Bolivia's southwest

A big chunk of my time in Bolivia was spent in the southwest, a Patagonia-esque treasure in its rugged, vast, and largely untouched quality. Salt flats, red rocks, geysers, volcanos, deserts, multi-colored lakes and mountains, flamingos, ostriches, vicuñas, llamas - the list goes on!

Landscapes similar to those of the American southwest just outside the town of Tupiza (near where Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid were finally killed)

Rock formations formed by water and wind erosion

Vicuñas! (in the llama family but much smaller, native to the Andes)

This was a typical scene on the jeep tour - fording semi-frozen rivers through deep ice

Laguna Celeste (sky blue lake) with a volcanic peak in the background

This area was called the Desert of Dalí, because the mountain's mixed color palette resembled that of the Spanish painter

Laguna Verde (green lake) alongside Licancabur volcano. I saw this same peak from the Chilean side back in 2009.

Bubbling lava and geysers at 5,000m (16,400 ft) above sea level

Laguna Colorada (pink lake), with its native flamingos

Pretending to hold up the "rock tree" with tour group friends

Hanging out literally 2m away from beautiful flamingos

Watching the sunrise in the middle of the Uyuni salt flat

The whole floor of the salt flat has these hexagons, formed by the tiny bubbles that rise when the salt crystals form

One of many fun pictures from the salt flat - it's all about perspective :)

Last stop: the train cemetery in Uyuni