Great breakfast (I think it’s so civilized when they’re included in the hotel stay), then packed up, filled up with gas and headed south to the Laguna Altiplana (high altitude lagoons). It was about an hour and a half, but an hour in, we passed:
Made it down to the lakes, Mineques and Miscanti, which were formed when lava blocked water running down the mountains. Or some such thing. Very beautiful, though:
With salt all around the edges, and some black ducks and guanaco (local, wild llamas) on the opposite shore. It’s hard to imagine just how beautiful the skylines are. The Andes mountains, formed when the Nazca tectonic plate met the South American plate, run the length of the eastern skyline, with one volcano after another. In fact, Chile is part of the most active area of volcanoes, known as the “Ring of Fire”, with 150 active volcanoes, that’s 10% of the total! The last time any one in this area let loose was in 1993, so we’re safe for a bit. The varying landscape of salt flats, sand, hollowed out rock, red patches of iron-laden mountainsides is just gorgeous. However, it’s so dusty that it’s hard to really capture in a photo. Perhaps I’ll find some to add later.
Anyway, on the drive back, we stopped at Laguna Chaxa and the National Flamenco Reserve, right in the middle of the Atacama Solar, a salt flat that’s 100 by 80 kilometers. Got a few pics of the birds (Andes faint in the background):
And the craggy salt:
the walkway was completely crusted with the stuff, and it was everywhere, looking like snow. The lagoon hosted brine shrimp, which the flamingoes and other birds love to eat. Did you know that brine shrimp eggs can be protected in a case and survive for up to ten years if environmental conditions are intolerable? Pretty amazing stuff for a nerd like me to learn.
Getting late, so after more shutters flying, we’re back in the car and into town. Tried to refill tank for 4 am trip tomorrow, but Lance had to return an hour and a half later because they were filling up the pumps. After that, we had a lovely dinner at the Blanco, with a killer playlist that caused me to hop up more than once to ask who was playing. Off to bed for an early departure to the geyser del Tatio, way up high.
** who gets the title reference within the blog? Hmmmmm?