As previously mentioned, Isela and I had a short but gorgeous stay in the very tourist friendly town of San Pedro de Atacama. From there we hopped in a 4x4 at the Bolivian border and set out over the desert to see the assalting (pun) Salar Uyuni, the largest salt flat in the world.
En route we saw all sorts of nifty sights such as...
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| hot springs |
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| flamingoes |
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| Laguna Colorada
A red lagoon that gets its color from a special algae. Said algae also feeds the flamingoes and turns their feathers pink. Turns out the color of a flamingo varies depending on how much of this colored algae they are able to consume. A similar thing happens with salmon.
Our guide was kind enough to show us what a Toyota 4x4 is really made of as he drove us through a rocky river gorge. On the way we saw these fearless little guys called viscacha. They're similar to chinchillas but given how close they come to you, and with such lack of hesitation, you'd think each one had the heart of a lion.
And then finally...  
We stopped briefly at Incahuasi Island in the center of the Salar to take some pictures and find some nifty porous (volcanic?) rock. Clearly I was enthralled. I will now leave the next thousand or so lines blank to accommodate the required pedantic geologic sermon that the previous comment surely inspired in my father:
"So Annie, ____ _ _______ ____ by __ _ _____. However, _ _______-______ ____ of ___ _ _______, but _____ _____________ _ ____. The ______ __________ rock ___ _ ________ __ _______ _____________, and the salt ______ ____ sodium chloride, lithium chloride, magnesium chloride __ ___ ____ _______ __ _ _________ ________."
"Neat-O! Thanks Dad. I'm sure that that information will be vital to my adult development."
(Run while you can!)
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LOL at this post!! Also that is SO COOL about flamingo's! I didn't know that. I am anxiously awaiting when small deezy doozy dog and I get to be featured on your little corner of the interwebs.
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