181218: Tupiza to San Antonio
We slept extraordinarily well in Tupiza. The altitude is lower than Potosi, there are less car fumes and the bed was super comfy.
We seemed to be the only ones stopping here. For Bolivia the hotel was quite expensive but we figured we wanted a bit of luxury before setting out to the wilderness. Sylvia had taken our laundry to be washed, however as it rained last night it wasn't dry and she was putting it out on chairs to try and dry it.
We checked through one of the bags and found someone else's clothes. We handed them back. Then Kevin couldn't find his cargo pants so Sylvia went running off to the lavanderia with Kevin in close pursuit to help identify the trousers. Meanwhile the Tupiza Tours jeep had turned up and the driver started packing our cases.
The trousers were not found so Silvia said she would send the trousers when they turned up by bus to Uyuni and gave us the name of a bus company where we could collect them.
So cases on the roof rack we headed off. We were sharing the Toyota Land Cruiser with a French couple from Beziers who were a little older than us. Our driver told us his name, but all of us misheard it - Jorge, Patrick, Ernosto - none of were too sure and as the days passed it was too embarrassing to ask him his name. So he will be called the driver. Sorry!
We headed out of Tupiza into a valley where they was an aluminium smelting plant. We then rose up a steep series of hillsides that had strange spire like formations - the Quebrada de Palala. About four other jeeps came with us - one from Tupiza Tours and others from different companies.
The soil was red and we noticed that new electricity pylons had gone up recently.
We encountered our first llamas on some wet lands near a mine. All of us rushed out to get photos. We didn't know we would be seeing literally hundreds of llamas.
Lunch came as a bit of a shock. We stopped at a small village called Nazarenito. There were rough adobe houses. We were told to look around for a few minutes which was a bit of a challenge as there wasn't much there. After twenty minutes we were asked to sit down in a very basic room with dust floors. There were plastic tables with oil cloths on them. Tupperware tubs were put on the table. We had pre-ordered vegetarian food and the driver told us which one was veggie. It was lentils and potatoes. Joan took one sniff at it and thought something was wrong. Kevin took one spoonful and came across a piece of gristle - not an auspicious start. So we ate the rice and salad. It turned out that we had been told the wrong tub of food. It was all a bit basic and not quite what we had expected. Toilets cost 2 Bolivianos and are better off not described.
After lunch we continued our journey, crossing very shallow streams and seeing herds of guanacos and an occasional vicuna.. We also saw rheas or nandus - an ostrich like bird. The roads were bumpy and dusty, and had no signage whatsoever.
We stopped off at La Cuidad Encanto - a former mining community, now deserted.
In the distance we could see the snow capped mountains of the Lipez range.
Finally we reached the remote Reserva Fauna Andina Eduardo Avaroa at 4191 metres. We were staying in Quetena Chico, a small settlement overlooked by the majestic Volcan Uturuncu. The houses were made of adobe and single storied. We were shocked when our driver pointed to a small room with four beds in it. Ok, it said basic accommodation but this was basic. It did have electricity but no shower. The toilets were best with eyes and nose shut.
Slightly embarrassed but oh, so polite we unpacked our things. Jocelyn and Patrice had one rucksack between them, where we had three suitcases and backpacks. There are no locks on the bedroom doors and there are un-curtained windows from the corridor.
As it was still sunny and quite breezy we took the opportunity to dry our clothes outside on some breeze blocks.
Dinner time came and it turns out there are 8 people with Tupiza tours: Two chefs from Austria who have given up their jobs to tour South America, a girl who seemed to speak every language, a Brazilian-Japanese lady who was suffering from the altitude as well as us four. They were all on our for more than our four weeks.
Dinner was unidentified meat, mashed potato, mixed veg and a boiled egg for the veggies. The cook had originally offered us tuna! It was not warm and this would always be the case. A cook travelled in the other jeep and she had very basic cooking equipment to work with so all credit to her.
After dinner, we went to bed. However Joan suffers from claustophobia and a fear of the dark, has been known to suffer from insomnia and panic attacks, particularly at altitude - notably in Andagua, Peru and Colchane, Chile. Kevin is used to this but she was afraid of upsetting the other people with her restlessness. So she paced up and down the corridor for four hours unable to settle. She then spotted a door and found a room with five empty beds where she managed to sleep intermittently.
