Wednesday, November 23, 2005
South America Trip - Day 35 - Uyuni to San Cristobal
We commenced our 4WD tour a little dazed. As I said Simon was our driver and Silvaria (Sil-var-ria) was our guide. We were headed for the Salar de Uyuni (Salt Lake). First stop was a tiny town where the inhabitants earned their living from processing the salt from the lake. They harvest the wet salt from the lake and bring it by truck to their house. Here they lay it out over a fire to dry. The smoke from the fire is toxic and the workers do not wear face masks instead they get sick and die early. We saw a woman packing salt into plastic bags. She would fill each 1 kg bag and seal it using a gas flame. They would get 20 centavos (about 2 cents) for each bag of salt. They also made things from salt like ceramics. When the salt is mixed with water and fired in a furnace it becomes hard like clay.
Now off onto the salt Lake, the largest salt flats in the world. This lake is 12,000 Square km. Here is a satellite photo. The salt is an amazing bright white like snow. I had to squint while wearing my sun glasses to see. As the salt dries it makes polygonal shapes about 1 metre across. It is like walking on a pavlova.
On the edge of the lake we passed mounds of salt that had been scraped from the surface and left to dry for later processing by the locals. We saw a man working, he was covered from head to toe including a belaclava. It must be hard, hot and lonely work.
On the lake there is a hotel made of salt. Like an igloo the hotel is made from blocks of solid salt cut from the surface of the lake. Apart from the salt it looked like any other adobe building in Bolivia. It is damaged each year during the rainy season and must be repaired.
We stopped for lunch at Fish Island (Isla Incawasi) of course there are no fish but the Island is shaped like one. Incawasi has amazing cactuses that grow a centimetre a year. The oldest one is 1200 years old but it is under attack from ants and is dying. The cactuses grow pretty flowers which drop off then a sweet fruit (like a kiwifruit) grows.
Upon leaving the lake we entered the Atacama dessert. Along the way we saw many vicuñas (protected animals that look like gazelles with wool that is anti allergic), llamas and birds.
We stayed over night in San Cristobel. San Cristobel is a town that was moved in preparation for a new silver mine that will open in 2007 - owned by a Canadian company. The historic church was disassembled and reconstructed stone by stone. The locals did not want it transported by truck, prefering to carry it in a long procession down the hill. The hotel was OK but the town had no water so we could not wash the salt off. We went to bed early as we had an early start the next day.
Now off onto the salt Lake, the largest salt flats in the world. This lake is 12,000 Square km. Here is a satellite photo. The salt is an amazing bright white like snow. I had to squint while wearing my sun glasses to see. As the salt dries it makes polygonal shapes about 1 metre across. It is like walking on a pavlova.
On the edge of the lake we passed mounds of salt that had been scraped from the surface and left to dry for later processing by the locals. We saw a man working, he was covered from head to toe including a belaclava. It must be hard, hot and lonely work.
On the lake there is a hotel made of salt. Like an igloo the hotel is made from blocks of solid salt cut from the surface of the lake. Apart from the salt it looked like any other adobe building in Bolivia. It is damaged each year during the rainy season and must be repaired.
We stopped for lunch at Fish Island (Isla Incawasi) of course there are no fish but the Island is shaped like one. Incawasi has amazing cactuses that grow a centimetre a year. The oldest one is 1200 years old but it is under attack from ants and is dying. The cactuses grow pretty flowers which drop off then a sweet fruit (like a kiwifruit) grows.
Upon leaving the lake we entered the Atacama dessert. Along the way we saw many vicuñas (protected animals that look like gazelles with wool that is anti allergic), llamas and birds.
We stayed over night in San Cristobel. San Cristobel is a town that was moved in preparation for a new silver mine that will open in 2007 - owned by a Canadian company. The historic church was disassembled and reconstructed stone by stone. The locals did not want it transported by truck, prefering to carry it in a long procession down the hill. The hotel was OK but the town had no water so we could not wash the salt off. We went to bed early as we had an early start the next day.
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