After touring the salt flats and having our fun with pictures, we started our tour of volcanoes and lagoons in the highest desert in the world. We slept at 4,400 meters and reached a maximum of 5,000. It was cold. Very cold.

A proper desert, sand was everywhere and covered the landscape. Vegetation was nowhere to be found.

We came across a garden of large rocks, which included el Árbol de Piedra (the tree of rock).

I devolved into a child and decided climbing on things sounded fun. I was correct–it was lots of fun indeed.

After lunch, we made our way to the red lagoon. Various minerals and algae conspire to turn the water red when the wind blows. We were also taught the difference between a lake and a lagoon–the former has inputs/outputs (such as a river), while the latter does not. You learn something new every day.

We finally reached 5,000 meters as we approached the geysers and mud pots. Think Yellowstone but colder. Same lovely smell of rotten eggs.

Luckily, standing in the steam provided a respite from the cold. It also provided the opportunity for some pretty cool pictures.

At 5,000 feet I finally achieved my dream of walking on clouds…or, more accurately, standing in a hot, stinky volcano emissions. The former sounds cooler, so we’re going to go with that.

The next morning, I attempted to jump as high as a volcano. Unfortunately, I achieved minimal success.

Finally, we walked to the “mystery lake”–so called because it’s a mystery why there is a lake in the middle of the desert. We took a bit to soak in the scenery before heading back to Uyuni.

-Michael Cloudwalker Huseby