Salar de Uyuni - Bolivia

Bolivia’s Salar de Uyuni defies adequate description, although calling it a blinding, surreal expanse of endless pure-white flatness that must be seen to be believed comes very close. This eerily silent and awe-inspiring Salar (salt flat) is one of the most otherworldly environments on earth, and all that remains of an enormous inland sea that evaporated thousands of years ago. 

Covering an area of about 4,250 sq miles (11,000 sq km), these sun-baked plains hold enormous quantities of salt – 10 billion tons, in fact – and are home to some of the most fantastic wildlife in South America. And for those intrepid travelers who want the full experience, there’s even a hotel here built entirely from blocks of salt. This extraordinary wilderness draws trekkers who are in search of solitude and adventure. 

Most require a 4WD to complete the journey across the flats, which measure 93 miles (150 km), but which often seem ten times that distance because of the daunting emptiness of the place. Sunlight reflects so brightly off the salt that you’re likely to be dazzled for much of the journey. This bright and pristine landscape is interrupted only by one or two rocky “islands” full of cacti, the occasional blood-red flamingo or long-tailed chinchilla, a haunting antique train graveyard, and weird and wonderful mirages that come and go in the distance. 

You might also see the odd miner panning the flats for salt, a centuries-old tradition that is still going strong today. The atmosphere here is considered by many scientists to be the purest on the planet, and the air is so dry and free from variation that the Salar de Uyuni is used as a calibration point for satellites far above the earth. 

Although the traditional end-to-end trekking route can be covered in one day by 4WD, the majority of visitors prefer to span it out over three or four days to make the most of the region’s wonders on their own two feet and at their own pace. Most drive to one of the several trailheads, walk as much of the distance as they wish and arrange for a pick-up a few miles from the other end. 

Watching the sunrise and set, tinting the clouds every color of the rainbow above this immense sheet of white oblivion, is a truly unforgettable experience. While neither the longest nor most arduous trek on the continent, tackling the magnificent Salar de Uyuni, one of the world’s most harsh and arid environments, surely ranks as the strangest of all.

El Tatio, The Third Largest Geyser Field in the World

El Tatio is a geyser field located within the Andes Mountains of northern Chile along the border between of Bolivia. Before the sun starts to rise, early morning more than 60 geysers, hot springs, mud pools, mud volcanoes and many fumaroles spew hot waters and steam. The largest geyser in the southern hemisphere is 4.320 meters above sea level. El Tatio is also third largest geyser field in the world, (after Yellowstone in the U.S. and the Valley of Geysers on the Kamchatka Peninsula in Russia) covers an area of 12 square miles seeping steam across its surreal expanse. The El Tatio geyser field is a spectacular sight, a dreamlike high-altitude location surrounded by stratovolcanoes that form part of the local geothermal system. Geothermal power is the energy that comes from the internal heat of the Earth, and where the heat flow from the interior of the globe is sufficiently high can be used both for heating purposes and for the generation of electrical power.

El Tatio has extremophile microorganisms, which is possible of analogous example of life on early Earth and potential past life on Mars. The exclusive environment of El Tatio “provides a better environmental analog for Mars than those of Yellowstone National Park and other well-known geothermal sites on Earth.” Depending on the season, the hot springs yield 0.25–0.5 cubic meters per second of water at temperatures reaching the local boiling point. The Chilean government and private companies are looking the idea of harnessing the geothermal energy, but could not succeed due to El Tatio’s remote location and environmental concerns have stalled any geothermal power projects. In 2010, the site was declared a protected area, however tourism remains the main business at El Tatio. The el Tatio, geyser field is also known as the Copacoya geysers.

The first geothermal prospecting of the field occurred in the 1920s particularly noticeable in cold weather. The field once numbered 67 geysers and more than 300 hot springs, as some geyser fountains reached heights of over 10 meters usually however they do not exceed 1 meter.  The hydrothermal activities are main reason of discoloring the several volcanoes of El Tatio volcanic group. El Tatio is a tourism destination, with substantial amounts of travelers both from Chile and other countries play an integral part of economic resource for the region, as more than 400 daily visitors comes here to see these exclusive geysers.

The water is rich in minerals, especially sodium chloride, rubidium, strontium, bromine, magnesium, cesium, lithium, arsenic, sulfate, boron, potassium, silica and calcium. Hydrothermal alteration at El Tatio, has also yielded large deposits of alteration minerals such as illite, nobleite, smectite, teruggite and ulexite. Moreover, El Tatio and a number of other geothermal fields have been dominated by andesitic volcanism producing lava flows until the late Miocene, large scale ignimbrite activity took place between 10 and 1 million years ago. The toxic minerals like arsenic which pollutes a numbers of waters in this area, causing health issues in the population. The climate is dry falling between December and March, rather windy, which influences the hot springs by enhancing evaporation. This region has extreme temperature variations between day and night. El Tatio lies at high altitude, regularly leading to altitude sickness, and the cold dry climate creates further danger.

