Southwestern Bolivia is surreal. it is a landscape unlike anything i have ever imagined. The nature of this unique corner of Bolivia is only hightend by the contrast of obsurd landscapes. it seems as if i was constantly cleaning my sunglasses, only to realize that the colors i was witnessing were not due to blimishes on my lenses. But, was merely a chemical or geological phenominom that created this unique landscape. This region has been popularized in the past half century due to the paintings by Salvador Dali. Apparantly, he spent quite a bit of time in the Salar. Which subsequently offered inspirations for some of his landscapes. Along with his Critical-Paranoiac Method he was able to further transform on canvas his physical and mental projections. According to Sal,"Paranoiac-critical activity makes the world of delirium pass onto the plane of reality." i will leave the interpretation up too the reader.
Regardless, of how Mr. Dali interpreted the region. The landscape of southwestern bolivia offers a taste of delirium in the plane of reality. We departed the small desert town of uyunni and immediatly were thrust onto the salt flats. for the entire day we raced across the vast blanket of white. Feeling much more like we were flying than driving. Except for the constant reminder that we were in a landcruiser. This reality would only set in when the truck would come to a stop, and the crew was givin the opportunity to walk on the clouds for a while. Any islands, or masses of land, that seemed to avoid being swallowed by the white lake. Appeared to be ancient coral beds that were presently covered with gigantic cacti. To add too the oddity of the region, certain sections were entirely covered with about four inches of water. creating, once agian, the appearance of driving across a lake. This first day could lead one too belive that Bolivia is the only place in the world with ¨super cars.¨ i mean they can fly and drive on water. why can´t we get them anywhere else? wait, hold you´re order, it was merely an illusion.
Towards the end of the first day we had cleared the Salar, and as the sun was setting began to rally into the desert. As a quick sidenote for the reader; the Salar in southwestern bolivia is the largest salt flat in the world, and spreads over 12,000 square Km. So, as the sun was closing the curtain for the day our roof rack´s restaining bar snapped off. Sending our fifty gallon tank of gasoline onto the hood. Luckily nothing was lost, and we were able to rig the rack back up in order to make it to our destination for that evening.
The following morning, the desert landscape gradually changed as we began to be surrounded by massive snow covered volcanos. Between the volcanos were large lagoons, that due to their chemical content projected surreal color combinations. Some of the Lagoons had the ability to change color, which would occur when the desert winds agitated the water. The Blues would become brighter, and could evntually turn to green. One lagoon, in particular, was a deep pink. and when the level of the lagoon was reduced would turn a dark red. But the most interesting aspect of these lagoons was the large populations of pink flamingos that inhabited all of them.
Our last evening was spent next to the Lagoon de Colorado (the red one), and we rose in the dark to begin our rally toward the Geysers. Four-thirty in the morning, seemed a bit excessive. But the return trip to Uyunni was more than fourteen hours, so my lack of enthusism was quickly trumped by our driver. We arrrived at the Geysers at sunrise, and were careful not to step into any of the ¨hot pockets¨ as the day´s first light emerged. At that point it was still below freezing, so the warm thermal breezes were greeted with appreciation. As the sun rose into the sky, the desert began to warm. We had breakfast at a series of hotsprings, which were more like warmsprings. but, i am not complaining. the final push toward chile, was filled with a dramatic arrangement of volcanos and sand dunes. Some appeared as if someone had dragged a paintbrush across them. Apparantly, that was not the case. and the unnatural coloring was due to mineral deposits that had eroded sections of the mountain. We arrived in Chile later that afternoon, where we were greeted with delicious food and inflated prices. Welcome too the first world, Right? Well....maybe one and a half.
