16,732ft

The border crossing from Chile to Bolivia is one I’ll never forget, and I had it easy compared to others. High up in the blue Atacama sky, seated below a volcano, are the border control offices of these two neighboring countries. It was the most beautiful location, a perfect spot to view the sun advance from below the horizon, illuminating the snowy peaks with soft winter light. Entering Bolivia was a challenge for some. An Australian passport was wonderful, an American one not so much. My fellow traveling buddies were escorted to an out-of-sight room to plead for their visa. An episode of Border Security comes to mind. Long story short, I waited outside for well over an hour before hearing or seeing them again. A few extra dollars exchanged and a passport photograph sent via telegram (or some tech not so far off) and they were allowed to enter. Phew!

After a picnic breakfast and strapping down our luggage to the top of our patrol, we set off. We’d be making our first of three days exploring the desert. Loads of lakes today, plenty of high mountains to marvel at, landscapes that inspired Dali, geothermal pools and a few thousand flamingos. It was probably one of the most picturesque days of our entire trip, and I hope that my selection inspires you to travel here… it’s amazing!

At one point today, we started to heat up in the backseat and called out to Ramiro (our awesome driver), "How about some aircon? Or the windows?" “Not here,” he sung back. Our car was crawling up a slight incline and needed all the power it could muster. We’d have to put up with it for a little while longer. We were close to 5100 meters above sea level, and this is where cars in the past have called it quits. It’s the highest point of our trip, and he was taking no chances with what we joked was his ‘heaviest load ever’. We did have a couple of scares though: at one point we ran out of fuel, and at another, the engine wasn’t giving us the necessary power (it turned out the fuel tanks weren’t flowing correctly).

Our visit to Laguna Colorada (Color Red) was incredible, a wildlife sanctuary. Andean, Chilean, and James's flamingos could be seen across the entirety of the lake, feeding on microorganisms and algae. Interestingly they get their pink and reddish hues from the pigments in their diet of these microorganisms. Vicuñas hung to the edge, munching on grass. It truly was something special, like nothing I’ve ever seen before. A paradise in the harsh desert.