THE ATACAMA DESERT (15/07/09)
Early in the morning we left the salt hotel and the salt flats and began our trip into the Bolivian section of the Atacama Desert, the driest desert in the world.
Most of the trains from Uyuni have stopped running through lack of demand but twice a week a freight train makes the 40 hour run through the desert and into Chile.
Part of the reason why the desert is there is the regions strong volcanic activity and large volcanic ridges.
Strange volcanic rock formations such as this are testament to ancient violent activity.
As we gradually climbed higher the weather got colder and colder. Finally we reached this lagoon, three quarters of which was frozen over.
Hardly able to stand the biting cold and icy winds we stayed out of the car as long as we could to look around. Adam still had plenty of time to try his weight on a bit of ice and get a wet foot though.
Picnic lunch by the lagoon. Adam looks a bit miserable because he had picked up a stinking cold.
The next lagoon we visited was home to a large colony of pink flamingoes.
We felt very priveledged to see these beautiful, elegant birds in the wild once again, although the vast majority of the colony had migrated north to escape the cruel winter.
As we watched another group flew in, returning with the beginning of spring.
A Degu, closely related to Rabbits and Chinchillas.
One of the Atacama´s most famously eroded rocks - the Stone Tree.
Wrapped up as warm as possible against the sub zero temperatures we still had trouble feeling our extremities. Sometimes it felt hard to appreciate the beauty over the excruciating cold, but we managed (most of the time).
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