Further El Tatio area has exposure to the hot gases and water can result in burn injuries, and both sudden eruptions of geysers and fountains and fragile ground above vents and above boiling water, concealed beneath thin covers of solid ground, increase the risk to unwary travelers. The hot spring waters enter the ground east and south east of El Tatio is controlled by the permeability of the volcanic material. Unlike geothermal fields in wetter parts of the world, given the dry climate of the area local precipitation does have little influence on the hot springs hydrology at El Tatio. The time the water takes to traverse the whole path from precipitation to the springs is about 15 years.

The water travels through a number of aquifers which correspond to permeable rock formations through faults and fractures in the rock. Magmatic brine is mixed into this water and the mixture ultimately becomes the water that emerges at El Tatio. This area dry grassland vegetation are  Tussock grasses like Anatherostipa, Festuca, Stipa while rosette and cushion plants, Azorella, Chaetanthera, Mulinum, Senecio, Lenzia, Pycnophyllum and Valeriana. El Tatio geyser field, one of San Pedro de Atacama’s most popular surrounding attractions, so don’t miss whenever you go Chile. The natural marveling at the geothermal wonders provides breathtaking views for taking pictures.

Stone Trees of Bolivia

There are so many huge rocks in special shapes in of Sur Lípez Province, Bolivia. The force of water and wind cannot be underestimated, because Mother Nature is a great artist and can shape any surface into his own will. Similarly, Árbol de Piedra also called "stone tree" is an isolated rock formation in the Eduardo Avaroa Andean Fauna National Reserve of Sur Lípez Province. The Siloli Desert, one of the driest places in the world, features a rocky outcropping with one formation in particular getting all the attention. The much photographed, it projects out of the altiplano sand dunes of Siloli in the Potosí Department, about 18km north of Laguna Colorada.

Siloli Desert has been whittled down into the exclusive shape of stone trees over time by sand and 120km/h winds that whip across 4,000m high Bolivian Altiplano in the colder months. Much looking like wind, sand, and water can sculpt out of the earth! This particular Bolivian reserve and arid, stark desert horizon coupled with strange rock formations strike a strong resemblance to the famous surrealist’s work. Moreover, the base of the rock has been weathered away by wind and time, while the top remained intact.

The seemingly incredible structure stands about 23 feet tall and casts its shadow even longer across the flat sandy desert. The "Stone Tree," shaped like a stunted tree about 7 m high, particularly the thin stem, are due to strong winds carrying sand and eroding the soft sandstone. This is Bolivia most famous natural places look like the head of dinosaur in the middle of arid desert which is unbelievable and especially interesting to see how the colors changing during one hour that you’d have been there. The more attraction adjacent to Árbol de Piedra are the salt flats portion, incredible scenery, Red lagoons, green lagoons, white lagoons, volcanoes, beautiful rock formations, hot springs, geothermal geyser fields and colorful, rainbow mountain ranges.

Laguna Verde, Bolivia

Southwest Bolivia contains some of the world's wildest and most remarkable landscapes, including the Laguna Verde, backed by the dormant 19,555ft Licancábur volcano. Laguna Verde is also called "green lake" actually a salt lake in an endorheic basin, in the southwestern Altiplano in the Sur Lípez Province of the Potosí Department in Bolivia. Laguna Verde is close to the Chilean border, at the foot of the volcano Licancabur. In the backdrop of the lake there is the perfectly cone shape inactive volcano Licancabur is believed that an ancient crypt used to be at its peak. Moreover NASA used the upper reaches of Licancábur for tests to prepare for future missions to Mars.

The Laguna Verde covers an area of 1700 ha, and a narrow causeway divides it into two parts. It is at the southwestern extremity of the Eduardo Avaroa Andean Fauna National Reserve and Bolivia itself. It has mineral suspensions of arsenic and other minerals which renders color to the lake waters. Its color varies from turquoise to dark emerald depending on the disturbance caused to sediments in the lake by winds. Therefore, icy cool winds are a common marvel here and lake waters can reach temperatures as low as -56 degree C but because of its chemical composition its waters still remain in a liquid state. It is 30 kilometers far from Palques Lake. This is one of some striking colored lakes, including the Laguna Colorada, where the fiery red waters and arctic-white shores a result of salt and borax deposits contrast with the colors of the lake's three species of breeding flamingos. Moreover you can climb the volcano or join a tour of the lakes and other landscapes, including the vast and similarly celebrated salt pans to the north.