We departed San Pedro de Atacama, Chile in the morning towards the Chile/Bolivia border and after about an hour of waiting in line and paying some ridiculous fees for Bolivian visas, we were allowed to cross over into Bolivia. We had hired a driver to take us across the Bolivian highlands and then down into the Salar de Uyuni (Uyuni Salt Flats). This was going to take a few days. This area is probably one of the harshest environments in the world. It is as remote as you can get, there are no facilities whatsoever, and it's pretty easy to get lost. You're pretty much just driving out on the plateau with no roads, signs, etc. We had great weather, but the elevation was brutal. We were able to see colorful lagoons (green, red, gray, white, blue) and tons of flamingoes. There were steaming geysers, strange shaped rocks that had been carved out of the wind and sand, cactus filled canyons, and unique, picturesque landscapes. We stayed at a hotel made entirely out of salt (even the floors were granular salt...like walking in the sand. Honestly, it was a pretty rough trip, but very memorable and we're glad we did it (although it would take a lot of convincing to want to do it again).
One of the dozens of high elevation mineral lakes that we saw on our trip across the Bolivian highlands between San Pedro de Atacama, Chile and Uyuni, Bolivia.
Cody, skipping rocks across a mineral lake in the Bolivian highlands between San Pedro de Atacama, Chile and Uyuni, Bolivia.
An interested fox creeping closer and closer to us in the Bolivian highlands between San Pedro de Atacama, Chile and Uyuni, Bolivia.
Traveling across the highlands of Bolivia was interesting...there was a lot of scenery that looked like this picture...basically no vegetation and just some random volcanic rocks in the middle of a dirt field.
Family jumping picture at 5,000 meters above sea level - 16,500 feet.
Ryder and Sawyer, taking in the terrain of a high elevation geyser field in the Bolivian highlands between San Pedro de Atacama, Chile and Uyuni, Bolivia.
The kids, walking through the steam that is coming from a high elevation geyser (at 5,000 meters above sea level - about 16,500 feet) in the Bolivian highlands between San Pedro de Atacama, Chile and Uyuni, Bolivia.
A boiling mud pot in a remote high elevation geyser field in the Bolivian highlands between San Pedro de Atacama, Chile and Uyuni, Bolivia.
Ryder and Sawyer, wandering through the narrow dirt bridges between boiling hot geysers and mud pots at 5,000 meters - 16,500 feet - above sea level in the Bolivian highlands between San Pedro de Atacama, Chile and Uyuni, Bolivia.
Wind blown snow/ice in the Bolivian highlands between San Pedro de Atacama, Chile and Uyuni, Bolivia.
"Laguna roja" (red lake)...needs no explanation.
Cody and Eliza in front of a mineral lake in the Bolivian highlands between San Pedro de Atacama, Chile and Uyuni, Bolivia.
The kids posing in front of a mineral lake in the Bolivian highlands between San Pedro de Atacama, Chile and Uyuni, Bolivia.
The kids in front of the "arbol de piedra" (tree rock) in the Bolivian highlands between San Pedro de Atacama, Chile and Uyuni, Bolivia.
Video of some of the scenery around the "arbol de piedra" (tree rock) in the Bolivian highlands between San Pedro de Atacama, Chile and Uyuni, Bolivia.
Eliza, climbing rocks in the Bolivian highlands between San Pedro de Atacama, Chile and Uyuni, Bolivia.
Our vehicle that took us across the Bolivian highlands.
It was rare, but there were pockets of moisture and green once in a while in the small canyons we drove through.
Frozen waterfall in one of the canyons.
The colors and contrasts were out of this world.
Not much civilization around at all, but they had to label it just in case we forgot where we were.
Bolivian Flag.
Railroad to nowhere.
Cody and Eliza in front of one of the many lagoons we found along the way.
Another picturesque lagoon in the Bolivian highlands.
Taking in the quiet and amazing views at "Laguna Blanca" in the Bolivian highlands between San Pedro de Atacama, Chile and Uyuni, Bolivia.
Family picture at "Laguna Blanca" (White Lake) in the Bolivian highlands between San Pedro de Atacama, Chile and Uyuni, Bolivia.
Flamingo hanging out at "Laguna Roja" in the Bolivian highlands between San Pedro de Atacama, Chile and Uyuni, Bolivia.
Family picture at "Laguna Roja" in the Bolivian highlands between San Pedro de Atacama, Chile and Uyuni, Bolivia.
Flamingos hanging out in one of the mineral lakes in the Bolivian highlands between San Pedro de Atacama, Chile and Uyuni, Bolivia.
We ran into a bunch of these rabbit/rodent like animals that we had never seen before...they are called viscacha. We pulled out a bag of crackers and motivated them to come in for a closer look.
Zander, feeding a viscacha in the Bolivian highlands between San Pedro de Atacama, Chile and Uyuni, Bolivia.
Ryder, feeding a viscacha in the Bolivian highlands between San Pedro de Atacama, Chile and Uyuni, Bolivia.
Video of Nash, feeding a viscacha, which is a rabbit/rodent like animal native to the high Andes...we got some crackers out and "enticed" a bunch of these animals to come play with us.
Video of Sawyer, feeding a viscacha in the Bolivian highlands between San Pedro de Atacama, Chile and Uyuni, Bolivia.
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