Flamingos get a bad rap as kitsch and gaudy lawn ornaments.  Today I discovered that these birds are really so much more delicate and graceful than I had thought before.  They are more than just funny looking pink things on spindly legs.  Flamingos are hearty birds that can withstand cold temperatures and high altitudes all the while still managing to look stylish.  This morning I got to soak up flamingo grace at the Laguna Colorada.  After a long day yesterday, our group slept in while the other groups woke up early for the usual 5am sunrise at the lagoon.  We arrived a little after the other groups had left, so when our jeep rolled up we were the only ones there—us, a calm, glassy body of water, and hundreds of birds. 

The red waters of the lagoon reflected the gracefully sloping mountains along its back shore, and in the foreground the water was framed by a green fringe of stubbly grassed flocked with patches of lost flamingo feathers. 

Wisps of steam rising from the thermally heated waters made an ever so slight fog around the edge of the lagoon.  The flamingos were milling about, their population doubled by the glassy reflection in the warmish waters. 

They scare easily, and as we approached the birds would slowly take off in flight, gliding low over the water in a long line like a skipped stone.

Joylani walking down the hills towards Laguna Colorada

            As usual, I got hungry (we hadn’t had breakfast yet).  I thought perhaps we’d just be eating bread or bananas in the car and so I asked if it would be possible for an early snack.  Instead, Felix (our friendly driver) suggested we just have breakfast at the lagoon, and we all agreed.  Marisol (our kind cook) surprised us all with a beautiful spread of hot drinks, and, best of all, panqueques (yup, pancakes!) with an array of spreads of fig jam, dulce de leche, and butter.  The panqueques were excellent, complete with proper pancake fluffiness (often absent in pancakes throughout Asia, murtabak excepted), and a hint of orange.  I savored the meal in the stillness of the surrounding scenery; it was, without a doubt, the most spectacular place I have ever eaten breakfast. 

breakfast

            This morning seemed to make the last two days of bumpy jeep rides and crappy accommodations all worth it.  I highly recommend, and would do it again myself just to see the Laguna Colorada again.  I’ve seen many stunning mountains, lakes, lagoons, and oceans during this trip and over my lifetime, but this spot is at the top of the list for its unusual appearance (I’ve never seen anything like it), still reflection, graceful residents, and the peaceful quietness of no one else around for miles.

            At our driver’s suggestion, we ended the day’s sightseeing with an unscheduled stop at Laguna Negra before pulling into our night’s lodging.  This spot was unique from the several other lagoons we’d stopped at earlier in the day in that it was at the bottom of a small hill and surrounded by unusual rock formations.  The formations looked as though hundreds of slabs had been stacks by a devote pilgrim, but they were all natural and I don’t know how they managed to stay standing. 

The lagoon was small, black like oil, and playful in its surroundings of the unusual rock formations and clumps of yareta, a strange coral-like plant that grows in this high-altitude desert.  I say it looks like coral for its round, lumpy shape and also for the white skeleton it leaves behind when all the green is gone.  This plant oozes a black sticky pitch (smells like a mix of turpentine and tiger balm) that is melted and applied with a cloth to sooth back pains. 

Like the other life this high up, I am amazed at how this plant can survive such cold nights and days and in such a dry climate.  Seeing all these crazy landscapes and plants make me wonder how it all got here, and what the ever-changing land looked like a long time ago.  And how did people figure out you could use yareta pitch to sooth back pain anyhow?

Joylani pretty much covered day 3. The only other things I’d mention are a couple of other things we saw along the way.

 

near Laguna Colorada

After Laguna Colorada, we stopped for about an hour in the Desierto de Siloli, which has dozens of huge stones just sitting in the middle of the big empty desert. Our guide said that the irregularly shaped boulders are the remains of volcanic rocks eroded by the wind and sand.

Arbol de Piedra

Joylani and some big rocks

Later, driving across the high-altitude tundra, we spotted an endangered Andean fox. They are supposedly very rare and the only reason we saw it is because one of its hind legs was injured and it had seemingly grown accustomed to approaching jeeps for food.

Andean fox

We also stopped for lunch at Laguna Honda, where many vicunas and flamingos were also feeding.

vincunas

flamingos at Laguna Honda