own characteristics, almost all of them with Flamingos along with other wildlife. This is high/back country. It’s only accessible by 4wd there are no shops, or anywhere to eat, no running water and apart from solar and generators no electricity…getting there is no day trip so what they’ve done is set up a few spots where tourist operators çan bring their guests, but you bring the food with you and they “venue” is essentially a picnic spot. No waste , what you bring with you you consume or take back with you. The venue provides tables chairs cutlery, and I expect some hearing facilities! All very civilised .

Anyway back to the Flamingos 🦩 they were spectacular. They did their thing and you could from the shore watch them, they seemed unbothered by our presence and our gasps of delight!

So up and up we went and by now the roads, if you could call them that are pretty dodgy we are essentially fully off road now, driving up the moraine of old glaciers , pebbles , rocks that seem at times to be a kilometre wide. The sheer scale of this is impossible to capture with a phone camera. It was stunning, at one point a member of the group said she was running out of adjectives, we all agreed and simply reverted to simple wows. Totally inadequate as those expressions were

And so back in we pile after volcanos , lagoons , flamingos and spectacular scenery what else could possibly be next. Well, how about this for cute?

Not sure how this came about but on this outcrop of rocks in the middle of nowhere, an extremely arid environment is a colony of Chinchillas, they’ve clearly become used to visitors and expected to be fed , cute! I swear that the one above eating bananas was almost tripping with delight. ( turns out I was not too far wrong as the sugar gives them a high and is not good for them). Normally they eat bark, grasses and cacti. But in the meantime feast your eyes on these little cuties.

By now are cup runneth over but apparently the day is not yet over so onwards we drive !

We eventually make it to the gate of Sernap national park. Tina arranges our entry for our final lagoon viewing for the day. And it’s a doozie. The pink lagoon ! Yup. Pink. As a result of the thermal springs in the Lagoon you get a lot of pink/red algae which the Flamingos feast on! We stopped and just watched them for half an hour it was stunning.

We then made it to our accommodation for the night, quite basic , only ran on solar and generators , first time I’ve been somewhere where a shower was an additional cost, but to be honest it was a bed and that’s all we needed. We had a birthday to celebrate and it was a 4:30sm start the next day so we were in bed by 8:30 grateful that the two “old” dudes had yet again been given their own room. What an extraordinary day. And there is still more to come.

So back up at 4am at over 4500m it’s -5 degrees as we pile into our vehicle. Been vague promises of perhaps an opportunity to get into a hot spring so togs are on under the hats and scarves ( really do we want to swim?). No point grumbling get on with it , even if packing with a bloody head torch is a pain and you’re sure you only just went to sleep.

And then we climb, up and up I realise when I see David’s hands are beginning to tingle , that’s one of his altitude symptoms. I check the compass app ( offline function) and sure enough we are at 4800m , we just about hit 5000m ( remember Everest base camp is 5200m so this is high) and I realise we are on the lip of a volcanic crater… in we plunge. I had no idea that this was going to happen. And next I knew we were next to what was being called a geyser ( but was actually a steam vent ) that was in full blast. Out we pile, no guard rails , no warning signs just it would seem get in amongst it. We then had a look at a few other active spots that were bubbling away in the cauldron. Of course for David and I the tragedy of whaakari/ White Island was not far from our minds. Clearly was not on anyone else’s as others peered over the edges. Way too close for my liking, but that’s a “they” problem !

Fair to say as well at that altitude the thin air, the fatigue we were feeling the effects, so we were pleased when we started to descend!

So by now the sun is rising and we are racing down the side of a volcano with no discernible roads, towards our next destination the hot springs. We see another lagoon this time with thermal springs and a group of Flamingos literally taking a spa. Without hesitation its gear off and in we get. Didn’t even feel the sub zero temps. It was a huge amount of fun.

Next stop and again another vista. This time just ten minutes up the road. To a spot where the apparently Dali had been inspired. While I can absolutely see the parallels, turns out Dali never came to Bolivia. So looks like some poetic license on this. Regardless, stunning.

We then started the long drive back to Uyuni. Via the valley of the rocks. Hard again to see the scale of these and I’d be fascinated to know the geology. But to be honest, beginning by this stage to get a bit tired, keen for a shower, a comfy seat and a bit of down time. While the rest of the crew were heading back to the salt flats for more reflective pics, as we were going past the hotel David and I bailed went back to the hotel, had a shower washed some clothes and repacked our bags. Another 4:30am start and off to 🇦🇷. Thanks Bolivia you’ve been great.