By Alyssa Maunders
I spent the better part of this week in a Toyota land cruiser; Rolling with the windows down, snapping shots of llamas and Flamingos in the desert landscape of southwestern Bolivia. Despite the amount of car time, the tour group we went with allowed plenty of opportunities to get out of the car and explore and to stretch our legs.
Touring South America with the Same Company
The funny thing with tour companies in South America is that there are so many that offer the same exact thing that it can be really difficult to choose. The only way to decide is to read online reviews which , thankfully, there are a ton of nowadays. We also walked around to each company to compare prices of course. However, they are all the same price, with the same route and the same cars.
We ended up going with a company in Tupiza called ‘la Torre’ simply because they offered us a discount if a fifth person joined our group of four. A lovely Turkish-German lady joined our girl power 4×4 car and we departed early in the morning on Wednesday. The tour consisted of heading south into a nature reserve and then north past some amazing mineral lagunas, thermal geysers and finally finishing in the salt flats. With the mix of French, English and Spanish in the car,it made for an interesting cacophony of laughter and story telling.
Flamingos, Llamas and Condors, oh my!
I had no idea there were so many flamingos in southwestern Bolivia. Apparently 4,000 are born in the park every year. They inhabit the multi colored lakes and please the thousands of photographers that flock there every year. We also saw plenty of llamas and even a few condors flying about.
On our last day on the tour I took the front seat. I was also in charge of managing the volume of Felipe’s Bolivian club music which, at times, was a bit too loud for comfort. We rounded a corner and, just as I was thinking that I wish I had gotten to see more condors, I saw one up on a hill. I yelled “CONDOR” out the window and we all got down to have a closer look. Turns out, up the hill a mama llama had just given birth. She was standing over her baby which, sadly, was a still born. She hadn’t yet realized what the problem was, but the condors had. They arrived to complete the circle of life and here we were, a car full of ladies investigating the sad scene. We piled back in the car, feeling a bit sad, only to see a mother goat with her baby less than 100 yards down the road; happy and alive.
Four Wheels and Four Meals
The tour provides all the meals for the four days as well. Our cook, Julia, made the best food I’ve eaten in weeks. Every day we had Breakfast, snacks in the car, lunch, five o’clock tea time and a big dinner. Our driver Felipe, a Tupiza native, did an amazing job guiding us through the landscape.
We stayed in small pueblos, or towns, along the way that consisted of nothing more than a small mud building with some bathrooms and a kitchen. The beds were really cozy though, 
with plenty of blankets to keep us safe from the high altitude cold. The places we stayed partner with all of the other tour groups in the area as well. This salar tour has become increasingly popular in the last few years. During each day the dirt roads were dotted with 4×4’s all packed full of tourists. It felt like we were all part of a caravan of jeeps and land cruisers that would meet up at each stop and get out to take pictures. It was a really great time. The landscape was incredible. In fact, a lot of the open space and colored hills and rocks reminded me of New Mexico. Now, when I return home, I want to see more of what New Mexico has to offer. That’s a great thing about traveling; it can really make you appreciate where you are from.
On the third night we stayed in one of the many hotels near the salt flats that is actually built out of salt. They say it’s because there is a lack of other building materials but I think it’s mostly a tourist attraction. Nevertheless, it’s pretty impressive. The walls are made of salt bricks and the beds and dining tables and chairs are all made of the stuff. there is even crushed salt 3 inches thick on the floor like a layer of crushed pebbles that make a crunching sound when you walk around.
The Final Frontier
The final morning we woke at 430 in order to enter the salt flats and drive to one of the 32 islands to catch the sunrise. We walked the path up to the top of the small hill and saw the sun hit the open landscape. If I didn’t know I was in the middle of a dried up sea, I would have thought I was looking at shimmering waves as the rays hit the solid ground. It was beautiful.
As we left the salt flats, after an hour of taking funny photos where we played with perspective and size (“photos locos” as the guides call them), we drove to another hotel where there was a collection of world flags. Surprisingly, the US was not represented. Luckily , I have several New Mexico flags that I’ve been traveling around with. So, to all my nm readers out there (mom and Janet, I’m talking to you ) you will be happy to know that the yellow and red flag of our beautiful state is now proudly waving in the middle of the largest dried up ocean in the world.
This tour was the perfect way to wrap up the country of Bolivia before heading south. Hasta luego Bolivia, Siempre estarás en mi corazón!
Alyssa Maunders
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