Wednesday 7 November 2007

Hot Pools and Laguna Verde

A short journey on from the Geysers was another mountain lagoon, though this one was very special. The water feeding it was hot ! Damn hot ! So, after a nice cup of tea, it was time for groups of shivering Gringos to lower themselves into the steaming pool. Note the joy on the faces ! There were quite different expressions when they got out into the sub-zero breeze afterwards... Reminds me of the those Japanese monkeys that live in the high mountains that spend all their spare time in geothermal pools...



Final stop on our tour of the Bolivian south was the Laguna Verde - a large lake that sits in the shadow of the Licancabur volcano ( 5880m ish ). Apparantly the reason it is green is due to the Copper and Arsenic salts dissolved in it. Not really suitable for swimming then, but very, very pretty. The volcano marks the border with Chile, so after an exciting border crossing ( Dog had to make a ´donation´to the Bolivian customs Xmas fund . . . . ), that was it for Bolivia.

Next stop, San Pedro de Atacama in Chile...