Salar de Uyuni - Bolivia

We have travelled to some beautiful, unique and challenging landscapes but none quite so as intense as Salar de Uyuni.

The only thing confirming we were not on the moon was the gravity factor and the fact we could breath as the landscape indicated otherwise. Geysers bubbling, volcanoes smoking in the distance, lakes of odd colours including red, green and turquoise, weird shaped rocks, deserts of nothing but stones for miles and not a tree in sight. Ending the day we stopped at a hotel totally made of salt.

Although the landscape was harsh many of the lakes teemed with flamingos. 3 different species these ladies of the desert so elegant and pink.

The highlight of the 4 days was the salt flats themselves. We rose at 4am to make it to the middle of the salt lake for ´salida del sol´ (sun rise). Driving there our guide turned off all the car lights while still travelling at 110km per hour. He could do this as the terrain was so flat. Once again it felt like we were not on earth as the only sign of movement was the groan of the Toyota engine.

The sunrise was magical with every shade of purple and pink in the sky. However, the most amazing aspect of this place is there is nothing but flatness until the horizon thus meaning nothing to get a perspective of how big things are or how far they are away. We set up some loco photos, see below. This effect is not limited to stills as while eating brekky we saw another car driving in the distance and we could have sworn it was a small toy replica. At the end of the day we stopped at a hotel made totally of salt. The sea of salt is one special place!

Tupiza - Bolivia

Rollin´, rollin´rollin´, man my arse is swollen!

The town of Tupiza was like being transported to cowboy and western film set. Indeed this place is were Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid were put to rest in a bloody gun fight (they are like the Ned Kelly of North and South America).

To get in the mood of this place Katie and myself went on a 7 hour horse ride through cactus dominated, dry red escarpment, dusty hot landscape. Don´t worry about little horse riding experience folks, she´ll be right, this is Bolivia and anything goes. So with no helmets we were off galloping in no time. My horse happened to be of Argentinian descent (that means he was big) and Tupiza´s top race horse for the past 6 years. As soon as we started galloping he was in race mode and off like a frog in a sock. I had to use a lot of strength to slow him up by pulling on the reins. He was the boss man in the pack taking the lead at ever opportunity and closely followed by Katie´s brown nosing horse whose face was within centimetres of my horse´s bum for most of the day. It was a fitting way to see the new country, riding through rivers and along the railway line. yeeeee haaaaaa

Potosi - Bolivia

Potosi is the highest city in the world at 4070 metres. Although it was once Latin America´s largest and wealthiest city it does have a haunted past!

They enter the opening knowing that over the past 300 years this location has claimed over 8 million lives. For the Indigenous People it is the home of the devil. Each year several llamas are sacrificed, their throats cut so that their blood will cover the soil. In return it is hoped that the devil will not harm more people. This is followed by daily offering of cigarettes, money and coca leaves. The offerings are obviously well received as the statue representing the lands owner has a large erection and cheeky smile. You could be mistaken to thinking this is the gate way to hell!

Armed with nothing more than a pick, shovel and coca leaves the men must hack away at the soil in temperatures of 30 plus degrees hoping they will struck it lucky and find silver.

This trip into Potosi Silver Mine was a real eye opener and even with all the protective equipment including face mask it was still difficult to breath due to the toxic fumes. These miners work long hours to produce more than 10 tonnes of material for which they are payed a dismal $A8.5. Even so the workers are in good spirits and happy for us to be there. An interesting place to visit a horrible place to make a living.

AMAZON - Jungle

In the jungle, the mighty jungle the juguar sleeps tonight!

Getting there was an adventure in itself as the Bolivian road network is a little behind our standards. It takes 20 hours to travel 300 k´s and they claim to have the worlds most dangerous road- a one-lane dirt road for two-way traffic beside a cliff edge. We decided the best way to tackle this road was to ride a mountain bike down it. 5 hours down hill through rain, mud and fog and dodging trucks and buses whilst trying to control our speed. It was awesome! Followed by an even hairier 16 hour bus ride we arrived in our jungle wonderland- Rurrenabaque.

There are two aspects to the Bolivian Amazon- the pampa and the jungle. The jungle was as lush, green and grand as we had imagined. We got bitten by mozzies, sandflys, ticks and ants, bathed in the Amazon rivers, swung on vines, ate grubs fresh from the plants and even got painted up in some traditional tatoos.

Joel entranced after being painted up with the power of the jaguar

AMAZON - Jungle

Our guide was amazing. Only 25 years himself- Jhazmany- meaning light of the Jaguar, was a true man of the jungle. The machetti wielding, coca chewing, gumboot wearing power pack was taught his Tacana culture from his dad. He made ants bite us, then used the plant remedy to take away the sting, taught us how to make rope from the bark of trees, would take us fishing with his bow and arrow (which he whipped up from the jungle in a couple of hours) weave us drink bottle holders from palm leaves and showed us what plants will cure you, feed you, kill you and make you fall in love.

He also fished a particularly spider out of its home, told us 3 bites will kill a human and then put it on our faces. A quick cure for aracnophobia- this thing had claws too. It was unbelievable.

We were also weary of the elusive pumas and jaguars, and while we didn´t see any, we did stumble across a fretting chancho- like a wild pig, that had just been attacked by a jaguar, but our prescence had scared it off. Jhazmany knew this by the 2 massive teeth gauges in the pigs rear legs, a good 20cm apart.

Our jungle adventure took place in the Madidi National Park, only 10 years old it is a proactive step to conserve teh Bolivian rainforest. We also felt that it was much needed as it was sad to see as we flew out of Rurrenabaque (we chose not to go the hellish road again) the extensive land clearing. Progress, progress, progress...

AMAZON - Pampa

If you pee in the water little fish will swim up you urethra and lodge themselves, pirhanas are waiting to feed on you, there are many crocs but we still went swimming just to be with the pnk river dolphins, poco loco !

Crusing on a Pampa river to our sunset location.

AMAZON - Pampa

The Pampa was surprisingly reminiscent of the wetlands of Kakadu, as crocodiles line the shores and similar bird species fly around. The major differences however on these flat river systems are the pink dolphins, monkeys and capibaras- massive guineapigs. Oh, and the pirhanas. We were a little apprehensive to go swimming with the dolphins after we´d seen all the croc´s and were told stories of pirhanas eating off toes, but we survived unscathed. We also went fishing for pirhanas and Joel tested their bite on his arm after much pressure from the rest of us on the boat. To say he flinched would be an understatment- he´s still sporting the scab.

The Pampa was good for wildlife, but the evidence of human impact was blinding as everything beyond the rivers edge was on fire with the land being cleared for farming.

Bolivia - Laguna Glacier - 3 Day Trek

A three day walk from Sorrata took us on a wild adventure with snow, hail, a little getting lost but we made it to the final destination of Laguna Glacier at 5200m to some amazing views.

Lake Titicaca