Day 2 — Flocking Flamingos

We started the day with a bit of exercise, as the truck once again declined to start. In an effort to keep things interesting, this time we had to push it along a slight uphill incline, and Carlos the driver dropped it into reverse in order to get it started.

It worked though, and soon we were on our way.

The truck jounced along merrily, as we took in the arid landscapes and listened to classic sounds of the ’80s and ’90s on Carlos’ very well-used mix tape (one of three we had for the entire trip). About an hour later, we found ourselves gawking at the second major attraction along the Southwest Circuit: flocks of flamingos!

I’m still not sure how they got there to begin with, but they clearly had made themselves at home. According to wikipedia, it’s a preferred mating ground for several species of flamingo; certainly it seems like a safe place to raise kids, isolated from every form of predator.

We spent much of the next two days flitting from lake to lake looking not only at the birds, but also the unusual lakes they lived in. One, known as the Lago Colorado, was both striking and very well named. Due to the mineral content of the ground under the lake, particularly iron oxide, the algae in the lake was a vivid red colour — simultaneously cool and slightly creepy.

Other lakes took on different hues as a result of the varied mineral content of the area — from white,

to green,

to blue.

After lunch, we spent several hours cruising through nothingness — a desert located nearly 5000 m above sea level, stretching hundreds of miles in all directions.

The scenery was unbroken, save by the occasional rock tree

and bizarrely nonchalant vicuna (a wild relative of the llama).

Seriously, I have no idea what these guys eat — the nearest blade of grass must have been 100 miles away.

We wrapped up the day in a very rustic and isolated shelter, and passed the time with a few rounds of golf. All in all, a good day.