Shortlisted for my favorite place in the world

Descriptive nature posts are not my strongest point. But after four days of driving through one stunning landscape after the other, I feel the need to share those beautiful experiences with you. So here go my two finger tablet typing skills. Enjoy the read, and please accept my apologies for the two weeks delay.  

Laguna Colorado
The lake had a muddy brown colour in the early morning light. Its mirror flat surface only disturbed by the reflection of a snow capped vulcano and a colony of pinkish flamingos. Who, still drowsy, bobbed their heads in and out of the water in search of algea. As I took a moment to sit down and contemplate this tranquility, so remote from my pre-travel life, the first sun rays hit the lake's surface and the colour started changing. At first the soft red was almost unnoticible. But minutes later an undeniable presence, contrasting sharply with the infinite blue skies above the surrounding desert. Transforming the view into fairytale surreality. Mesmerized, I took a deep yoga breath in. Instantly my nostrils flared back at the penetrating sulfer smell a previously absent breeze carried over. OK, maybe this was not perfection, but rarely have I seen a more enchanting place.  

Trademark chaos
It all started in Tupiza, southern Bolivia. My fellow tour members got robbed and my trip was cancelled. The usual chaos by now. After a last-minute hunt around town I ended up with driver meets mechanic meets guide Alberto, star cook Soledad, and six fellow Europeans. One of which a Belgian whose life trail had crossed mine in Burundi in 1992. How about that for coincidences? Unfortunately a little German from hell also co-inhabited my jeep. You know the type: complaining about everything in sight and thinking that because she paid the staff were to be treated as slaves. My favorite highlight where she was twenty minutes late for breakfast and complained the pancakes were cold. All those who agree with her may go and find the 'dislike' button on facebook. And as she has by now already taken more words than she deserves, now on to the good stuff.  

Where Dali meets the devil
I completely forgot to tell you my whereabouts. You find me in southern Bolivia, cornered between Chile and Argentina, at Reserva Nacional Eduado Avaroa. This is desert territory, where chinchillas and kiwis - yes, photo evidence available for you sceptics - vastly outnumber the last remote clay huts. We started our trip at the razorsharp ravines of Tupiza, quickly climbing up to the 4000+ meter altiplano. As February is the 'rain' season, the otherwise bone-dry sand was now covered in a fine layer of green, speckled with tiny flowers. Grazed by semi-wild vicuñas and lamas. But this was only the start of it. As we drove on, our gasping for oxygen was deepened by the continuously changing picture perfect views. We passed ocher red sand dunes rival to those in Wadi Rum, countless icy blue mirror lakes reflecting flamingo bodies and the snowy Andes peaks, and yellow rimmed geysers bubbling away their boiling hot, grey water-sand mixture at an altitude of about 5000 meters. Then there was the ancient slaves' village, where people once upon a time had worshipped the devil. Now abandoned in fear of bad luck and curses. The discarded scull fragments and lack of daylight not helping my eery feelings. How could such evil exist in this place of beauty? To wash away these unsettling memories, we later crossed a desert aptly named 'Desierto de Dali', where the hills flowed in hundreds of reds, yellows, oranges, and grey-browns, dotted with quirkily sculpted rock formations. I couldn't help to feel surrealism was not thought up by us tiny humans.  

Fata morgana
After more desert, countless lagunas rimmed with frothy Borax whites, and boulderers' heaven  'Valle de las Rocas', we finally hit our last stop: the Uyuni salar. More than ten thousand square kilometers of pancake flat white planes. It being the rain season meant we couldn't cross with our jeep, but also that the salar was partly covered by a film of water. Perfectly reflecting the setting full moon, followed by the early morning sunrise - best viewed with steaming hot coffee and cake. Where there was no water, the whites were endless. Eliminating any recollection of depth. Great for playing around with perspective and taking funny pictures, in which we indulged a little too long. As we drove off to our last lunch, the sun was well up, heating the planes and merging the whiteness into an endless blue fata morgana, air and salt indiscernable, mountains fading out as time elapsed.  

The nomination
Words are inadequate tools to describe what I saw. And so are pictures. Never have I crossed so many different landscapes in a few days. All of them breath taking and camera battery depleting. The Bolivian side of the Atacama goes straight to the shortlist for my favorite place in the world. I recommend you go and visit these natural wonders for yourself, at least once in your life.  

Last but not least I'd like to say thanks to my mom and uncle André, whose Christmas donations got me on the tour. It was unforgettable! Sorry I missed our family dinner though. In compensation, I dedicate this post to you.