So Very, Very, Very Cold

Understandably, it is Winter in the Southern Hemisphere and it's bound to be chilly but it's actually been rather pleasant at 8,000 feet. Yesterday, we took the first of two excursions that would take us above 14,000 feet. Salar Tara was a full day excursion that took us to the remote salt flats of Tara, close to the Bolivian and Argentine borders. It was an hour drive on a wonderfully paved highway then a very bumpy off-road adventure (in a Chevy 9 passenger van, no less) for another half hour. The landscape was incredible with huge orange monoliths of compressed clay, stone, and volcanic ash towering in wide open plains. Los Monkas (monks), as they are referred for they resemble large monks in habits, are like guardians at the gate to the structures referred to as las Catederals (cathedrals), radiant orange sheered-off rocky shelves which open to the Tara Salt Flats. Joe and I ventured to walk the kilometer road to the stone hut that would serve as our lunch area that day. The driver dropped us and our guide Charly (the accompanying passengers on the excursion who hailed from Santiago and Southern Chile chose to stay in the vehicle for a warm cozy ride) off to see and experience the landscape first hand. DAMN it was cold...not only was the temperature low because of the high elevation but the wind also howled through us, I believe it was a brisk 10 degrees centigrade (with wind chill). Now had I been at a lower elevation, I would have walked quickly to our destination. But because the air was so thin and there was a lack of oxygen, a walk which would have taken me 10 minutes, took twice that long. Oh, but we got to marvel at the beauty of the landscape which was spectacular. We learned about the flora and the fauna and even got some great pictures of the flamingos, yes Andean flamingos, feasting on the shrimpy brine of the almost frozen over salt flats. Today's adventure took us, again, above 14,000 feet. We rose at 4:45 AM to make the dark trek to los geysers. Joe had read on many a blog and travel forum that the temperature at the geysers went below 0 C. So We doned many layers of clothes, put on hats, scarves, two pairs of socks, in preparation for the low temperature. It was a dark and cold drive, but those blogs were not kidding when they mentioned the low temperatures. Even the German family, who are accustomed to the cold, complained how cold it was!!! It was -10 C!!! Thankfully, I had bundled my core body nicely and my ears were warm because of the new hat I had knit but I literally froze my ASS OFF! My ass has never been so cold! I've lived in Nebraska, it gets cold there in the winter, but I cannot recall freezing my ass off! Now, you may ask, what is the point of being at the geysers so early in the morning, even before the sun rises? It is to see the steam from the geysers juxtaposed against the beauty of the rising sun. Yes, it was beautiful and once again we took some great pictures...it was worth it, even at the cost of freezing my ass off. By 9 AM, I was peeling off my fleece and scarf for the sun was warm and cheery. We even had the chance to see wild fox and vicuña up close, so the morning was not misspent, though I did go back to bed when we returned to the hotel...4:45 AM is way too early to be up while on vacation. --Christine