Wednesday 11 June 2014

Farewell South America!

I've been in South America for about two months now.  I've travelled thousands of miles and seen lots of amazing places.  I visited a Pacific island with some ancient stone statues, hiked up a mountain that was 6,000m high, drove around the driest desert on earth, and saw miles and miles of salt flats.

I've been to three countries during my South American odyssey: Bolivia, Chile and Peru.  People speak Spanish in all of them and I've learned quite a few phrases.  I hope I don't forget them when I get back to Birmingham.

I'm feeling quite tired now though.  It's difficult for someone who's only about ten centimetres tall to travel such a long way!  I think it's time for a rest so I'm heading back to Bournville School to catch up with Robin and his friends.  I've got a lot of stories to tell them and I'm sure they've got a lot to tell me as well.

I just hope I make it back in time for the welcome home party with all the other stuffed travellers!

I've enjoyed blogging from South America and I hope you've enjoyed reading my blog too.  Hasta luego! (Until next time!)

Wenlock (homeward bound)

PS.  I've discovered that 'odysseys' are just as exciting as they sound, so I'm glad I chose that title for my blog!
 


The Bolivian Salt Flats

Hola!  Sorry I've been a bit quiet.  I haven't been able to get on the internet recently but I've got a lot to tell you.

Last time I blogged I was in San Pedro de Atacama in Chile but since then I've crossed the border into Bolivia.  I took a three day tour by jeep to see some very strange and wonderful landscapes.  Here are some of my pictures.

First I saw lots of lakes with flamingoes.


There were also some strange rock formations, including the 'arbol de piedra' which means 'stone tree'.  (Like Chile and Argentina, they speak Spanish in Bolivia, but the accent is quite different.  I'm finding it a lot easier to understand the language here than I did in Chile, which is good news!)



The most impressive landscape of all was the salt flats in southern Bolivia.  The ground in the pictures below is honestly made of salt and it goes on for miles and miles - as far as you can see!  Perhaps it was once an inland sea that has dried up.


Doesn't the ground look strange with all those pentagons and hexagons?  They're all natural.  You can't see me very well in the picture above so I took a close-up to show I've been there!


The salt flats in Bolivia contain something called 'lithium' which is used to make batteries.  I bet Robin's parents have some lithium in their phones.

In Bolivia, some people want to make mines on the salt flats so they can sell the lithium.  Bolivia is quite a poor country and this might make some money.  On the other hand, the salt flats are a very beautiful place and it might damage the environment if a mine were built there.  I wonder what Robin and his friends think about this?  I'll be seeing him soon so hopefully I'll find out then.

Adios!  (Bye!)