Vicuñas near Cotacotani lake

After we parked at the lookout we had been trying to reach from the Parinacota village end, we tried to climb a lava hill next to the lake for better views. The air was very rarefied and after climbing about halfway, we realized its the same view we had seen earlier plus we were getting late with a long distance still to go before sunset so we decided to go back and continue further.
As we were driving back near the lake shore, we stopped to take a picture of the reflection of the Cotacotani volcano in the lake water. I walked back to that point along the shore while Hristo drove the vehicle along the track. A herd of vicuñas was trying to come towards the direction we were coming from and got trapped between the lava hills on one side with our vehicle just below and the lake with me standing near the shore. It was total panic chaos after that. Most of the herd ran past me while i prepared my cameras to take pictures and videos while one of them was too scared and started running towards the vehicle. Here, Hristo came out and started running after it 😄😄😄 Both kept running towards amd away from each other for about a minute before Hristo got totally out of breath due to the altitude and the vicuña decided that going around the lake was a safer option 😁😁😁
Finally, it ran around the lake and the rest of the herd that had stopped and was looking back at the circus happening behind, too ran and joined it at the opposite end of the lake.Read more