Eggs, Birds, and Wide Open Volcanic Spaces
These volcanic gas bubble eggs were a pretty cool sight this morning. Over five hundred years ago, the natives would crack open an entrance into these formerly viscus, hollowed, magma chambers to create the perfect cross-dimension capsule for their deceased comrades.
The native ceremonial belief structure around death was similar to the Egyptians, in that basic mummification was also conducted here, and provisions for the after life were sealed in the vulcan eggs for use in the afterlife. The broken pottery jars, in the foreground, would have contained grains for later consumption, and of course the internal organs of the deceased as well. The fetal position of mummies symbolized a return to the womb, but to achieve this final positioning both knees and hips needed to be broken.
Even after desecration by grave robbers, it is amazing how the super dry desert environment has even preserved the discs between vertebra, allowing for a five-hundred year connection to be maintained.
Back to the driest desert in the world, we hunted for volcanoes...
... and managed to catch a glimpse of one smoldering giant on the Chilean border. Actually, this one was taking a bit of a nap, as I had seen much more impressive pictures from just a few days prior. (Note the little "puff" half-way down on the left.)
... Speaking of "little puffs", our surprise passenger was up to some gastrointestinal gymnastics. She was cute as can be and very well behaved, but could wipe out a nine-passenger Landcruiser with a single expulsion. We spoke in code, so that whomever was sitting next to the windows could arrange an emergency ventilation drill, by saying "Does something smell like Tibet in here?", which was more discretely and instantaneously communicated as simply "Tibet!" Unfortunately, the whole scenario reminded me of the Friends/Phoebe song "Smelly Cat", specifically the phrase "What are they feeding you?"
Dormant and semi-active volcanoes line the dried Salar lake bed, leaving smaller wet lakes in between. These waters are densely saline, creating a perfect crustacean habitat for migrating flamingos to feast upon.
The natural coloration of these tiny krill/shrimp type creatures are what actually give the flamingo their pink pigmentation. Without consuming vast quantities of these salt water crustaceans the flamingos would remain a more subtle dirty white color.
These birds are grazers and walk with their beaks below the water line. That way they can skim the muddy bottom. It is fun to watch their wandering "Etch-a-Sketch" patterns left in the lake floor.
There were several lakes on the day's agenda and this one served as "lunch break distraction". Apparently the resident photographer deemed it "impossible to shoot a reflection" here, so sorry Steve... here's the proof. :-)
Probably why he thought the odds were leaning towards impossible was the appearance of multiple dust devils, both in camp and across the shallow lake bed. These mini-tornadoes could whip up a furry in a matter of moments and sent us scrambling for the trucks when one gave our lunch site the "shake and bake" treatment.
After lunch it was time to experience lack of humidity in extreme. To get there our crew continued the off-roading adventure. (Thought of Dan D. all day... must go to the desert upon returning to CA.)
For a sense of scale, Steve took this picture of Lipika and I walking across the powdery dehydrated surface of the desert. Vast would be an enormous understatement of the expanse of nothingness. The silence was dense and almost heavy in this high altitude UV exposure basin. It was almost as if the grains of sand were consuming every vibration.
Now for some volcanology "coolness". Apparently, a local volcano started to erupt during the Ice Age. Millions of tons of ice slowed the magma flow as it struggled to the surface, eventually stunting the eruption. Then, after the ice age had passed and the volcano had gotten a second chance at releasing some energy, it threw these massive chunks of preformed, semi-solid, rock from the first eruption across the valley and some, like this one, landed with unique form. This particular rock is called the stone tree. (Again, for scale, this is about thirty-five feet high and completely impressive.)
The most visually impactful lake/volcano combo was the last of the day. The perfect cone, red lake banks, and salt rim were a study in contrast. (It would have been nice to have a "real camera" here.)
More flamingos enjoyed the brine feast. There were actually three distinct types of flamingos and today it is safe to say that we witnessed two.
Closer to shore, juvenile llamas captured our collective attention.
The llama herders put colorful yarn tassels in their animal's ears, in lieu of branding. The added benefit is that they look pretty cool as well.
Just so you don't think that we were "living it up" on the Salar, our cement constructed dormitory could have easily served as a "meat locker" when guests were not present. The night was cold, but the group's good natured humor and shared libations were warming.
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