View allAll Photos Tagged HighAltitude
Laguna Tebenquiche, is nature sanctuary which is one of the largest bodies of brackish water in the Salar de Atacama. This site plays an important role in the ecological dynamics of the Salar de Atacama because it corresponds to bodies of permanent outcrops that support a biodiversity adapted to develop in extreme environmental conditions.
Walking on the salar covered with a thin layer of water, just enough for the lake to turn into a mirror, but thin enough to show the salt patterns salt, is unbelievable, like being on another planet
Puna de Atacama (also called Atacama Plateau), an arid high plateau (around 4000 m above sea level), in the Andes of northern Chile, nearby Bolivia and Argentina.
A guanaco on the Puna de Atacama (also called Atacama Plateau), an arid high plateau (around 4000 m above sea level) , in the Andes of northern Chile, nearby Bolivia and Argentina.
Following the route 27, from San Pedro to Bolivia, we reach a plateau at almost 4,000 m above sea level. The sun hits hard, yet it freezes. There are no three star sites on the road yet the scenery is incredible.
The sunrise paints the immensity of the Salar de Uyuni with a rapidly changing palette of colours. Of course, the red-orange phase is there too!
The symmetry of the image created by the reflection of the sky on the surface of the Salar de Uyuni, a hole in the clouds that appears just at the right moment and finally the sun piercing the horizon have created the illusion of a giant eye opening on the altiplano.
Salar de Talar is a large salt flat located in the high puna of northern Chilean Andes, at an altitude of 3,950 m. It is part of a series of salt lakes and salt flats located at the foothills of a chain of volcanoes stretching along the eastern side of the much greater Salar de Atacama. The salty flat is bordered on the west by Caichinque and on the east by Cerro Medano, is a mountain with striking shades of grey and brown, which contrast nicely with the sparkling white of the salt flat's surface. On top of that, colourful ponds fringe its shores. Salar de Talar is a part of the Central Andean dry puna ecoregion, which in this zone is characterized by tussock grass vegetation.
Tara Salt Flat is located at an altitude of 4 300 m within Los Flamencos National Reserve, near the border point where Chile, Bolivia, and Argentina meet. Tara is set on the crater of Vilama Volcano and it has a rich ecosystem that houses several flora and fauna species.
As you may have guessed, I stayed on the Salar to enjoy the sunset too. The difference with sunrise is that more tourists watch the sunset than the sunrise; not everyone is an early riser. But it was worth it I think.
The Salar de Uyuni is rich in minerals. In some places, there are geothermal springs, which deposit different oxidized metals and salts, creating small, multicoloured lagoons.
The Cordillera de la Sal was formed millions of years ago. It was an ancient lake, whose bottom was raised by the same movements of the earth's coast that gave rise to the Andes Mountains. Molded over time by the rain, wind and sun of the Atacama Desert, its final form as we know it today has a great variety of natural sculptures, different types of stratifications and colorations varied by the mineral diversity of the place.
Nature has endowed the relief of this vast rock formation with incredible colors. In Spanish, the Valle del Arcoiris means "Valley of the Rainbow", a name worthy of this grandiose landscape of red, white, yellow and brown cliffs standing out against the blue sky. This emblematic site of San Pedro de Atacama attracts visitors from all over the world to admire its splendid colors.