Melting Plots

Possibly the most photogenic place in all our travels – the salt lake of Uyuni was Number 1 on Megumi’s travel wish list.Almost the last place on our journey, we were lucky enough to time the end of the rainy season which coats the salt lake in a few cm of water. A perfect mirror to the horizon in all directions.

The sunset over Uyuni was particularly amazing, quite psychedelic. A cascade of colours erupting in front, under and all around you. To see it we had to stay in a very basic hotel (made of salt) in the middle of the lake. Primitive accommodation, freezing cold at night – but the only guests with the entire salt scape to ourselves.

Every hour the Uyuni landscape changed with the light. Morphing from watery landscapes, to mirror reflections to almost icy nothingness – constantly changing with the light. Many, like this one at sunrise – feel more like professional exhibition works with no photo-shopping required.

Megumi living out one of her dreams! Ice-climbing her way (using crampons and pickaxes) to the top of Huayana Potosi – a mountain 6088m high, located just outside La Paz in Bolivia. I quite happily sat this one out – but she is pictured here at the summit, with one her few remaining companions – only 3 out 7 made it.

Some people have contacted us about donating money or asking what they might be able to do for the earthquake/tsunami victims. Money and aid is still desperately needed so anything you can do will make a big difference…

One of the 7 modern wonders of the world, the amazing lost Incan city sits perched on a remote mountain top, magic for a whole host of reasons – the location, surrounding mountain scenery, the achievements architecturally, its mystery. It just resonates with a powerful, spiritual energy that really stirs the soul….

The Sacred mountain of “Apu Yanantin”, revered by the Andean people and said to symbolize the union of two dissimilar energies…. The mountain sits high above the magnificent Incan fortress and ruins of Ollantaytambo, a beautiful atmospheric Incan village wedged between fantastic mountain ruins on either side….

The fascinating Incan terrace designs of Moray in the Sacred Valley………..largely believed to be an agricultural experimental zone built by the Inca’s….the Andean people and their shaman come here to conduct ceremonies and make offerings to Panchama – mother earth….

A distant shot of the salt farms of Salineras – the scale of this really takes your breathe away when you first sea. Carved into a valley by the Incas and surrounded by green mountains; there are some 3,000 salt pans in total, all cleverly irrigated and feeding off a small salt water spring, remnants of a long lost sea…..

The rare great Andean condor – the largest bird in the world and highly endangered. The Colca Valley is one of the few places where you can almost always see condors. We saw 6 while we were there, several juveniles and this fine adult, gliding up the steep cliff-faces, playing with the air currents in the morning sun.

Panoramic views from a pass near the start of a 4 day, all weather Santa Cruz trek through some of the stunning valleys, glaciers, lakes and epic snow capped mountains of the Cordillera Blancas.

Famed for using San Pedro cactus shamanically to communicate with the spirit world in ceremony – the ancient Chavin temple was decorated with a series of sculpted heads in various states of transformation from human to jaguar form. An echo of shamanic evolution!

Some of the famous cigar shaped fishing boats, Totora’s, parked on the Peruvian beach of Huanchaco. Fishermen have been riding these things like horses in the oceans for thousands of years in these parts. Though these days its mostly for tourist entertainment, it still makes for many a scenic happy snap.

High up in the Andes immersed in cloud forests, the magnificent ancient city of Kuelap rules the land in all directions. The stunning landscape, captivating ruins and position are a little overwhelming, so I settled for a shot of the view.

These brilliantly sculpted sarcophagi are located impossibly high on a cliff-face. All around this area are similar burial sites – forgotten people of lost civilizations watching carefully over the magnificent mountain landscapes.