Chile (July-August 2015): Salar de Surire
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Road itinerary (in blue) to Salar de Surire from the Arica-to-Bolivia road: |
Salar de Surire: |
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Salar de Surire is located at 4250m on the Altiplano, 125 km south-east of Putre. It consists of a large salt flat and smaller salt lakes (whose sizes depend on the season). The salt flat is mined for borax (a compound with many uses in detergents and cosmetics), but at any one time the mining operations only cover a small portion of the salar. The salar and its surroundings shelter plenty of wildlife. Thanks to the borax mine a reasonably good unpaved road connects the Arica-to-Bolivia road to the salar. The scenery along the road is typical of the Altiplano, often monotonous, but with some unusual features (cliffs, ravines...). The most interesting feature is the Quebrada de Chuba (ravine), located on a smaller road south of the main road.
I did a day trip by car from Putre to Salar de Surire. My driver was Eugenio Churata Poma, an Aymara living in Putre. During my stay in Parinacota Province, Eugenio also drove me to Guane-Guane (and back) and from Suriplaza to Putre. He is one of the few reliable drivers available in Putre. He does not speak English and I speak very little Spanish and no Aymara. Nevertheless, during the long drives together we kept talking, talking, and talking... about his family in Bolivia, his family in Arica, the small new house he is building in Colpitas (a tiny village north of Cerro Taapaca), relations among wildlife... From him I learned that the four kinds of camelids (vicunas, llamas, alpacas, and guanacos) can share pasture in a friendly way, but never interbreed, and that Guallata (Andean gooses) couples are faithful for life. I also learned that Vicuna youngsters leave their families when they are approximately one-year old to join groups of other youngsters and that from time to time a male youngster from such a group decides to form a new family, not without taking a few females with him and sometimes fighting with other males. In addition, Eugenio is an accomplished charango player (a charango is a small 10-string lute). He loves to sing songs from the Altiplano.
Eugenio playing charango.
Along the road to/from Salar de Surire:
Group of vicunas.
Unusual cliffs.
Quebrada de Chuba. Most likely this quite unique scenery (located some 10-15 km west of Volcan Guallatiri) was produced by the erosion of a huge deposit of hardly packed volcano ash.
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Suri (also called rhea pennata or nandu) are large flightless birds related to the ostrich.
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Iglesia Inmaculada Conception in the village of Guallatiri (19th century, recently renovated using local materials).
Volcan Gallatiri seen from the village of Guallatiri.
Guallatas (Andean gooses). The name ″Guallatiri″ means ″Habitat de guallatas″.
Barras de barro (bars of mud).
Herd of llamas.
Along the loop around Salar de Surire:
Reaching Salar de Surire.
Views from the CONAF building.
Vizcachas. In general it is difficult to take close photos of these shy animals as they run away from humans. However, around the CONAF building, some got used to humans and seem to even like to be photographed. They may look similar to rabbits (except for their long tails), but they are members of the family Chinchillidae (along with the chinchillas).
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Suris and vicunas on the shore of the lake.
Polloquiere (hot springs).
Juvenile flamingo enjoying the hot water of Polloquiere. Adult flamingos get their rosy pink coloration from carotenoid pigments in the food they eat. It usually takes one to two years for a young flamingo to obtain this coloration.
The flamingo ″corner″ on the north-east shore of the salar.
Views from the north shore of the salar.
