Tour to Laguna Verde and Laguna Colorada in Bolivia
August 13th 2003
A short minubus ride, brings the group from San Pedro de Atacama to the Bolivian's border. The road climbs from San Pedro to the altiplano, reaching up to 4500 meters above sea level in less than one hour. On the way, the bus stops on a nice viewpoint to Licancaburvolcano (picture on the right),
We soon arrive at Laguna Blanca (white lagoon) so called because of the color caused by the high concentration of salt and minerals. The lake is partly frozen, as the night temperature usually drops many degrees below freezing point.
Panoramic photo of Laguna Verde. We leave the minibus at Laguna Blanca, continuing on a 4x4 driven by an experienced driver. The first stop is at Laguna Verde, a beautiful lake colored by minerals.
Our bolivian guide calls it "the highway". This dusty track will be our way for the next 4 days, up to Uyuni and Potosì, far to the northeast. The life up here is not easy and only few highly specialized plants and animals can live and reproduce here. Because of the elevation, the atmospheric pressure is much more lower than normal, as well as the oxigen and the humidity. The temperature is very cold at night, but the sun is hot with higher levels of UV rays. Everything is more tiring than normal, even taking just a picture, as the body and the brain is hungry of oxigen. It took just one night for me to acclimatize, then I did each day slightly better.
The trip continues to a lagoon containing hot water because of geothermal activity. When the level of the water is higher, it is also possible to bathe in.
Sometimes, steam and dust raises from the ground.
A cactus, probably a Tephrocactus, protects its green body from the cold and from the UV rays, by a thick and dense layer of thorns. Up here, everything is slower than normal and a size like this may require dozens of years (perhaps hundreds) to be reached.
Other types of vegetation in Bolivia. Grass (top left pictures) and lichens (other pictures). On the bottom-right picture, a macro of a lichen taken from 3 centimeters of distance.
Sometimes, blue lakes can be seen here and there. The water is normally not-drinkable (sometime is toxic) because of the high salt concentration or different mineral content.
After some hour, we reach a geothermal fieldat 4900 meters of elevation. In the picture, a 360 degrees panorama view of the entire area.
Clouds of steam raises from the hot muds, leaving in the air a dense smell of sulfur.
Photo of enormous pots containing boiling muds.
Panoramic photo of Laguna Colorada. After a long trip started this early morning in San Pedro, we reach our today's destination of Laguna Colorada (red lagoon). The water, visible far away in the picture, is red because of the presence of algae.
The jeep with our Bolivian guide.
The sun sets over Laguna Colorata, replaced by a cold, long night.
° ° °
° ° °
Peru Bolivia and Chile - home page
Contact | About us | Privacy and use of cookies
This site is copyright protected, please contact the author before using any part.