On this page: Day 1, Cochabamba to the Salar de Uyuni Day 2, The Salar and the Southern Mountains Day 3, Southern Volcanos and Lagunas Day 4, Fumaroles, Flooding and Return to Uyuni Day 5, Oruru to Cochabamba

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We set off from Cochabamba by 5am, and spent the next 3 hours on the paved road to Oruru, a former mining city located on the northern edge of the altiplano - the high Bolivian plains at 12,600' elevation.  We stopped in the Oruru market for breakfast and Api, a thick corn-based drink served warm (see image on right).  It was perfect for the morning.

From Oruru we continued south on the paved road - which turned to dirt after approximately an hour.  The dirt road was fairly well maintained, and we were still able to go 45 mph on the washboard surface.  But after another hour the road turned into a back-breaking 4WD jeep track, that would last for the next six hours to the Salar de Uyuni.  The landscape resembled southern Utah - with small canyons, buttes, and sandy plains.  We briefly stopped for lunch along the road, and enjoyed the view of the high desert - the elevation never dropped below 12,000 feet.

As nightfall approached we reached the eastern edge of the Salar de Uyuni - a giant salt plain just north of the city of Uyuni - the last city for at least 500 miles.  We planned to stay in the infamous "Hotel del Sal" - a hostel constructed completed of salt, situated about an hour's drive into the middle of the Salar.  We were required to go into Uyuni to find gas, and the sun was close to the horizon by the time we had finished fueling and returned back to the edge of the Salar.  We were afraid of getting lost on the Salar in the darkness, and contemplated staying in Uyuni.  We decided that it was safe to follow a set of jeep tracks into the Salar, and assumed that the tracks would lead us to the hostel.  We were fortunately correct - 45 minutes later we arrived at the Hotel del Sal, and checked into a room completely made of salt - beds, tables, chairs, everything.  See the image of the hostel exterior on the left.  We admired the final sunset over the salt horizon, ate dinner in the salt dining area, and went to bed early.

We left the volcano late in the morning, and headed southwest towards the Isla del Pescadores -  a rock outcropping in the middle of the salt plain.  We could again see nothing but white on the horizon, and drove only according to the compass.  The salt plains consisted of hexagonal segments, each about one meter wide.  Eofronio had never driven a vehicle as such high speed for so long of a time, and was very pleased with the plains.  We eventually spotted a set of islands, and arrived an hour later.  We found that several other adventure travel groups had already arrived from Uyuni.  We toured the small island for an hour, admired the cacti and other desert wildlife, and then ate lunch overlooking the salt horizon.

We left the island and headed south to the edge of the Salar.  We found a rough 4WD dirt track at the southern edge, and followed it through several villages and strange military checkpoints in the southern mountains.  The area was deserted of all people and greenery - not a tree or bush in sight.  In late afternoon we arrived in San Juan, a small village in a dusty valley between mountains.  After checking into a small hostel and the cleaning the salt from the undercarriage of the jeep, the winds picked up and covered the town in a violent dust storm.  We sought shelter in the hostel until the storm had passed.  As the dust cleared we saw a herd of llamas walking through the main town street....just passing through.  We cooked dinner in the small common room of the hostel, and went to bed after sunset.  Other images from the second day:
 

That tastes salty!

Full Court at the Base of the Volcano

We continued through the valleys, and passed several other similar lakes.  After 5 hours we reached Laguna Colorada - a large valley lake, colored red, green, and other brilliant colors, and filled with 1000's of flamingos at an altitude of 14032 feet.  We found a room in a bunkhouse used by workers from a nearby geothermal electricity plant - the only shelter within 100 miles.  The bunkhouse was empty when we arrived.  We spent the remainder of the day walking around the lake and admiring the wildlife and view of the nearby volcanos.  As dusk approached several other groups arrived.  We spent the evening (New Year's Eve) eating and drinking with the other adventure travelers, and trading stories of strange trip and bizarre places. The alcohol was very effective at such high altitude.   After a brief New Year's celebration and Champagne toast (we had carried the bottle from Cochabamba), we went to bed.