We seemed to be the only ones stopping here. For Bolivia the hotel was quite expensive but we figured we wanted a bit of luxury before setting out to the wilderness. Sylvia had taken our laundry to be washed, however as it rained last night it wasn't dry and she was putting it out on chairs to try and dry it.
We checked through one of the bags and found someone else's clothes. We handed them back. Then Kevin couldn't find his cargo pants so Sylvia went running off to the lavanderia with Kevin in close pursuit to help identify the trousers. Meanwhile the Tupiza Tours jeep had turned up and the driver started packing our cases.
The trousers were not found so Silvia said she would send the trousers when they turned up by bus to Uyuni and gave us the name of a bus company where we could collect them.
So cases on the roof rack we headed off. We were sharing the Toyota Land Cruiser with a French couple from Beziers who were a little older than us. Our driver told us his name, but all of us misheard it - Jorge, Patrick, Ernosto - none of were too sure and as the days passed it was too embarrassing to ask him his name. So he will be called the driver. Sorry!
We headed out of Tupiza into a valley where they was an aluminium smelting plant. We then rose up a steep series of hillsides that had strange spire like formations - the Quebrada de Palala. About four other jeeps came with us - one from Tupiza Tours and others from different companies.
The soil was red and we noticed that new electricity pylons had gone up recently.
We encountered our first llamas on some wet lands near a mine. All of us rushed out to get photos. We didn't know we would be seeing literally hundreds of llamas.
Lunch came as a bit of a shock. We stopped at a small village called Nazarenito. There were rough adobe houses. We were told to look around for a few minutes which was a bit of a challenge as there wasn't much there. After twenty minutes we were asked to sit down in a very basic room with dust floors. There were plastic tables with oil cloths on them. Tupperware tubs were put on the table. We had pre-ordered vegetarian food and the driver told us which one was veggie. It was lentils and potatoes. Joan took one sniff at it and thought something was wrong. Kevin took one spoonful and came across a piece of gristle - not an auspicious start. So we ate the rice and salad. It turned out that we had been told the wrong tub of food. It was all a bit basic and not quite what we had expected. Toilets cost 2 Bolivianos and are better off not described.
After lunch we continued our journey, crossing very shallow streams and seeing herds of guanacos and an occasional vicuna.. We also saw rheas or nandus - an ostrich like bird. The roads were bumpy and dusty, and had no signage whatsoever.
We stopped off at La Cuidad Encanto - a former mining community, now deserted.
In the distance we could see the snow capped mountains of the Lipez range.
Finally we reached the remote Reserva Fauna Andina Eduardo Avaroa at 4191 metres. We were staying in Quetena Chico, a small settlement overlooked by the majestic Volcan Uturuncu. The houses were made of adobe and single storied. We were shocked when our driver pointed to a small room with four beds in it. Ok, it said basic accommodation but this was basic. It did have electricity but no shower. The toilets were best with eyes and nose shut.
Slightly embarrassed but oh, so polite we unpacked our things. Jocelyn and Patrice had one rucksack between them, where we had three suitcases and backpacks. There are no locks on the bedroom doors and there are un-curtained windows from the corridor.
As it was still sunny and quite breezy we took the opportunity to dry our clothes outside on some breeze blocks.
Dinner time came and it turns out there are 8 people with Tupiza tours: Two chefs from Austria who have given up their jobs to tour South America, a girl who seemed to speak every language, a Brazilian-Japanese lady who was suffering from the altitude as well as us four. They were all on our for more than our four weeks.
Dinner was unidentified meat, mashed potato, mixed veg and a boiled egg for the veggies. The cook had originally offered us tuna! It was not warm and this would always be the case. A cook travelled in the other jeep and she had very basic cooking equipment to work with so all credit to her.
After dinner, we went to bed. However Joan suffers from claustophobia and a fear of the dark, has been known to suffer from insomnia and panic attacks, particularly at altitude - notably in Andagua, Peru and Colchane, Chile. Kevin is used to this but she was afraid of upsetting the other people with her restlessness. So she paced up and down the corridor for four hours unable to settle. She then spotted a door and found a room with five empty beds where she managed to sleep intermittently.
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