Dizzy Izzy & Ernst

Dizzy Izzy & Ernst
Dizzy Izzy & Ernstl

Wednesday 30 April 2014

La Paz ...

... to be seen to be believed ...

... the out-of-this-world Moon Valley ...





... view of the city from the Killi Killi mirador ...


... the witches market ...



... the contrast between rich and poor, old and new has rarely been so strident ... but the energy in the city is palpable, although slightly overwhelming ... and there are lots of vegetarian/vegan restaurants with excellent food! :)

Final day in the Salar de Uyuni ...

... early start (5:30 am) to catch sunrise ...



... then Cactus Valley ...



(where Ernst used a spike as tooth-pick ...)

... and finally the blinding white of the salt flats ... that lent themselves to many photo opportunities, especially the very silly ones ...



... the classical jump ...


... some yoga ...


... lost in the desert ...

... Ernst wanting the final proof it was salt, no fake ...


... sitting on a salt chair in the middle of nowhere ...
 

... it could have been a perfect day without the Uyuni strike that made our life a misery for 24 hours ... but that's another story ...

Salar de Uyuni - 2nd day ...

... the impressive Siloli desert ...





... more altiplanic lagoons ... and more flamingos!!





... Chiguna salt flat and Ollague volcano ...





... and finally, a little taste of far west close to San Juan del Rosario ... silliness overload ...

Salar de Uyuni - 1st day ...

... Laguna blanca, laguna verde, laguna colorada ...



 


... more geysers, this time at about 5000m above sea level ... and stinky!


 
... more vicunas and loads of flamingos ...
 


(by the way - doesn't Ernst look smashing in a poncho? ...)


... we managed to capture a small sand & lake tornado (?!?) ...

 
... the landscape was ever changing, but the colours were always incredible ...
 


... relaxing in a natural thermal bath (the hot-springs of Los Polques) ...

 
 
... and finally - Refugio San Bernardo, where we spent our first night (at about 4300m asl) ...
 
                                     

Friday 25 April 2014

Last day in San Pedro de Atacama - El Tatio geysers ...

... and much, much more!!

At 4320 m above see level, they are apparently the highest geysers in the world ... and of course, at 6 am, when we arrived at Tatio, it was freezing cold (about minus 10) ...







(by the way - the bus looked a bit like a decommissioned Russian tank, but it did what it had to do ...)


... after the geysers, we moved on to the unfortunately named Rio Putana, a paradise for several birds ..




... and then on to the tiny village of Machuca, where Ernst made a new friend ...



... lots of wild vicunas where pasturing just outside the village ... so cute!


... finally, the giant cacti close to the still unfortunately named volcano Putana ...


... and a new Jedi master was born!