October 19, 2018 – October 23, 2018
We were pleased to be on our way to a reserve that we had been dreaming about since we first started planning this trip. We had seen many images of Reserva Nacional de Fauna Andina Eduardo Avaroa (I know, quite the mouthful) and were excited at the prospects of being at this really remote, high altitude area in southern Bolivia.
October 18, 2018 – October 19, 2018
We camped for a night outside of Tupiza near the Canon del Inca. We didn’t know much about the area before we arrived, other than it was near to here that Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid were killed. Until we read about this, I had always assumed they were largely fictionalized characters. But no, they were real, and they are generally believed to have died in a gunfight with the Bolivian army in San Vicente in 1908, close to Tupiza, while planning to rob the payroll for a rich mine in the area.
October 12, 2018 – October 18, 2018
In order to enter Chile with a dog you need to have a recent vet certificate stating that the dog is healthy and all of its shots are up to date, then you need a form issued by the government of the country you are entering Chile from, stating that you are allowed to “export” the dog. A lot of annoying paperwork, and the first country to really care whether Piper was along or not. We could drive to Potosi in Bolivia for the paperwork, but decided that we would sooner spend the time required for all the appointments in Sucre.
October 9, 2018 – October 12, 2018
One of Bolivia’s most famous attractions is the expansive salt flats outside of Uyuni. The Salar de Uyuni is the world’s largest salt flat, at 10,582 square kilometres (4,086 square miles), and is at an elevation of 3,656 metres (11,995 feet). It formed when a prehistoric lake went dry, leaving behind a few metres of hard packed, glaring white salt, and a few remnant islands.
October 6, 2018 – October 8, 2018
Parque Nacional Sajama is a small park on the western border of Bolivia. Volcan Sajama, at 6,542 metres (21, 463 feet) is the highest mountain in Bolivia, and is the centre piece of the park. The small town of Sajama within the park has a few small hostels, but you are allowed to wild camp almost anywhere in the area….we loved it!
September 25, 2018 – October 6, 2018
We decided that we would camp at the secure parking area at the La Paz International Airport, which is technically in the city of El Alto, adjacent to, but high above La Paz. It was not a beautiful spot to camp, there was nowhere really to sit outside, but we had 24 hour security, 24 hour toilet access, and it was nice to be able to sit in the terminal with wifi access and drink a $5 coffee while listening to America’s greatest hits of the eighties….felt like a little piece of home.
September 24, 2018 – September 25, 2018
We headed away from Lake Titicaca, getting some last views of the huge sapphire lake as we climbed high into the surrounding countryside. We were driving to Tiwanaku, an important set of ruins in Bolivia, and a place that some consider to be the cradle of Andean culture.
September 20, 2018 – September 24, 2018
We drove through some beautiful, rugged, rural landscapes towards the border with Bolivia and Lago Titicaca, the highest navigable lake in the world. Lago Titicaca was extremely sacred to the Inca, and today remains sacred waters for many of the indigenous people of South America, as well, it would seem, for foreigners seeking alternatives to Western spirituality.