Uyuni, Bolivia - Final Day

Early Day
I slept from 8pm to midnight until awakened by the sound of someone vomiting violently.  Our room was at the end of the hall near the toilets.  I slept off and on from there as the vomiting continued for hours.  I imagined that a whole group of people were sick but later learned it was just one poor soul.  We got up at 4am, had a quick breakfast and were on our way to the geysers.

Uyuni, Bolivia - Lagoons

Islands of Life
Once you leave the salt flat and climb into the high desert, you begin to see lagoons.  The first was so colorful that I ripped off my sunglasses to look.  A swirling white cloud passed over and Karine asked our tour guide Eddie about it.  "Salt cloud?"  "Nope" he replied.  "Borax."

Uyuni, Bolivia - Deserts

Cold and Dust
I am dressed in every layer I have but I've not felt this cold in decades.  It's the wind, forty and fifty miles an hour with no let up.  The cold gets me in the ankles, the weak point of my gear - I'm wearing sneakers and short athletic socks.  Everyone else has hiking boots and long wool socks.  When we pull over to take photos, I am slow to get out of the truck, sometimes opting to outsource the photo taking to the Dodo.

Uyuni, Bolivia - Perspectives

Trick Photography
I didn't understand why our guide Eddie kept asking us about our "props."  He said the best size is 15 centimeters and he alluded to taking photos.  I finally got it when I saw him set up for his first shot with Erica, the young lady from Norway.  Since there is nothing on the horizon to give away relative distances, you can do trick photography.

Uyuni, Bolivia - Salt

Taking Off
The guide threw our bags up to the driver who packed them on top of the 4x4 under a thick tarp.  There'd be seven of us in total - we were joined by a Swiss couple and a young lady from Norway.  We were warned to buy everything we needed: water, toilet paper, snacks.  With every mile into the desert, the prices would skyrocket.

Uyuni, Bolivia - Desert Crossing

A Trip of Superlatives
We took a 45 minute flight from La Paz to Uyuni,  a small town in south-central Bolivia known for salt.  We signed up for a three day, two night desert tour.