We drive for about an hour and began our famous Salt Flat Photo Shoot, which even puts our Machu Picchu one to shame. It was so much fun messing around and playing with the illusions created by a lack of contrast and visible depth in the landscape.
We began to drive further and you could see these black spots on the horizon. As we got closer they appeared to be odd ovals. Turns out, they are islands made of normal desert like earth, that have sprouted through the salt. The mirror effect causing them to look round was simply a combination of mirage and reflection. We arrived at "our island" which really was ours because our tour company has exclusive access to this island with a cave, massive cacti, and beautiful views. We hiked up and into the cave and marveled at this bizarre rock island we were sitting inside of. History says, millions of years ago, all of the salt flats used to be under water. Between volcanic eruptions and floods, the deserts of Bolivia are filled with unique magna and coral rock that has long since petrified and now provides the modern landscape. This cave was most likely a water bubble inside of some coral that ultimately exploded due to pressure. Now, it is this massive hole on this random island, in the middle of a salt desert.
This type of cactus only grows one centimeter a year. So as you can see, this guy has over 2,000 years under his belt!
We took some moments to take it all in and sat quietly in the cave. It was a silence like neither of us had ever experienced before. When we climbed down from the cave, Christina had prepared a llama steak lunch for us! Complete with fresh salt for seasoning of course.
After lunch we hiked and explored the island a little more. We climbed to the top and gained a new perspective of the island and the flats. It was amazing how as the mountain terrain faded back into the salt, it looked exactly like a beach meeting and ocean. It wasn't so difficult to imagine this place being covered in water anymore.
We did one more photo shoot as we finished up our time on our island and in the salt flats. It was time to finish the four hour drive through them and say "Hasta luego".
We proceeded to drive out to the edge of the flats and further into the Bolivian desert. Gerry told us he had a surprise, and he sure did! When we arrived at our lodge we had an amazing tea and cookie spread waiting for us. But what was even better... We were staying in a lodge made out of salt! All of the bricks are salt blocks and even our beds were made out of salt. So cool!
Gerry's final surprise for us was a bottle of wine with dinner. We all cheersed to health, new friends, and an amazing adventure.
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