Thursday, April 13, 2006

photo highlights from the 4 day salar de uyuni (salt flats) tour

i'm in sucre right now, heading back to la paz.
just finished the 4 day salar de uyuni tour. 8 of us piled into a land cruiser trekking through the southwestern desert portion of bolivia. saw incredible marslike landscapes, volcanoes, lakes, and the white expanse of the largest salt flats in the world. also saw tons of llamas, alpacas, vicunas, and flamingoes.
did you know that bolivia has the largest population of llamas in the world?
well now you do.
also, also, lots of bolivian kids who were not shy to pose for the camera (photos towards the end)
we peaked in this high desert at 5000 meters (16,404') in elevation, the highest i've ever been, nearly causing all of our heads to explode. luckily, didn't get altitude sickness at that height, even though we slept at an elevation of about 15,500' one night. now that i'm only at about 8000' in elevation, i can drink like a fish again.
anyway, here's some shots:

saw some incredible landscape

saw lots of llamas



saw lots of llamas in the landscape


played soccer at 15,000', gringos v. bolivianos. bols had the altitude advantage



here was the boliviano star player. he used the normal futbol tactics such as kicking and using his head, as well as telling us 'hey, look over there, it's your girlfriend', in order to score goals.

here's our landcruiser that we spent 4 lovely days stinking up. we nicknamed it after the word llama in latin which is 'lama glama'. also, did i mention we were at high altitude. israeli girl to the right not feeling so hot.

here's a photo of my profile (how do you spell silhoutte?) at 5000 meters at the sulfur (sp. is it sulphur?) geysers. i was covered in sulfur spots to make this shot happen. i look like i just painted my house.


saw lots of flamingos and perfect lake reflections at 15,000' at laguna colorada. there were 3 different types of flamingos in these shots, the andino, the chileno, and the james flamingos. don't ask me which one is which.







desolate desert landscape. looks like another planet.

this rock is like my legs. scrawny calves leading to a fat ass.

saw green lakes, volcanoes, mountain peaks, and a lot of the 'lama glama'





valley of the rocks

sunset in colchani

sunrise at the salar de uyuni, with one jesus silhoutte by yours truly.


the salt hotel on the salar. yes, it's made of salt blocks. stayed in a different salt hotel the night before.

emerson from cape cod showing why the united states is such a superpower

here i am getting squashed and shitted on


the incredible whiteness of the salt flats

more jesus themes. this time me walking on water

or driving on water

girls playing in colchani




taking a baby llama for a walk

or carrying it

kids playing in the 'cemetario del tren' just outside of uyuni




i'm always behind the camera, but i thought it would be nice for this quechuan lady to take a photo for her memories

photos from the beautiful colonial city of sucre. it's one of two capitals in bolivia, the other being la paz, where i'm at right now. don't ask why there are 2 capitals. i can't be bothered to answer such questions right now.
rooftop view from hostal in sucre

market in sucre

wasting an entire day drinking, enjoying the view, and playing lots of shithead

artsy shot

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