Salar de Uyuni - Day 2

April 12

The days first visit was Laguna Colorada where 80,000 Flamingos are.  What an amazing site as the pink from the Flamingos makes the clouds have a pink color.  To hear them call and see them flying around was spectacular.

The takeoff...

The next place we stopped was Árbol de Piedra, which is huge boulders in the shape of trees.  It was fun climbing around on them.

Majestic Mts surrounding the Piedras

Lagunas Altiplánicas was a very reflective lake with a cold gray feel of the mountains surrounding it.  The area conveyed a feeling of cold and yet stunning beauty.

On the drive to Salar de Chiguana, which is a smaller salt flat than the Salar de Uyuni.  We stopped by some other rock formations where I saw 2 interesting things.  A green mossy looking flora that grows on the rocks and my first sighting of a Chinchilla in the wild.  We also stopped by a Quinoa field as Bolivia is a huge exporter of this grain.  Towards dusk we arrived at Salar de Chiguana.  The 2nd half of the crossing there was a bit of water, and we almost got bogged down in the mud in one place.  It was an exciting crossing for that fact alone. haha!

Salar de Chiguana

Late in the evening we arrived at Hotel de Sal.  Its a hotel that is made of salt.  It was very neat as they had salt pillars holding up the beams in the main room, salt seats for the table, and salt bed that the mattress rested on.  It made me think of the experience one can have in Iceland staying in an Ice Hotel.  I was glad that it wasn't cold, and that we were at a much lower altitude. (9800 feet)