Day 97: Salar de Uyuni, Bolivia

“Where`s the mechanic?“ Marco asked, in spanish, to a man walking by the road. “I`m not sure. He`s probably out with the llamas.“ Great, so the one mechanic in a town of 30 people was out tending his llamas?! Thirty minutes after we had set out, we had lost the bolt that holds the back suspension together. After 4 passing jeeps offered nothing but unhelpful stares, useless repair kits with only a wrench and 2 rubber straps,  Marco tied up the suspension (with the said rubber straps) and we headed back to town hoping our jeep wouldn`t rattle to pieces on the bumpiest non-road we`ve ever been on. And now that we made it back, the mechanic was out with his llamas? Well, a minor setback so we did what anyone would`ve done in this situation (right?!)–we went to the small schoolhouse and asked around for the mechanics child and took his daughter out of school!

Our poor broken jeep in the desert

She had the keys to her dad`s shop and even sold us some metal wire to fix the jeep. After an hour and a half of lost time we set off again, Marco wasting no time and seeming to forget that the suspension was only wired together. We flew across the semi-desert like a bat out of hades hitting deep holes so hard and so fast that the three of us in the back seat smashed our faces on the windows, banged our heads into the ceiling all the while slamming into each other as Marco drove wildly to avoid holes and bumps which only took us reeling into other surely bigger ones!

After what felt like a death race, we were relieved to get out at a big lake littered with tons of flamingos while lunch was cooking. We chased some vicunya (think of a llama crossed with an antelope, no horns though) and enjoyed some quiet, out-of-jeep time.

Vicunya standing at the foot of the mountain

Flamingos and the toxic lake (good band name)

Having actually made up time despite our prolonged breakdown, thanks to Marco`s madman off-roading skills, we took our time getting to another sulfur lake with more flamingos thoroughly engrossed in fishing for their lunch. More driving through the desert with a quick stop at an old lava flow now worn into irregular shapes til we came to the night`s lodging that offered no heat, electricity only 2 hours in the evening and icy showers that could potentially be used for cryogenically freezing bodies. Most of us skipped them hoping no one would mind if we all smell a little weird tomorrow.

Dinner was a delightful surprise: soup, bread, spaghetti with meat, and best of all, a bottle of red wine! It was quite a feast but it was so cold in that concrete hall with cracked and busted windows letting in the freezing desert air of the night. We all went to bed early just to warm up…and because we have to be up at 4:30AM tomorrow for the “geezers.“