Lauca National Park

Esteban and I
Originally uploaded by louise_parmenter

Before I left Arica we tried to hire a 4x4 van to do an excursion to Lauca National Park with the kids. The hire fell through but Jano managed to borrow a van from his aunt in Arica and so off we went, all 8 of us to the Altiplano. We headed for Putre, an Altiplano village at about 3400 metres above sea level, and stayed there overnight. On the way we passed some petroglyphs of giants and camelids in the hills before ascending through some stunning desert mountains, and after dark almost hitting an Alpaca that threw itself in front of us. Putre is a pretty village of thatched houses with stunning snowcapped volcanos as a backdrop. The altitude barely affected us at this point so the following morning we continued on into the park which covers heights of between 3400 and 6000m above sea level. The landscape changed from desert mountains to lush Altiplano with yellow and orange grasslands, bofedal (marshy moss) and icy rockfaces with the Park´s volcanos drawing closer and closer. We saw many vicuñas, llamas and vizcachas on the trip. We managed to go to the far end of the park, close to the foot of one of the volcanos and stop off at the thermal springs and bathe in both the outdoor natural pool and the little man-made baths inside a tiny thatched hut. Heavenly. This was all at a height above sea level of 5,500 and the altitude took its toll after bathing. Both Esteban and he children had headaches. Esteban wasn´t well enough to drive for a while until we had descended a fair bit. Unfortunately Cristòbal failed to recover, even back in Putre, so as soon as the sun rose the following morning we returned to Arica, and within 1500m of descent Cristóbal was thankfully back to his usual happy self.

Despite the altitude problems we all had a great time and saw some beautiful sites – what was lovely was seeing the children experiencing the fauna and volcanos for the first time.

Here are the photos


DISTANCE TRAVELED SINCE USHUAIA: 10,600KM