The Bolivian Outback

We spent 4 days exploring Bolivia's southwestern corner which revealed a harsh, diverse landscape ranging from the blinding white salt flat area called Salar de Uyuni to a geothermal hotbed. We were lucky to meet up with another family on a travel sabattical, a French family from Reunion, a small island off the coast of Madagascar. We hit it off instantly with Laurent, Evelyn, their son Cleo (11) and daughter Nina (6); they are travelling the world for 10 months. Together we hired a guide and 2 Toyota Landcruisers (with drivers) and we spent 4 days exploring eerie landscapes and cool cultures. Our guide spoke English and she was excellent; an expert in geography, the culture of the people and in Bolivian politics and history. Our drivers were excellent too (and it came in real handy that they were also mechanics since we had a couple of small breakdowns along the way).

This is Dakar territory. You know, the wild cross country road race for motorcycles, quads and other off road vehicles. There was the occasional road, but mostly it was just driving over vast lands in valleys between volcanoes and mountain rock ranges. The closest thing I have ever experienced to this was the outback in Australia.

Natural beauty, rugged, rough around the edges, and slightly nerve-racking, we have found Bolivia to be one of the most complex countries we have visited so far. The cultural, historical and spiritual richness of Bolivia is probably due to the fact that this is the country with the highest percentage of indigenous people in all of Latin America. In Bolivia we were constantly in awe of how little communities were sustainable. Tiny red earthen homes, many deserted without roofs or windows and other than a scattering of small stone buildings not much else in the form of community infrastructure that we could see.

Superstition and folklore are important in these parts. One community we visited had people with an air of pride about them and seemingly no appetite for change or progress; it was a community that I would have expected 200 years ago. We were told that the people truly believe that they are direct descendants of the Condor god and that they are 'chosen people'. We would have loved to take pictures of these people and this community but that was not appropriate since the people believe that pictures remove part of their soul -- and that applies to their livestock as well.

Not much grows in this terrain, massive hills of multiple coloured rock, shrub brushes, volcanoes, and cacti with an occasional green patch of quinoa garden that would need careful attending and watering by patient farmers. Did not see many vegetables growing, but everyone - and that means everyone - chews coca leaves. 1.2 million kilos of coca leaf are consumed monthly in Bolivia; to the people of the Andes, this ancient medicinal plant has no relationship to cocaine and is a cure-all for everything from altitude sickness, to indigestion, headaches, diabetes and menopause.

Livestock, mostly llama and alpaca, roamed along with goats, sheep, the occasional pig and wild herds of vicunas (endangered cousins of llamas). Didn't seem that there would be much to eat for them either but we were told that they dig up shrub brushes and eat the roots.

And then there were flamingos. Hundreds and hundreds of them. Who knew that there were flamingos in South America?

A very popular thing to visit in this region are the salt flats. Bolivia's salt flats are the largest in the world. This is where natural shampoos and soaps were discovered. The salt flats were Levi's #1 priority for our South American trip. He researched the salt flats before we left home and he looked at tons of pictures. He begged us to stay in a salt hotel, something I never heard of before and didn't even know if it was possible. Ironically, the day we arranged the trip Levi came down with a nasty fever. He missed out on some big portions of this excursion lying in the back of the vehicle and looking pretty sad. Poor kid.

As part of the trip, we did actually stay in a salt hotel, a building completely made of salt blocks, furniture and all. Unfortunately the altitude of close to 5000 m and the dryness left us all with the most miserable sleep with dry cracked noses and the feeling that you just couldn't breathe. Although we were not very comfortable, we mostly appreciated that it was a unique and interesting experience. Levi on the other hand was totally deflated. Rotten timing.

Although the pictures are particularly fun to take in the rainy season when there is a perfect reflection from the sky, we still had lots of laughs taking some of these pictures with distorted perspectives.

Between volcanoes were geothermal spots that bubbled and sputtered and captured Levi's attention enough to get him out of the back of the Toyota.

And then in the middle of nowhere was this cactus island called Inhuasi where we saw a typical sacrificial llama table from the local indigenous people. Apparently there is still a gathering to sacrifice a llama on this table every year on August 1st at midnight. The cacti were massive and must have been very old since they only grow 1 cm per year. We are enjoying some of the fruit that can be picked off the cacti although it requires an expert to cut it up.

Another favourite landscape from this jaunt was coming across this Bolivian Railway Graveyard. I loved this! The story is that Bolivia, rich with minerals, wanted to become more efficient than they were with llamas hauling rock across the desert to Chile. In 1888 they built the railway and it was in full use until the markets crashed in 1894. At that point the railway became too expensive to operate so it shut down. Apparently Chile offered to buy all the locomotives and rail cars but in a controversial move, Bolivia's proud President said that he would rather have the engines and rail cars rot on Bolivian soil than see Chile with them. These interesting relics have been sitting in the middle of nowhere dotting the Bolivian landscape since 1896. 

As I took these photos I was smiling from ear to ear thinking, "my friend Shawn Smith is going to love these."

We said farewell to our French friends from Reunion as we made our way to Peru and they began their adventure in Chile.