Tupiza - Uyuni 4 day jeep tour (Bolivia)

After crossing into Bolivia we stayed a couple of nights in Tupiza before beginning a 4 day jeep tour through southwest Bolivia from Tupiza to Uyuni. The tour took us on rough backroads through amazing scenery such as snow-capped mountains, picture-perfect lakes, geysers, volcanoes, crazy rock formations, and hot springs before finishing at the famous and huge (12,500km2) salt flat near Uyuni.

Our jeep included another kiwi couple, Sam and Debs, who we got on great with, our excellent safety-conscious driver/guide Carlos, plus his mother who was our cook. We had a lot of fun together and some memorable moments communicating with Carlos (who only spoke spanish).

Much of this trip was at altitude (the highest we got was about 4900m) and although we found it difficult to adjust initially (lots of headaches and nausea) this fortunately didn´t take away from the awesome time we had.

Day 1: We passed through lots of little villages (including stopping at one to meet Carlos´ 90 year old grandmother - see photo below), saw lots of llamas, and got good practice at finding semi-private spots on the side of the road to use as a toilet! We stayed the night in a tiny picturesque village called San Antonio de Lipez, where Nick took on a couple of the local boys in a game of basketball, and we enjoyed an awesome sunset.

 

 

Day 2: This was a long day which started with our wakeup call at 4am! We saw an amazing sunrise on our drive up to 4855m, had lunch and a quick dip at natural hot springs overlooking a lake, visited the bright green Laguna Verde and some nearby geysers, and settled for the night near the beautiful red-coloured Laguna Colorada (with it´s many flamingos).

Day 3: We spent the morning driving through desert-like landscape, stopping at some amazing rock formations and seeing more picturesque lakes. We arrived at the salt flat at sunset - so stunning! That night we stayed in rooms which were made from large blocks of salt and had salt-covered floors in a small village called Colchani, on the edge of the Uyuni salt flat.

Day 4: Another early start so we could be at the salt flat for sunrise (which was equally as stunning as sunset!). We had breakfast on the salt flat and some time to experiment with fun photos (as you´ll see below) before ending the tour in Uyuni - and taking a hot shower!

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Argentinian cuisine

We thought we´d give you a few of the culinary highlights of our time in Argentina...

Steak: Parrillas (grill houses) are everywhere and the servings of meat are usually huge! We really liked the bife de chorizo (sirloin), bife de lomo (tenderloin) and the chorizo sausages but we weren´t too keen on trying the blood sausages, intestines and other interesting things on offer at parrillas!

Llama: More common in northern Argentina (and Bolivia). We tried a Llama stew for lunch in Humahuaca and were pleasantly surprised!

Empanadas:  A small pastry turnover that is stuffed (usually with beef, chicken, or cheese) and then fried or baked...great for a cheap and yum lunch! Our favourite empanadas were at Casa de la Empanada in Cafayate, where they had 12 different flavours!

Humitas: A corn dish where freshly ground corn, cheese and some spices are wrapped in a corn husk and boiled or steamed. These were great once you added some salt! 

Dulche de leche: A thick milky caramel spread (it literally means 'candy of milk') which we enjoyed having on bread for breakfast most days. The Argentinians seem to love it and put it in lots of their desserts.

Icecream: The Argentinians love their icecream, with helados (icecream shops) all over every town and with so many flavours on offer! Our favourite flavour was dulche de leche with chocolate brownie...amazing!

Mate: A grasslike herb drink (similar to tea) which is sipped from a mate cup (traditionally made from gourd) through a metal straw/filter (called a bombilla). The mate cup is filled with the dried mate leaves and hot water and when drunk/emptied it is refilled with hot water many times before losing it´s flavour. Mate is usually shared amongst family and friends (not a drink you can just order at a cafe!) but we were fortunate to meet an Argentinian who shared his mate with us...it also had a bit of mint with the mate leaves and was pretty tasty!

Wine: Argentina produces some great wines (especially Malbec and Torrontes) and they´re really cheap too...you can enjoy a good bottle of Malbec with dinner for only about NZ$10!

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