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Local life |
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Today we cross pampas, salars ... |
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This is not on Tatooine. This is a military post to control traffic (in the desert) and warn the rest of te country in case of an invasion from Chile or Argentina. |
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It's quite isolated |
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More salars ... |
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More pampas ... |
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We now arrive in a land covered with petrified lava, probably 6000 years old, coming from the volcano Ollague (in the background) |
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Lava takes funny shapes |
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Our own contribution: following the old traditions, we built a small pyramid (mere pile of stone) in honour of the volcano god :) |
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We found the same kind of mousse we had seen in Peru, with yellow flowers |
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Leaving the place, we find more humid lands ... |
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... but it is soon replaced with the usual pampa (and mini salars) |
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A lake ? here ? This one is called Cañapa |
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Here live flamencos by the hundreds. |
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I can't dance, I can't talk, the only thing about me is the way I walk :) |
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Sorry, but we really don't get bored of them |
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In our car, the chauffeur, the guide, the cook, the mechanic were one and the same person. In another team, the cook was more sexy :) |
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Local igloo ? |
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This is a lake Hedionda. |
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Local wildlife |
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Pampa and colored mountains |
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Driving here is quite an adventure |
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In the desert |
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Doesn't show much, but there IS a lot of wind |
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and a lot of fun too :) |
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Lollipop time |
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Feel like trying the Dakar ? |
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Just kidding, the race is far from here |
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But it cannot be very different from here |
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The rocky sert slowly changes to sand desert, but some rocks decided to stay |
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This is the famous Stone Tree (Arbol de Piedra) |
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Rocks around have funny shapes |
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Some pictures with our teammates |
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More funny stones |
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Surface is quite soft and dusty, and curved by the wind (and perhaps by Netta's fingers now) |
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OK, one last picture and we get back to the car |
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Desert takes weird colours sometimes |
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Here starts a National Reserve |
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The white there isn't snow, and it isn't salt either. It's boxite (used for aluminium production I think) |
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Welcome to the lagunas coloradas (coloured lakes) |
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Some of the colour comes from the minerals, some come from the planctons |
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It is possible to watch 3 species of flamencos: Andean, Chilean and Grey (if I remember well) |
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More coloured lakes |
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Our stay for the night |
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Quite windy ! |
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Local kids started a show including songs, dances, and poems. |
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