Day 4: Salar de Huasco y Mamiña

We spent the night in Pica again cuz we loved it so much and then woke up early to go to Salar de Huasco. We were really excited about this trip because we missed alot of the salares when we were in the San Pedro area. Salares are salt lakes. Alot of them have dried up but the ones at the highest elevation still have water. Most of them have wild flamingoes! So we bought coca leaves and we grinded on em as we drove the 5000 meters to the salar.

We couldn´t get enough of these fuzzy cuties. They´re called llamas and not all of them come with bright cloth collars. This flock must belong to someone but they sure looked like they lived in a wild place with nothing nearby.

As we got higher into the Andes we got a better and better view of the mountains on the Chile/Bolivia border. Take notice of the clouds.

Here we are at the mirador (lookout point) for Salad de Huasco. We were so close we could taste it! Can you see the blue of the lake?

So close yet not close enough... as we stood at the mirador taking it all in, the black clouds started rumbling and looking more ominous. In a matter of seconds the moisture broke and it started raining and hailing! In the driest desert in the world!?! Turns out, this is what they mean by a "Bolivian Winter." The road was dirt and sand for the last part of the trip and we didn´t want to risk getting stuck in our little rental in the middle of nowhere... so, we turned back with no flamingo sightings and went onto Mamiña.

Mamiña is a mining town centered around thermal waters in the depths of the Andes. We soaked in our own private bath tub tapped with piping hot thermal waters sipping on coca tea our wonderful host, Gloria brought to our room. She took extra good care of us because we were the only guests in her big hotel. We couldn´t have asked for a better host... she was the cutest woman ever! And the baths were, of course, delicious.

The next day we went exploring and found what must be the sweetest spot in the whole town. An outdoor thermal water bath that is actually a holding tank for the town.

To get there, walk down from Hotel Bellavista until you see a trench of hot water. Pass the burros and keep following the trench.

Eventually you get to what looks like an inground bathtub and huge pool full of mineral rich hot water!