Laguna Hedionda

Laguna Hedionda the "Stinky Lake" and they weren't kidding. It really wasn't that bad, but the closer you go to the lake the less pleasant it was. It was just so beautiful as was all the other lakes that the smell was easy to forget quickly.

I took a picture of the signs, to prove that this is indeed named the "Stinky Lake" and because I'd already forgotten the name of the last lake, at this point, and I was determined not to forget the name of this one. Also the English sign is funny. "Please use the bathroom." Since they charged for the toilets, I couldn't be sure if this was a plea not to go in nature, a suggestion to go while you have the chance or a sales pitch.

I think whatever was causing this yellow hue on the banks was what was causing the smell.




Sita standing out on a salt flat... We had no idea how much more salt we were going to encounter soon.
A flamenco egg. I thought myself to be quite lucky to find this, indeed no one else spotted one of these. I think this egg was abandoned, or inviable.
More flamenco tracks.
At this lake I was determined to see how close I could get to the flamencos to capture their pictures the next few photos represent my attempts.





After getting fairly close and capturing the above photo I attempted to move in more and subsequently caused the pink-feathered friend to fly away.

Laguna Verde

After having our first experience of what our meals (we had breakfast at the border) and rides would be like for the next four days we made our first stop on the Bolivian side of the border. I thought that we might be caravaning with the numerous other parties that went to the border with us, fortunately, this was not the case. It felt much freer and the landscapes even more vast when you're the only vehicle that can be seen.

Our first stop was Laguna Verde (Green Lake). It was the first of the lakes which are a central theme of these tours. High in the Bolivian Andes these lakes have no drainage and area therefore salt lakes. From my understanding it is their high mineral content that give them their various colors.

This first picture provides a glimpse of our first experience of the lake. It did not look green at first but rather a somewhat gray color...
...Once we moved along the side of it, however, we began to see the lake as a different color.
The lake never quite looked green, however, but more of a turquoise color. None the less, this was an amazing first experience of the lakes, and it was merely a warm-up for what was to come.
The remaining photos need no caption. Despite the fact that pictures cannot also convey the effects of altitude, I hope they succeed in taking your breath away :-)