Monday, April 25, 2011
(Short and sweet; more details from the La Torre description. Oh, and if you hadn't noticed, my camera has spots on it again. Sigh.)
4:30am wake up, 5am breakfast, 5:30am on the road. Drive by the ruins of San Antonio – barely light out, but definitely not a small Machu Picchu. Laguna Morejon at 4,855m. Breathtaking landscape. Pay entrance fee and head south. Green area with river. Another lagoon with mountains reflecting in the water. Polques hot spring. Jon and I went in the water surrounded by snow-capped peaks. After I dried off and changed clothes, I started feeling light-headed. Monisha came over to help me since I temporarily lost my eyesight and my hearing went funny. Sitting down on a rock and drinking some water helped a bit.
 |
| Laguna Morejon |
 |
| Jon, Faye, me, Alex at Laguna Kollpa |
 |
| Hot springs |
Lunch at the hot springs. On the drive to Laguna Verde is a striking multi-colored mountain. Green colored water in the lagoon is incredible; mountain on the opposite side is the Chilean border. Geyser field. Smelled like eggs (of course). Lots of bubbling mud. Quick stop in Wayllajara, our town for the night, to secure beds. Other jeeps had already arrived so we didn’t get first pick. Drive to Laguna Colorada. Amazing red lagoon with three types of flamingoes. Perfect in the afternoon light.
 |
| Laguna Verde |
 |
| Geysers |
 |
| At Laguna Colorada |
 |
| Flamingoes in Laguna Colorada |
Back to town for afternoon tea. Ran into Rene (Julia’s friend who I met in Cusco) and Heather (from horseback riding) who were also on a La Torre tour but we’re traveling on the same schedule. After bundling up, we were served dinner. Another very basic accommodation, basically the same type of facilities as the last. Luckily they put on the small old-fashioned stove in the middle of the dining area for a little heat. All three La Torre groups sat around the fire. I couldn’t help but be satisfied with my group. We all seemed to be on the same page (chilled-out and in bed early), while our wingman jeep (we travelled together most of the time on the road) had two smokers and were interested in drinking. Took another Ambien to get some rest.
 |
| Rene and me |
 |
| Faye, Alex and me trying to stay warm |
La Torre description of Day 2 (with a tiny bit of editing)
Today you will have to get up fairly early as today is the longest day (9 to 10 hours). You will head through the abandoned ghost town of San Antonio or the small Machu Picchu as tourists who visit the area call it; because they compared both places (4690m). This place is a village once famous for its wealth in gold. According to local legends (though stories seem to vary a bit!) the devil ruled here and forced the suffering villagers to flee.
After San Antonio you will pass the first altiplanic lagoon named as Laguna Morejon and the area of the same name, with formations of eroded volcanic rock. After you will visit Eduardo Avaroa National Reserve and Quetena Chico, at an altitude 4150 meters above the sea level. The village has a population of approximately 720 Quechua speaking residents who pan for alluvial gold. They dig a one meter deep hole along the Banks of the river, manually washing the dirt until the much heavier gold separates to the bottom of the receptacle. On average, each miner will take out between 15 to 30 grams of gold monthly resulting in a very small amount of cash. Next you will pass through Quetena Grande and arrive at Laguna Kollpa. Here large amounts of raw material are extracted for making soap. If you want, you can get out and take a few photographs before continuing on through the Salar the Chalviri to arrive at the Polques hot springs, a popular destination. Small reservoirs of hot water are formed with a temperature of these reservoirs around 26 to 30°C. These thermal waters have medical effects that help to ease the rheumatism, arthritis and other pains. You will have about an hour here for a swim and lunch.
Your next stop after lunch will be the Laguna Verde (4350m) located southwest in the Eduardo Avaroa National Park at an altitude on 4350m above sea level. The green lagoon can be found at the foot of the Licancabur volcano. This Lagoon has a surface area than 17 kilometers. The incredible Green Lagoon is a salt water lagoon with an elevated content of magnesium, arsenic, lead and calcium carbonate, giving the lagoon a brilliant emerald color. On the shores of the lagoon one can find giant volcanic black rock and saline boulders that bring the scenery together and make for a perfect picture. The water has this color due to the constant wind that keeps it in motion this movement cause the minerals to mix with the water giving it that magical appearance. We can consider this point as the border with Chile.
El Desierto de Dali is our next stop, a place with mountains of surrealist colors, reminiscent of the photos of Salvador Dali and rock formations of petrified lava. Then you will arrive at the “Sol de Mañana Geysers” (5000m above sea level). This volcanic area lies an hour south by car from Laguna Colorada, at an altitude of 4855m above sea level. In this volcanic basin, one is able to observe the bubbling mud, geysers and “fumaroles” emerge from the depths of the Earth. Fumaroles are cervices in the Earth where volcanic lava, sulfuric and other type of gases are emitted out into the air, a nauseating smell.
Geysers are the fountains of water that sprout up from below the Earth in water and vapors and form thermal pools like those of Challviri where one can bathe in water temperatures ranging from 26 to 30 C. In many cases, the salts and minerals in the water are ideal in the curing or relieving of rheumatism, arthritis, stress and other illnesses.
Before heading to Wayllajara, where you will spend the second night, you will visit Laguna Colorada. Located 582 kilometers southwest of Uyuni at an altitude of 4278 meters, Laguna Colorada sits at the foot of the Colorado and Negro mountains. The lagoon has a surface area of more than 60 kilometers and a depth of only 80 cm. The temperature may drop down below -20 C during the winter season. Laguna Colorada receives its name from the fiery reddish colored waters, which are caused by the presence of plankton and microscopic flagellate algae of the species called Unadilla salina, that contain a red colored pigment that is emitted with a great intensity between 11am and 4pm, when the solar radiation and temperatures composts made up of sodium, borax, gypsum and magnesium.
Observe the red lagoon. A beautiful view of the red lagoon, it also has information in Spanish and English of the biological environment that exists in the lagoon such as flora, microorganisms, geological, climate and other interesting facts. The first attraction where you will see masses of flamingos in the warm season. The lake is fairly shallow but has interior islands of borax and ice and its rich red color is caused by chlorofitas bacteria and sediment in the water.
The lagoon is also home to three types of flamingos: the Andean flamingo (Phoenicoparrus andinus), the James flamingo (Phoenicoparrus jamesi) and the Chilean flamingo (Phoenicoparrus chilensis) that arrive to mate and reproduce in the freezing cold and elevated lakes. These flamingos have a sophisticated nutrition filtration system used in the laces with a high amount of alkalinity, they feed on the plankton and seaweed, which are sucked and filtered from the water beaks, various times per second. The tiny particles are then trapped in the plumage, producing the impressive fiery reddish color as well as giving origin to the intense orange-ish season and more than 5300 nest have been recorded during the rainy and reproductive season. This is one of the few sanctuaries in the world where all the flamingo types nest.
No comments:
Post a Comment