We
spent the morning wandering around town and arming ourselves with some
self-catering provisions. So far the
budget accommodation we’ve been in has provided kitchen facilities and they
seem to realise that most tourists are travelling not just on holiday. We treated ourselves to a meal last night and
although it was excellent value for money the portions are way too big and it
took quite a chunk out of our budget. To
be honest we’ve now had enough of meat and potato dominated meals and seriously
need to lose weight and get fit if we’re going to make it to the top of Mount
Sajama. So today feels like the start of
our year out travelling as opposed to just a holiday. The small town we’re in and the surrounding
scenery are helping with that more than anything. Big towns and cities are all well and good
but this is more up our cup of tea.
To
get warmed up we decided to walk up to the mirador (lookout) just behind the
main square in town. Our friendly hotel
owner had told us that there was a flight of steps leading up but the only
steps we could see came to an abrupt end above the electricity cables and
failed to link with the opposite side of the road. We weren’t to be defeated and spied a kind of
path which turned out to be rather steep with lose stones underfoot. On the top of that little mound we spotted
where we should have come up! At least
we’d found the proper path so went to take in the view of town and the
surrounding colourful rocky hills.
Marvellous!
We’ve
booked ourselves onto a day trip tomorrow so decided to find out where it went
before we set off to explore local vicinity independently. Our hotel has provided us with a great map of
town and surrounding area and the information about available tours is very
detailed. We’d spied a possible track
for us to take and luckily it wasn’t included in the tours that we’ve signed up
for. So we head off down the main road
which sees little traffic and to the top end of town. Our gut instinct on where to turn off was
supported by a sign directing us towards Cerro Elefanta (Elephant Rock) just
the chap we were looking for. That was
the only sign mind you but then the rock was looming large in the distance so
we knew we couldn’t miss it!
The
path basically followed a dry, dusty tributary bed with dwarf acacia bushes
along the way. As we approached the rock
it became clear that we wouldn’t be able to get up onto the ridge but there was
a smaller hillock in the foreground. We
clambered up and were rewarded with fantastic views looking a back towards
Tupiza (through a gap in the rocks) and the surrounding valleys. Once again the rocks are off various shapes
and the full palette of colours has been daubed around this area too. We had our little hillock to ourselves and in
fact could only see the occasional farmer tending to his cows, sheep and
goats. Those cacti were up there too so
of course we had to take some photos – I’m sure they’ll prove to be the first
of many! We perched ourselves on a rock
each and tucked into our picnic watching raptors circling around below us. Wonderful & the adventure has definitely
begun.
