Flamingos in the Desert

Time flies when you´re having fun or you don´t have internet access. I didn´t realize how long its been since I´ve updated and so much as happened in between. First of all, Sarah, Amanda´s friend from home, arrived without a hitch in Santiago a day before the volcano ash covered Europe. We spent the day with her in Santiago, perhaps enjoying a few too many pisco sours and a couple bottles of wine, but what better way to welcome her to South America. Alcohol and getting on a 23 hour bus ride to the north of Chile. YES, please!

So we took the bus to San Pedro way at the top of Chile near the Bolivian border. Thankfully, I only had to endure 7 hours of it sitting next to a woman soring in my face. I did nudge her but she went right back at it. We arrived in San Pedro with one intention, to book a tour across the Uyuni Salt Flats in Bolivia and that´s exactly what we did when we got there. We had heard some not so great things about the tour operators, that they drive drunk and recklessly, but we had a very good recommendation for a Canadian in Santiago and it turned out great. San Pedro did have a ton of really cool things to see around the area like geysers and salt lakes, but we were on a time crunch trying to make it to Cusco for the Inca Trail.

The next morning we started our jeep adventure into Bolivia. The jeeps have a guide/driver and then 6 or 7 people in the jeep with all of our luggage strapped to the roof of the jeep. We had to wait a while to get stamped out of Chile, but crossing into Bolivia was rather easy. As an American citizen I do require a visa for Bolivia, but the driver of the jeep was allowed to hold my passport until we got to Uyuni and I could go to immigration there.

We crossed the Dali Rock Desert visiting first the White Lagoon and then the Green Lagoon, both very beautiful. The next stop was a thermal bath. Luckily I had worn my swimsuit under my clothes to enjoy the hot water, unlucky that I did not pack clothes to change into in my day bag and a had to sit in my wet suit in the freezing temperatures. We then went to some geysers and saw the mud bubbling and smoking. Finally we did arrive at our hostel for the night and I was able to change into some dry clothes. The hostel wasn´t really even a hostel since it didn´t have any heat or electricity! Doubled up on the blankets that night and even wore my hat to bed, since like a good Wisconsite I know that heat escapes through the top of your head.

The highlight of the first day was after lunch when we visited the red lagoon and there were LLAMAS and FLAMINGOS! What are flamingos doing in the Bolivian desert? I have no idea since my spanish is still subpar, but there are three kinds that live there.

The second day was continuing through the Dali Rock Desert visiting the stone tree and four more lagoons. More flamingos, more llamas, a fox and a really cute rabbit. We stopped to see a volcano that was smoking but it was difficult to see since it was cloudy out. It was a long day driving and it was really cold. I´m really glad that I had my winter jacket, hat and mittens. Just at sunset we arrived at the salt hostel where everything was made of salt. The beds, the walls, the tables and chairs. Really cool, and there was hot showers!


Couldn´t wait for the next day on the salt flats!! We woke up really early before the sunrise to see it come up over the salt. It wasn´t the best sunrise I´ve ever seen since it was still a little overcast, but it was still a great experience. The salt flats are a salt desert that covers like 12,000 kilometers. Not sure what that is in miles, but its freakin´ huge. We spent a lot of time taking pictures of the sun and using the vastness of the salt to take a lot of really fun photos using perspective angles. We then went to an island in the salt flat that was covering in cacti and did a little bit of hiking around the island. The sun finally did come out for good and we stopped to take some more pictures. The best part of the day was when our driver stopped in the middle of the salt flat and we ate a picnic lunch there just enjoying the scenery and the surrealness of it all. We were the only jeep that stopped to eat there so I felt pretty lucky.

The trip ended in Uyuni and I was all set to head over to immigration to get my visa so we could take the night bus to La Paz. However, that´s when our plan blew up in our face when we found out it was Sunday and immigration was closed. Ugh, that was the wrost thing that could have happened since the last thing we wanted to do was spend the night in Uyuni, especially not after someone threw a rock at Amanda. But the fates were on our side and immigration opened especially for me to get my visa and we were able to take the night train to La Paz.

La Paz is a crazy busy city. We were told many times to hold on to our bags and watch our belongings. Even just walking from the bus station to the hostel, my bag was sprayed with mustard as a distraction for me to set my stuff down to clean it off and then whoever steals my stuff. HA HA, I have read my lonely planet and I knew the trick and I just kept walking. We spent the 2 days in La Paz shopping in the Witches Market buying as many souvenirs with llamas on them that would fit into our bags. The hostel we stayed at was really cool as well and had a microbrewery in it. At night there was also a poker tournament and of course having never played poker in my life, I joined the tournament. And won. on a pair of 2´s. Free pitcher of beer!


Next stop was Copacabana on Lake Titicaca. This is the most massive lake I have ever seen. We even had to take a ferry across it to get to Copacabana because it is just too big to go around. We had absolutely the best hostel ever in Copacabana too! It wasn´t even a hostel really, it was like a cabin in the hills overlooking the lake. It had hammocks for us to relax on and 3 beds with the best shower ever and all ours! We spend the day enjoying the view and had the best dinner that night of some stuffed trout.

The next day we went out to the Island of the Sun in the middle of the lake that is very important in Incan history. However, there was a hike to the ruins on the island and we were the only ones that didn´t wear proper foot attire. Not to be deterred, we did the hike anyways and it was really great to see some of the culture and history of the islands.

We took a bus the next day to Puno in Peru to see Lake Titicaca from the other side. Puno is a lot bigger than Copacabana and it is a city that has to grow on you. Also, we went from the best hostel to possibly the worst one yet. It was just one night but I´m pretty sure we were the only ones there. We did end up enjoying Puno and took a half day trip to the floating islands. There is a large group of people that made these islands with the reeds from the lake and actually live there. It was really cool to visit and one of families even dressed Sarah and I up in the traditional clothing. It was really a great trip and a very interesting lifestyle.

Yesterday afternoon we left Puno for Cusco on what was meant to be a 6 hour bus ride. 8 hours later we arrived in Cusco at midnight. The bus ride was terrible, probably as bad as the 25 hour one with the kid throwing up next to me. At one point this man got on and was shouting about something for an hour and a half. It took us 45 minutes to realize that he was selling cream to whiten your skin and toothbrushes.

Today was a planning and relaxing day. We had to get all of our money in soles to pay for the rest of the Inca Trail and mentally perpare ourselves for 4 days of hiking. I can´t believe its actually time for the trek either because that means my trip is nearly half way over!