A dream came true! My trip to the Bolivian altiplano was in the making for 12 years. It was pure adventure. Rather than going for an organized tour I preferred to make my own tour. I engaged in renting a 4x4 car and inviting Jen and Bill, who I met first at my organized Lake Powell houseboat photography tour in 2015.
A group of 4 people and two cars made the trip safer as we constantly had difficulties thrown at us on a daily basis. We were able to help out each other to come out of it every time. At the end of these two weeks we have abundant stories to be told, images to be shown and a deepened mutual respect and friendship.
Present image was taken at the Sajama National Park. The center piece of this N.P. is the sacred and extinct Sajama volcano (21,463 feet, 6.542 m) and the repopulation of camelids, in particular Vicuñas. The big moss like looking plant is NOT moss but a VASCULAR plant called Yareta or Llareta (Azorella compacta). The plant is estimated to grow approximately 1.5 cm per year. Many are estimated to be over 3,000 years old. Present sample has a diameter of about 1,5 m which allows you to calculate how old it might be. Yareta is traditionally harvested for fuel, but its very slow growth makes this practice highly non-sustainable.
Nikon D810
Nikon 19mm f/4
1/100s at f/9.0
RAW ISO 100
Lee filter ND 0.6 soft
Interested in a photo tour through the American Southwest, Brazil, Bolivia, Namibia or Tuscany? I can help you with it and make you come back with unique shots.
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Image is under Copyright by Peter Boehringer.
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Tags: Bolivia Oruro Sajama Sajama National Park Parque Nacional Sajama Yareta Llareta volcano snow Peter Boehringer Photography fourcorners.photography
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There was a long preparation time to be able to navigate through Bolivia on my own. I opted to go during the rainy season to experience it with less tourist crowds, to have water on the Salar de Uyuni and get clouds in the skies. All these premises were met, although sometimes I wondered how Bolivia must look like when the tourist crowds are there, as even in low season there were spots that were completely overrun.
Second, I chose not to take always the obvious path. It was my choice to take the less known roads. This took us sometimes to unique places and sometimes it put us in some predicament. One of these predicaments were accessing the Salar de Uyuni and getting stuck in mud and high water. I planned driving from Sajama N.P. to Salar de Uyuni in one day. It took us three days.
At the end we saw places and experienced moments that we might otherwise not have seen at all and probably very few tourist, if any, have ever seen.
Present image is such a place. We were at the wrong place, but we were definitively there at the right moment! My faithful companions were always following my car and this time they got the honor to be included in the frame. Jen and Bill, you never looked so good! ;-)
Nikon D810
Nikon 24-70mm f/2.8
1/6s at f/9.0
RAW ISO 400
03/22/2018
Interested in a photo tour through the American Southwest, Brazil, Bolivia, Namibia or Tuscany? I can help you with it and make you come back with unique shots.
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Image is under Copyright by Peter Boehringer.
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Tags: Bolivia Peter Boehringer Photography fourcorners.photography
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Center piece of my Bolivian altiplano dream was the famous Salar de Uyuni. Not that I have never seen a salt flat. There are plenty of wonderful samples scattered around the American Southwest, but Salar de Uyuni is the mother of all salt flats. Besides, I wanted to see reflections going all the way to the horizon, hence the decision to do this trip during the rainy season.
Once we finally made it to the Salar de Uyuni and we were able to have a first glimpse of it from the top of a slope I was shocked. It is HUGE and it was ALL under water. My desire to drive to Isla del Pescado or Incahuasi was under serious threat. The initial plan was to spend a night at one of this two islands. The drive to these islands is about 20 miles.
After some exploration along the shore, seeing the depth of the water and some serious deliberations about the risks of having the salt water corroding through the electrical parts of the car and/or bogging in the middle of the salt flat my wife and I decided to take the risk. Off we went to Isla del Pescado. Two hours later, driving through the salt water with an average depth of 5 inches, we set foot on the island.
We had the island just for ourselves and were surrounded by water as far as we could see! Certainly a unique experience!
The drive to the Isla and back to the mainland at Tahua is the single most bizarre experience in our live. Despite having some exasperating electrical problems with the car later on we do not regret for a single moment this adventure. Would I recommend other people to follow the example? NO!
So, you might want ask yourself what is so different on this image to all other photographs taken of this place. What you usually see from here is the blistering salt flat in the background. Not here! The flooded flat gives reflections up to the horizon. Can you see the limits of sky and earth?
Nikon D810
Nikon 24-70 mm f/2.8 @ 48 mm
1/200s at f/9.0
RAW ISO 100
03/23/2018
Interested in a photo tour through the American Southwest, Brazil, Bolivia, Namibia or Tuscany? I can help you with it and make you come back with unique shots.
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Image is under Copyright by Peter Boehringer.
Contact me by email if you want to buy or use my photographs.
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Tags: Isla del Pescado Isla de los Pescadores Cujiri Daniel Campos Province Tahua Salar de Uyuni Caquena Bolivia salt flat water reflections clouds Cactus Peter Boehringer Photography fourcorners.photography
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Dawn at the Tomarapi village (4.200m), located in the Sajama National Park. View of the Church of Tomarapi in the foreground and the highest peak in Bolvia in the background. The commanding snow covered and extinct stratovolcano Nevado Sajama (6.542m).
Nikon D810
Nikon 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 75mm
30s at f/8.0
RAW ISO 400
03/21/2018
Interested in a photo tour through the American Southwest, Brazil, Bolivia, Namibia or Tuscany? I can help you with it and make you come back with unique shots.
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Image is under Copyright by Peter Boehringer.
Contact me by email if you want to buy or use my photographs.
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Tags: Tomarapi Sajama Sajama National Park Nevado Sajama Church Tomarapi Oruro volcano ecoturism Curahuara de Carangas dawn sunrise ND grad 0.6 Bolivia fourcorners.photography Peter Boehringer Photography
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My title for the image: Infinity
The first Portuguese sailors to explore the wideness of the sea were allegedly still confronted with the fear of the world to end at some point and their ships to go off the edge. No one ever reported any experience like it. Maybe because this edge doesn’t exist or because no one who witnessed it survived the moment.
I went to Bolivia and I have seen this edge and I survived it. I was able to document the moment while my wife was walking towards earths' edge ;-)
Nikon D810
Nikon 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 120mm
1/400s at f/9.0
RAW ISO 100
03/23/2018
Interested in a photo tour through the American Southwest, Brazil, Bolivia, Namibia or Tuscany? I can help you with it and make you come back with unique shots.
_______________________________
Image is under Copyright by Peter Boehringer.
Contact me by email if you want to buy or use my photographs.
_______________________________
Tags: Salar de Uyuni Bolivia reflection water salt flat blue clouds Peter Boehringer Photography fourcorners.photography
© All Rights Reserved