We did A LOT today, so sit down, pour a glass of your favorite beverage, and hang tight. After a breakfast of eggs, fruit, and bread, we piled in the car around 7:30am for a day of sightseeing. First stop, Valle de Rocas (Rock Valley), which was made from petrified lava. We had a great time climbing around on the rocks!

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Next stop, our first lagoon. We can’t remember the official/native name, but it was also called Laguna Negra (Black Lagoon).

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Onto the next lagoon with our first flamingo sighting and a beautiful reflection of the mountains.

But wait, there are more lagoons. There is this one, that had even more amazing reflections in the water…

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And this one, called Laguna Celeste that was a beautiful light blue color….

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Then onto a crazy rock formation called Arbol de Piedra (Tree of Rock). The top part has a high concentration of iron, while the bottom is a more easily erodable rock. There is so much wind in the area, that over time, the bottom has eroded faster than the iron rich top leaving the tree-like structure.

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One more stop at a beautiful bright red lagoon called Laguna Colorada (Colored Lagoon). There was a walking path here that took us down to the shore line to get up close and personal with the flamingos. They were so majestic!

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Last stop of the day was at a geyser field. This was the highest point of the trip, with an altitude of ~16,000 feet. I don’t think either of us had been this high before.

We finally arrived at the hostel, which was about 100 m from a natural hot spring! The day ended with a soak in the springs of course (in front of yet another stunning lagoon with more flamingos).