I am pleased to be able to finally post what was, for me, the highlight of our Bolivia trip, Laguna Roja, the Red Lake. This is a vast shallow salt lake with an incredible pink/red color. Most of these photos do not have a caption above them as they can just be enjoyed and appreciated without explanation.
Approaching the lake you can see that there was just the common rocky desolate landscape.
Our first glimpse of the lake in it's full magnitude.
The banks of the lake were quite lush in some places.
Do you see all those pink dots? Those are some of the thousands of flamencos that inhabit this lake. The flamencos apparently feed on a bacteria that grow in this lake.
Pictures of the flamencos.
About two miles from the lake is where we stayed the first night. There seems to be a little settlement there which exists solely to serve the tourists that need a place to stay. I believe these people brought some llamas with them, which you can see grazing here at the edge of the lake.
There seemed to be fresh water springs that fed this lake, because there was clear water at the front of the lake which appeared to be flowing towards the center.
The salt content made for some white banks.
Sita and I at the edge of the lake. (I was still wearing shorts but I finally got the message that I needed a jacket at this point.)
With different influences in different places you could find many different colors present in this lake. Here near the edge the color appears a bit orange.
I thought if I took pictures of me playing in the mud and pooling water in my hands, I could convey more of the experience of it.
The water looks clearer in my hand but it still maintains it's reddish color.
As you can see in the last photo these flamencos were walking away from me as I tried to get a closer photo of them, eventually I guess I got too close for comfort and they flew away, but this offered a nice picture of them with their wings spread.
You could find many flamenco feathers at the bank of the lake. We brought some home with us so if ever you're in our home and you want to see them just ask.
The Laguna Roja was another point were we converged with other tours, despite the crowd of people (around 25-35) I was probably the only one to enter the lake. Come on, you knew I'd do it. Now those shorts seem to be a wise decision, huh?
The consequence of entering the lake.
The lake looks deep when you take a picture at the level of the water.
The view of the flamencos. "Hi sweetie, thanks for holding my shoes."
Flamenco remains.
We were so blessed to experience this angle of the sun on the lake.
Unlike the other lake, the name of which I forgot, I never learned the name of this one.
You can tell from the tags attached to the ears of these alpaca that they belong to someone.
At this point the landscape was beginning to change and include more vegetation.
See, don't those lines running down look like ski runs?
Despite seeing them stand all the time, flamencos can fly.
Underwater flamenco footprints. I loved the way the sun would glisten off the water, while the wind provided a memorizing ripple. Can you see why I wanted to spend more time at each stop?
This is the same lake, I just walked to the other side.
You can see our jeep and two others in this picture across the lake. By venturing so far from the vehicles we ensured a longer stay. Besides taking our time to really enjoy our stops, there was an additional benefit to spending long periods of time at each stop, the tours in front of us would leave and sometimes get further ahead of us ensuring that we wouldn't encounter them again for a while. The motivation to be the sole party at these stops was not just to enjoy greater quietness. It was also to avoid the other touring parties after getting a taste of what they were like at the hostel the night before. Can anyone explain to me how getting drunk, rowdy and disrespectful towards your indigenous hosts would enhance your enjoyment of a tour like this? If you can then you probably would've loved the other touring parties.
You can't get bored of flamencos.
Apparently flamencos and humans were not the only wildlife walking around the place, an even-toed ungulate was afoot.
Our first glimpse of the lake in it's full magnitude.
The banks of the lake were quite lush in some places.
Do you see all those pink dots? Those are some of the thousands of flamencos that inhabit this lake. The flamencos apparently feed on a bacteria that grow in this lake.
Pictures of the flamencos.
About two miles from the lake is where we stayed the first night. There seems to be a little settlement there which exists solely to serve the tourists that need a place to stay. I believe these people brought some llamas with them, which you can see grazing here at the edge of the lake.
There seemed to be fresh water springs that fed this lake, because there was clear water at the front of the lake which appeared to be flowing towards the center.
The salt content made for some white banks.
Sita and I at the edge of the lake. (I was still wearing shorts but I finally got the message that I needed a jacket at this point.)
With different influences in different places you could find many different colors present in this lake. Here near the edge the color appears a bit orange.
I thought if I took pictures of me playing in the mud and pooling water in my hands, I could convey more of the experience of it.
The water looks clearer in my hand but it still maintains it's reddish color.
As you can see in the last photo these flamencos were walking away from me as I tried to get a closer photo of them, eventually I guess I got too close for comfort and they flew away, but this offered a nice picture of them with their wings spread.
You could find many flamenco feathers at the bank of the lake. We brought some home with us so if ever you're in our home and you want to see them just ask.
The Laguna Roja was another point were we converged with other tours, despite the crowd of people (around 25-35) I was probably the only one to enter the lake. Come on, you knew I'd do it. Now those shorts seem to be a wise decision, huh?
The consequence of entering the lake.
The lake looks deep when you take a picture at the level of the water.
The view of the flamencos. "Hi sweetie, thanks for holding my shoes."
Flamenco remains.
We were so blessed to experience this angle of the sun on the lake.
