Parque Nacional de Lauca (1-2 Nov. 1999)

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In the afternoon on the 1st of November we left Oruro with a bus going towards Arica on the Chilean west coast. We were quite annoyed when realizing the first half of our journey towards the Chilean border was the same way as we had come from La Paz two days earlier. Nevertheless, we really enjoyed the scenery when entering the national park of Sajama. Great amounts of llamas and shapes of hills that were among the most imaginative in South America made the fairly expensive bus ride pay off. We managed to enter Chile and also to jump off the bus at the headquarters of the Chilean counterpart to Sajama, Parque Nacional de Lauca. The views when arriving were one of the most grandiose in South America. The perfect snow-capped volcanic cone of Parinacota (see right) behind one of the world's highest lakes, Lago Chungar�, was just incredible at sunset. The drawback was the height, 4500 m.a.s., which made all our supplies of clothes worthwile when the sun had gone down. We shivered when cooking dinner in the darkness and our first night in Chile was the coldest we had experienced so far. In fact, it was impossible to sleep, and I left the tent for a stroll before sunrise (see bottom right).The Chilean guard was really nice and helpful, despite we hadn't enough Chilean money to pay the quite expensive camping fare. I was surprised when he told us that it was forbidden to move freely in the area, but luckily he did not follow the rules strictly and gave us permission to round the lake. He really seemed to enjoy his work, admiring a flock of fussing Vicunas. Of course, the surroundings were ordinary fare for him, but he must have enjoyed it a bit. We definitely enjoyed it. The lake was lined with birds of which flamingos were the most noticeable. Volcano Guallatiri in the east (see below) was smoking ominuously.

Above, Anna rubs her face with sun lotion - a wise choice in this area of thin air and tropical rays of sunshine. At this point it was even surprisingly warm, considering the high altitude. However, after this short break in the western bay of Lago Chungar� we would take some height to approach Parinacota, at approximately 4700 m.a.s. (see right), I couldn't manage without complete skiing suit. Here, we turned right, following a vast field of nothing but dust and strange volcanic stones that Anna enjoyed collecting for her friend Emma. In the next page you will see the biggest stone that she found...

The Lauca Adventure Cont.

Northern Bolivia