Crossing the Desert Valleys	Laguna Colorada
Flamingos on Laguna Colorada	New Year's in the Geothermal Bunkhouse

The skies darkened after another hour, and the rain started.  December is the start of the rainy season in Bolivia, and we had avoided any rain thusfar.  What were once dry creek beds now filled up with rapid flowing water (and mud), and blocked our return path.  Eofronio was confident that we could successfully cross the first 3 foot deep river, and he was correct.  We met and crossed another half-dozen rivers, and in many cases the water reached the height of the window (if the window was not closed, the river would have flowed right into the jeep).  The rain finally slowed, which brightened out spirits.  We spent an hour waiting for (what we thought was) the last river to decrease, and then we crossed successfully.  We were only an hour or so from Uyuni, and we thought that we would arrive just before dinner.

With the lights of Uyuni twinkling only 15 miles away, we reached a huge river (100 feet across), that was over 5 feet deep and flowing fast.  About five local adventure guides and a supply truck had parked on the side of the river, and were waiting for the level to drop.  They waved us to the front, and encouraged us to give it a try.  Our confidence was high from our previous successes, so we unfortunately agreed.  After proceeding only 20 feet into the river, with the mud flowing over the hood and against the window, we stalled....Eofronio frantically shouted to a local truck driver to throw a cable and tow us back, while the jeep filled up with water.  It was quite an interesting moment.  Within 30 seconds we had attached a cable from the supply truck to the jeep, and were towed back to the shore.  But, we had filled the jeep with water, and the engine would not start.

We spent the next three hours waiting with the other locals and trying to fix/start the jeep.  The river finally decreased a bit, and the truck driver decided to cross - he was successful.  His success gave confidence to remainder of the group, and several other adventure guides driving high clearance SUVs crossed successfully.  We tried again with jeep, and again stalled upon entering the river - we had much lower clearance than the other SUVs and our air intake was too low on the engine.  By now it was dark, and we were faced with the prospect of spending a night on the river's edge.  Cecilia had promised to call her mother that night from Uyuni, to check up on the failing health of her grandmother (who died only two days later).  We were in a bind.

Eofronio decided that we should cross the rover with one of the remaining SUVs, and leave the supplies with him to spend the night (if necessary).  He was confident that he would be able to cross within another hour or so.  We reluctantly agreed, and hitched a ride across with one of the last SUVs - the vehicle barely made it across, and was filled with water (knee level, over the seats) by the time we finished crossing.  Our driver's friend followed in another SUV, and did not have the same luck - he stalled in the middle of the river, and was too far to reach with a winch.  He was left standing on his hood (open) trying to restart the engine in the middle of the river.  Our driver decided to race into town, intent on returning to the river with a long rope to tow his friend.  But, after proceeding only one mile towards Uyuni we ran out of gas, and were left stranded on the side of the road.  Amazingly, the other driver had managed to restart his SUV in the middle of the river (how I don't know), and he caught us within 10 minutes.  He gave us a gallon of gas, and together we drive into town.

We found a local hostel, called Cecilia's mother, and waited for Eofronio to arrive.  He did not arrive that night, and we went to sleep wondering how he was doing on the river's edge.  We woke up early, and hired a local taxi to take us back to the river's edge. The taxi started down the dirt road, and after two miles his wheel fell off (he only had two loose nuts). He reattached the wheel, and wanted to continue, but we refused and made him return to town.  We waited for an hour on the roadside, and finally hitched a ride on a local truck that was traveling towards the river.  We arrived at the river by noon, and found Eofronio on our side!  He had just managed to cross the river by driving the jeep in reverse, which had prevented the air intake from flooding during the initial drop into the river.  We drove back into Uyuni and bought him a shower and warn breakfast (which he needed), and started the long drive back to Oruru.

We decided to take a different route back to Oruru, to avoid the 6 hour back-breaking dirt road.  The new route crossed the Salar back to the town of Jiriri, headed around the flanks of the Tanupa Volcano, then proceeded northeast across the northern plains.  As we crossed the Salar another storm approached, and we were very concerned that we would be hit by lightening.  The adventure just would not end!  We reached the volcano's edge as the storm hit, and waited for it to pass in the small town.  As we circled the volcano we continued to have car trouble, and we stopped several time to clean spark plugs, flush the air filter, etc..  The route was indeed smoother, but with all of our repair stops, it still took us 6 hours to reach Oruru.  We reached the town after dark, and checked into a hotel in the city center.  What a day!