Sajama National Park

On the way to Sajama Park.

After two days at average altitudes below 2,500 metres, we're back on the Altiplano plateau. To get to Sajama, we had to do a lot of driving through a rather monotonous landscape.

The villages along the way are tiny and the stores empty. We can't even buy tuna, pasta or bread. There are only soft drinks, chocolate, sweets and tins of anchovies. There's no bread, because it's Todos Santos (Day of the Dead) the next day. No one is working, and apparently it's going to be that way for a few days.

We head for Sajama National Park, with its superb eponymous volcano at 6,542 metres. The park is a UNESCO World Heritage site. The plateau at the foot of Nevado Sajama is still almost 4200 metres high, and because of the cold and the fact that we're in a national park, we choose to sleep in a nice little hotel.

Volcan Sajama.

Volcan Sajama.

Volcan Sajama.

The gîte where we stayed.

These two volcanoes straddle the Bolivia-Chile border. You can see the Parinacota volcano at 6438 m (left) and the Pomerape volcano at 6222 m (right).

The park is surrounded by peaks topping 5,000 metres.

Hot spring

Hidden in the fields, this hot spring was the perfect temperature for a soak despite the chill in the air; we're at an altitude of 4200 metres.

The Juchusuma geysers

This area contains a number of attractive geysers.