Jeep Tour: Laguna Colorada

We have heard from a lot of travelers that the ‘thing to do’ is a three day Jeep tour through the Andes from Chile into the Bolivian town of Uyuni. At only $170 for all transport, food, and accommodation, Andreas and I were in. We have been traveling with two kiwis from Auckland and an American from Seattle, so we all decided to go together. Our first stop was the Bolivian border, a small hut in the middle of the desert. We have heard the border crossing can be difficult for Americans (we have to pay $160 US while everyone else is free), however, I had no idea just how difficult it would be. While everyone else got a smile and a stamp, it seemed I was being punished for all the wrongs America has done in history. Although I had all my paperwork in order, they still yelled at me in Spanish, ripped one form I had in half, and refused to accept my pristine US dollar bills. After a lot of stress and bonding with the other Americans being abused, we made it through and we were ready to go on our way!

From then on, the trip was a wonderful experience. We have split the trip into three post as we have the most unbelievable photos from each day.

After meeting our driver David, a 50 yr old Bolivian man who did not speak a word of English, we set off on our adventure. We drove by reflective lagoons, snow capped mountains, and endless desert landscapes. We stopped at natural hot springs on a huge lagoon full of flamingos. Despite the beautiful weather, it was cold out and it felt great to relax in the warm water. Everyone in our group started to feel dizzy and short of breath while we were in the hotpools... turns out we were at an altitude of 4800m! The top of Annapurna Base Camp was only 4130m. We drove on to our accommodation for the night; a small hotel with dorm rooms, no showers, and limited electricity. Before dinner, we set out again to watch the sunset at the most spectacular place I have ever been; a red lagoon full of pink flamingos, mossy green shores, and grazing llamas. The pictures do not do this place justice.Read more