I didn't think this needed emphasising, but being a bit of a geek at times, my title for this pic would be one from... yes, an old Star Trek episode (both from the original series and DS9, if you must plumb the depths of my geekdom). "The trouble with tribbles". I shall say no more.
So at the end of day 1 of our exploration of the Salar de Uyuni, we headed to a small town near the western edge of the salt flats, where ugly low prefab buildings cowered against the flanks of the mountains overlooking this quiet little town.
...or at least it would have been quiet had it not been for the overzealous, soccer-crazy french who invaded the pitch and sent the neighbourhood donkeys screaming for cover. These were the same french people whom we had rescued from a 4-hour forced march from where their car had suffered from a punctured tire. After 2 cars had driven by without bothering to stop, we helped out with out on-board compressor unit.
Just goes to show, it's a dog eat dog world wherever you go!
The next morning, we drove on to a small village an hour out and while people went to the bathroom and the local store to stock up on sweets, I poked around the place to find out where the tinny sound was coming from. Turns out it was a monday morning and school was in session! What I assume must have been the Bolivian national anthem was played with much gusto on an accordeon (reminding me of the old Far Side cartoon: "Welcome to heaven, here's your harp; welcome to hell, here's your accordeon) while everyone around stood to attention except a little kid with a ball under his arm who looked on rather sceptically.
And then we were out in the middle of the mountains, moving rather gingerly with our jeep along rough paths with much bumping and rattling. Coming to the first of the Lagunas (which, I can't remember), the setting was overwhelming.
This little bugger hopped right up to me and stared curiously for a while. Can't imagine how he survives up here, because there was still ice on the ground in full sun by the time we got there around 10am.
The lake itself is covered in places by a mineral whose name also eludes me (must be the Argentinian wine). So that's not ice or salt the flamingos stand out against.
I'm afraid this is another of those occasions when I need to subject you to inexpertly photographed and rather bland wildlife pictures.
... although properly cropped, they could well be okay. This one of a group of flamingos taking flight - if only for a short distance - looks a bit like a merged picture of multiple exposures. If you don't know what that means, just think of it as pretty. (Me, condescending? Never!)
Ice-frosted plants at 10am in full sun? Must have been a bloody cold night!
Vicuñas were in evidence everywhere. Their long necks and slender build is instantly recognizable. There were a lot more on the Salar, but we didn't stop near them and I didn't feel like snapping away from the moving car, so that's the best you'll get!
I'm thinking this picture was taken at the Laguna we stopped at for our lunch break. The flamingos were really close by, well-fed by the algae that abound in these lakes (and which make for some of the colouring in them).
Neither quite flying nor quite striding across the ground, these two performed something that looked more like a nuptial dance than a form of locomotion.
Our lunch break, made to look more peaceful and isolated than it was; there were about 4 more jeeps in evidence within a 100m and the bathrooms - jealously guarded - were available for the horrid price of 5 Bolivianos!
Not meant for flamingos, nor for Vicuñas, obviously!
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