Out we finally set on our tour of the salt flats and surrounding area of south west Bolivia. Our crew of seven, stuffing the four-wheel-drive to capacity, consisted of us, a dutch couple and three italians. This made for a bit of a strange dynamic and throughout the three days of the tour, the group never really gelled which led to silent hours sitting in the jeep. Add to this our driver, Victor, whose "ten years experience in tourism" made him the grumpiest guide to ride the salt flats, and only really spoke to us when he really had to.
Our first day took us through the Salar de Uyuni, the largest salt flat in Bolivia, which is formed by slat deposits washed down from the hills during rainy season and left behind when the collected water evaporates. The remaining landscape is eirie desolation where the constant glaring white light distorts perspectives and warps the horizon. Distances seemed to make little sense here as we drove at top speed across the salar, all the while the distant hills remained unchanged.
Eventually we came to the Isla del Pescado, a cactus studded blip on the perfect white landscape that served as a halfway point for incan travellers as they crossed the expanse. As we pulled up we found we were no longer alone on the salt flat, the island was being invaded by hordes in four-wheel-drives. This would be the way with all the stops on our tour. We soon scaled to the top of the island, past towering 1200 year old cactuses, to watch the other tourists taking wierd perspective photos on the salar. This seemed like fun so we did the same.
The next days drive took us away from the salt flat, higher into the desert altiplano. We passed through a landscape of intermittent tussocks and towering volcanic peaks towards a set of high altitude lakes complete with large sheets of floating ice. We came across a huge colony of pink andean flamingoes, which were very cool. It was like a scene from some african safari only a whole lot colder. We all got camera happy as we piled out of the jeep trying to capture the scene.
The lakes were all different colours, ranging from an ochre red, to a pale green caused by different algaes that thrived in the freezing cold waters. We also passed herds of Vicuña, which look loke a cross between llamas, deer and giraffe. At this stage in the trip I gained a different appreciation for Bolivia, it had been hard work travelling thus far but the unique and beautiful environment here was starting to make it worthwhile. 
We continued to climb upwards into the appropriately named desert of Salvador Dali, with its surreal rock forests penetrating through the smooth windswept sand. That night we stayed in very modest acommodations next to the Laguna Colorada, a vast red hued lake complete with a small herd of grazing llamas, and as the temperature plummeted to -20degreesC we huddled near the fire inside wearing as many layers as we could.
The next morning began before it began, at 5am. As we were enveloped in the frozen air and morning darkness, quickly developing chill blanes in the back of the jeep, we trundled off to see the geysers of the volcanic area at the highest point of the trip of 5000m. Perhaps coming from New Zealand took away from this experience, or maybe it was the utterly penetrating cold of dawn, but the geyser field with its man made geyser was less than impressive. I really just wanted to move on as quickly as possible to the thermal pool to thaw out for a while, which luckily we did. Our last stop was the ice covered Laguna Verde which we arrived at just in time to see the ice sheet melting and revealing the hazy green water underneath.
The eight hour haul back to Uyuni was much like the rest of the trip, bumping across sandy desert non-roads while the driver played his one CD of skipping casiotone cumbia music. When we finally arrived back in Uyuni we realised that for the first time, despite the grumpy driver, the odd collection of people, and the worst music ever concieved by man...We went on a tour in south america and nothing went wrong!!!!
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