Uyuni Salt Flats

ASOMBROSO ...
I returned to La Paz at 7am this morning from a 3-day long adventrure in the Southern Altiplano region of Bolivia.  Our entire CFHI group of 14 went and it was a blast.  Driving around in our 4x4 SUVs, we endured below freezing nights in our hostels, jaw-dropping views, catered meals, and the priceless company of our group.  The pictures do not do the area justice, but it's the best I have to share with everyone.  Enjoy!

DAY 1 - Starting in Uyuni around 7:30am (after a BUMPY 10.5 hour bus ride from La Paz), we ate breakfast at Vicuña Restaurant (Swedish owned restaurant) and jumped in our 4x4s to start our Uyuni - Southern Altiplano adventure.

Local Uyuni welcoming me to the area.

1st stop - train cemetery!!  Swing made from the remains of a train...very cool!

Our 4x4 for the next 3 days.

Chick pic on the Uyuni Salt Flats (from the left - Ines, Jodi, Becky, Sarah, Linh, Me, Sherene, Carolyn, Sneha, and Shira).

4x4 on the salt flats...the salt just goes on for kilometers!

Saltamos on the salt flats...haha (from left - Me, Spenser, Ines, and Sherene).

Fish Island (Incahuasi) - Cactus island in the middle of the salt flats.

View from the top of Fish Island (Incahuasi).

Love this pic! So much salt!

On the way to our Salt Hostel, we kind of got stuck in the mud...luckily we were walking distance of the Hostel, but what an adventure!

Day 2 - Waking up nice and early at 7:30am, we had breakfast at the Salt Hostel and headed out to the Red Lagoon with many stops on the way, including volcanoes, mountains, and other lagoons.

We all had to get out of the car for the car to cross the tracks (too much weight).  The view behind us is actually the Chilean border!  (from the bottom - Me, Ines, Sarah, Sherene and Jodi).

Sitting on some volcanic lava remains.

Lagoon Cañapa.  The white stuff is Borax (some chemical compound).

Still at Lagoon Cañapa, but a 45 degree view to the left from the one above.

Lunch at Lagoon Cañapa - our drivers/guides cleaning up after us.

Lagoon Hedionda - those are flamingoes in the background!

Flamingoes at Lagoon Hedionda where they are surviving at freezing temps and 4000m high!!

Montaña Coloradoes - so pretty!

El desierto de Siloli - Arbol de Piedras (Tree Stone).

the Red Lagoon

Day 3 - Woke up even extra early today to get out the door by 5:30am.  We saw some geysers (no pics on the iPhone, sorry) and then headed for the hot springs where we had our breakfast while watching the sunrise.  We didn't make it to the Green Lagoon because it is frozen over, but passed some Quinoa plantations on our way back to Uyuni.

Our amazing guide and driver - Paulino :-)

The hot springs - didn't have the courage to go in because the outside temp was freezing.

Still at the hot springs.

Saw some llamas after lunch.

Valle de Piedras - thought this one looked like two dragons going at each other.

I'll call this one "curious baby llama" - just came up to us as we were eating some peanuts at a rest stop.

What a great trip!  Definitely recommend for anyone who makes it down to Bolivia...but also glad to be back in La Paz - first thing I did - HOT SHOWER :-)