Hayley in Wanderlust: Salar de Uyuni

One of the main stop on the Gringo Trail (the main route/destinations a lot of travellers through South America take/visit), are of course, the Bolivian Salt Flats.
Honestly, before I started planning and researching (and staring enviously at my Facebook feed at those who made it out here before me), I'd sort of forgotten that they were thing. Look, I've never claimed to be any good at geography. Being born with extreme wanderlust doesn't magically warrent you that skill.

Anyway, since I'd been travelling up through Chile, the logical route was for me to enter Bolivia as part of a Salt Flats tour from San Pedro. The place is full of different tour opporaters who all offer you roughly the same package, for roughly the same price. The tours vary in length too, with one option leaving you in Uyuni, and the other bringing you back to San Pedro. I was going to be doing it with two of the girls from my G Adventures tour (as well as one of the girls I has met in Valparaiso and a guy from our hostel) and, to be honest, they did most of the planning.

We booked with a company called 'White and Green' and, admittedly, our tour was slightly more expensive. It meant that we followed a slightly different route and instead of having six passengers and a driver, we had five passanagers, a driver and a tour guide who spoke both English and Spanish. It was definitely a bonus, but since I speak Spanish, I could have easily done one of the cheaper tours and been fine. Not complaining though, it really was amazing going to different spots from all the other tours and the peacefulness of it all was unreal.

On day one, we set off for the Chilean/Bolivian boarded (where I almost froze to death, it's over 4000m above sea level). Once we'd cleared immigration, we headed down to a thermal spring, which was pretty interesting. I'd never been in one before, and after the cold start to the day, it felt amazing to step into nature's bath. The rest of the day was spent visiting three massive lagoons, all of different colours, thanks to the various elements in the earth. My favourite was the 'Coloured Lagoon' as the water looked pink and attracted thousands of flamingos. So cool, flamingos are my spirit animal.



Day Two started with a visit to Rock Valley, which involved climbing up and around various different rock formations. This included rocks that looked like a camel, the World Cup and entire city. From here we headed to Laguna Mysteriosa, which was absolutely unreal. Hidden, thousands of metres above sea level, we had to cross a field/marshland filled with grazing Llamas and scramble across more rocks to get to it, but it was completely worth it. With water black like ink, and reeds taller than me, it was easy to see why they called it 'Mysterious Lagoon' - it was just so beautiful. Following lunch, we visited a canyon that, yet again, tested my stomach for heights, but gave awesome views of the tiny stream that ran through the bottom of it. After this, it was a three hour drove through the national park to reach our 'Salt Hotel' on the edge of the Salt Flats for the night.

Our final day started bright and early, as we were up and on the move by 5:30am to make it to Cactus Island, on the Salt Flats, in time for sunrise. I'll be honest, it was freezing and I really, really, really haven't packed for the cold weather. Had it not been for a jumper given to me by one of the girls I'd met in Cordoba, I would have seriously screwed. Waiting for the sun to come up in the cold was agonising, and I barely stuck it out. The two things I hate to feel the most are cold and hungry, and by sunrise, I was both. Still, it was bloody spectacular and one of the most gorgeous things I've ever seen, so yes, it was worth almost dying for. Following breakfast we spent an hour or so out on the Salt Flats taking a whole range of touristy and perfect photos (although, our driver kept trying to have artistic direction of the pictures, which I hated). Then it was time to go to our final stop, the train cemetery, which lay on the outskirts of the town of Uyuni. The train cemetery was creepy, but so cool and was basically a big kids playground, as all the trains were there to be climbed and explored.

On top of seeing some pretty amazing things, it has to be said that my group were brilliant (and yes ok, I'd met them all before we jumped in a jeep together for three days), as were our guide and driver. The food prepared each day was delicious and they accommodated a vegetarian and a vegan with absolute ease, something I had been told wouldn't be possible in Bolivia!

Yet another beautiful highlight to this continuously amazing trip.

-xo

Hayley in Wanderlust: My G Adventure

 

Waterfall selfie, because obvz.

 

When I first burst into the Covent Garden branch of STA, I had no real idea what I was doing. I was simply a woman with a dream, who was bored of saving and talking about it but had no idea how to make it happen. All I actually wanted was to book flights, what I got was a whole lot more.

