Into the Altiplano - Chile-Argentina-Bolivia (South America)
November-December 2003

Team: Jon Bowermaster • Wendy Madgwick • Rodrigo Jordan • Peter McBride • Alex Nicks • Paula Valencia
Photos: Peter McBride

We went to South America's Altiplano, the mountainous desert region crossing the borders of Chile, Argentina, and Bolivia, looking for water in the driest place on earth. Pulling kayaks behind, which sounds either Quixotic, or foolhardy. During six weeks we traveled from sea level to 20,000 feet and ultimately found more than just signs of water. After all, man has scratched out a living here for more than 10,000 years, longer than anywhere else in the Western Hemisphere, suggesting there must be water out there somewhere.

In fact, the sea used to be here. Everywhere. And there were abundant signs. While our days were dusty and cold - spent mostly above 14,000 feet - and visited by strong winds that stopped for only a few hours in the early morning, they were linked by the long history of water in the Altiplano. Daily we traversed dry salt beds and lakes that, two million years before, were covered by ocean. Over tens of thousands of years, as the high, long ridges of the Andes rose up volcanically, the ocean was pushed aside, its deep valleys filling with ash, lava, and rock. But as recently as 12,000 years ago sizable lakes still covered these Andean plains. What they left behind - thick salt beds, marine coral and fossils of sea life mixed in with the desert sand - are only the most visible evidence.

This was much more than just a quest for paddleable lakes. The motivation was to not only to seek out water - the big salt lakes, high Andean rivers and streams and man-made reservoirs I knew were out there somewhere - but to explore just how man has managed to survive here for one hundred centuries.

Photo Gallery

Into the Altiplano Slideshow

Sleeping under the Altiplano skies gave us a nightly reminder of how the planet spins beneath the stars. (Can you make out photographer Pete McBride standing atop the mushroom rock, posing for one of his time-lapse images?)

NASA recently concluded a three-year study in the Altiplano, declaring it the 'most Mars-like' environment on Earth. The Valle de Muerte, or Death Valley, sits on the edge of the small adobe town of San Pedro de Atacama in northern Chile.

I knew we'd find water in this driest place on earth since man has lived here for 10,000 years. Most of the small towns were built along rivers draining from high in the Andes, like San Pedro de Atacama, which has been populated for more than 2,000 years.

The salt flats are 'mined' by men like Celso, who spend their workdays raking salt off the flats which is sold for both table and animal salt. He and his wife ride their bike 30 minutes each way, from the small town of Colchani, Bolivia and earn about $5 a day. They wear facemasks to prevent their skin from burning thanks to the hot sun glaring off the high, white saltpan.

The Altiplano may be dry but it is mineral rich. Along our route in Argentina we passed a borax mine, where this miner took a break.

On the blood-red Lago Colorado in southern Bolivia we kayaked with 25,000-30,000 flamingoes drawn to the lake by the algae that gives it its color.roved to be something of a mirage: At its most profound Lago Vilama was three inches deep, resulting in our having to pull the boats across the lake.

Paddling at 15,000 feet on Lago Verde in southern Bolivia was a test of both endurance and lung capacity. Each day during this part of the expedition strong winds would push us off the lakes by mid-morning.

After six weeks spent mostly above 14,000 feet, we climbed to the top of the tallest volcano in the region - Bolivia's Licancabur, 19,600 feet - and looked out over the beautiful Altiplano we had criss-crossed. Aqua-blue Lago Verde sits below.

More Information

Listen to audio dispatches and read about Jon's expedition through the Altiplano at National Geographic Adventure Magazine

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