March 26 Fantasy rock city and hidden valleys, llamas and dainty plants

 

Today was a day of rocks and valleys and other surprises. So much of what we have seen so far has been off the beaten track and today was no exception. First stop was a stunnng valley beyond a small llama-herders' community (most likely one family unit). Once past the dwellings and yards, we headed into a breathtakingly beautiful, tranquil valley. Not a soul in sight anywhere – the silence was heavenly.  Of course we got out and walked. 

The valley was covered in peat moss with rivulets meandering through

Freddy was going to take us wandering through this valley where few people venture and where we would likely see some wildlife. As we walked we saw a few wooden pegs close to the rocks which Freddy reckoned were supposed to mark the path where we should walk - they were few and far between.  The ground close by was squelchy fragile peat moss. 

I was still struggling with the altitude and my legs weren’t too happy doing long walks so after a while I stopped and let Lindsay and Freddy go on.  I was happy and quite able to entertain myself in the gentle silence – I was completely alone. It was wonderful after weeks of always being surrounded by people. Freddy assured me that I would be safe from pumas which until he mentioned it I had not given a thought.  Actually I wasn’t concerned at all – he would never have left me there if there had been any danger.  So while he and Lindsay were tramping down the valley I looked for plants and rocks and took pix and a video. All of a sudden as I was staring off into the distance a small herd of llamas came wandering past. Such gorgeous majestic creatures.  

Lindsay and Freddy finally came back (Lindsay was a bit altitude-stressed but keeoing it quiet). He’d seen a Chinchilla (long tailed rabbit), Andean foxes, lots of birds and was happy. Back in the car we headed for an amazing, jumbled bastion of eroded rocks which Freddy called ‘rock city’. 

We tip-toed through weird and wonderful, unlikely shapes and teetering boulders. I found lots of tiny plants and flowers tucked into crevasses and cracks. 

These are Yareta. Bottom L densely packed tiny leaves with were flowers. Bottom R some of the resin from the plant

I saw a number of large cushion-like 'mosses' often spreading, the same as I had seen in the valley and had puzzled over.  It’s called a Yareta, a cushion plant. They grow very slowly, many only 1mm per year, and can spread up to 6m. Many are estimated to be over 3,000 years old. Freddy told me that during the war when fuel was scarce they were used instead of coal. Fortunately their very slow growth makes the traditional practice of harvesting it for fuel unsustainable which is a relief. Evidently the menthol-like 'resin’ they exude has been traditionally used for medicine.  Incidentally they are native to South America and grow quite happily at high altitude – which is esactly where we were! You can imagine I was in my element photographing tiny flowers amongst the rocks and lava. 

Once down on the high plains we saw acres of quinoa in all colours spreading across in the distance.
It's a staple part of the Bolivian diet.

A field of quinao. The scraps tied to the fence are to deter the llamas

In the background is a wall of lava 

We headed for the tiny village of San Cristobal for lunch.  This village was an eye-opener for us. In order to reopen a mine, or rather to extend it, BHP moved, rebuilt and revitalised this town. That entailed shifting the church stone by stone because it was sitting over a huge silver/tin deposit. Not far from the town the huge open-cut mines extracted silver, lead and zinc. As part of the rebuild, BHP brought in services and schools and generally the whole thing works well.

The relocated, rebruilt church

The roof is made of reeds

We ended the day at Luna Salada, a hotel made of salt blocks - even the bed base and some of the dining chairs are huge chunks of salt. And the floor in most places is loose crushed salt. Fascinating! The hotel looks out over a humongus salt plain. 

The floor is covered with crushed salt - very hard to wheel a case across!