 

G Adventures are a Canadian company that run tours all over the world. Mine was called 'In search of Iguazu: Rio to Buenos Aires'. It was a tour that would last 17 days and take me through three countries (although, in true Hayley style, I didn't realise I was going to Uruguay until I'd checked in to my hostel in Rio... Good work). In a nutshell, our route was:

Rio - Ilia Grande - Paraty - Iguazu - Mercedes (Ranch stay) - Montevideo - Colonial - Buenos Aires.

As a first time solo traveller, I liked the idea that my first few weeks would be paid for and organised for me. It was a good way to fall into the pattern of travelling around and gaining the confidence to then be able to go off and do it on my own.



From Rio, our first stop was Ilha Grande, or 'paradise' as I like to call it. The island is largely uninhabited with many of it's secluded bays and beaches only reachable by hiking through the jungle or by boat and THERE ARE NO CARS! Tropical climate, picture perfect beaches AND no cars?! I had to be dragged away! Ilia Grande is home to Brazil's second best beach, ' Lopes Mendes'. You can hike to it or catch a speed boat for 40RS return. I (contrary to popular belief) really wanted to do the hike there, because there's something captivating about the jungle... but I was way too hangover so gave it a miss. I still haven't entirely forgiven myself. The island has a whole host of cute restaurants and boutique shops and a nightclub that jets out into the sea until the early hours too. I'd go back in a heartbeat.



Next stop was Paraty, a colonial town about two hours from Angra (where you catch the ferry to Ilia Grande). It's hard not to instantly fall for Party's charm. It's cobbled streets and prettily painted colonial houses are hard not to love, plus Caçhaca originated here- I was instantly a fan. Highlights include Thai Brazil, which is still hands down the best meal I've eaten since being away and Arte Caçhaca, a bar that resembles the garden of a student house. Littered with plastic chairs and tables and few beaten up sofas, the bar offered the most incredible array of Calpis (including one with nutella) and the owner simply the loveliest guy, remembering us from the night before and giving us a plate of free sardines (they weren't really my thing).

 

The two biggest highlights from the tour though, came back to back with a trip to the Iguazu Falls and then a Ranch stay in Uruguay.

I don't think I'll ever see anything as awe-inspiring and beautiful as the Iguazu Falls. Our tour included tickets to both sides and I probably can't recommend it enough. You only need a few hours to do the trail on the Brazilian side, which gives you the most amazing view of the falls as a whole. The Argentinian side needs a whole day, but it's absolutely a day well spent. Walking down Devil's Throat allows you stand right on top of the falls, the upper and lower trails give you a greater perspective of just how big the falls are and the boat tour takes you up close and personal with the water. The national park is home hundreds of birds and animals and over 800 species of butterfly. The place is kind of impressive.

 

Following the falls we made our way to Uruguay where our first stop was a two night stay at a ranch. There was another G group also staying at the same time as us (doing the same tour but starting in Buenos Aires), which gave meal times and the evenings a bit more life... Not that our group needed it. The weather was perfect, and the sun must have gone to my head because I played a game of football (my toes still hurts, it was two weeks ago) plus they had three dogs who pretty much just wanted to play or be cuddled all day. I'll never understand cat people.

 

We then spent two nights in Montevideo, Uruguay's capital and I saw approximately four streets of the city. Our hotel had been upgraded, there was a rooftop pool and it was 25 Degrees. As if in was going anywhere. But the rest of the group hired bikes and went for a tour around the old town which they all told me was beautiful. So far, everything about South America is beautiful, I'm going to have to find another adjective...

 

Colonia is another small colonial town that mirrored Paraty. The cobbled streets and mixture of Portuguese and Spanish style buildings are an ode to the way it was fought over for years. You don't really need more than one night here, but highlights include walking up the old lighthouse and getting a stunning view of the town and of the world's largest river and ice cream from 'El Cali'.

My style of my tour was 'yolo', which meant it was of basic standards, but more often than not felt like so much more. It included all of my travel and accommodation as well as some of meals. Our CEO (Chief Experience Officer) was a guy who clearly loved his job and the continent and the group were something else. Big thank you to all of them for some of the funniest nights, and more horrendous hangovers I've ever had. Looks like I'll be taking a trip to Melbourne at some point in the near future, since I am now friends with a whole army of Australians.
 

The tour ended in Buenos Aires, where I am now staying for about a week... But that's a story all of it's own.

- xo