Bolivia - from Isla Cactus 11,895 ft in the Salar Uyuni looking N to Cerro Tonupa · with HG·JG·PM·MS·BV · Saturday 12th April 1997 · Hidalgo drives us through Colchani and out onto the salt pan · a curved horizon and subtle pastel colours · after an hour a beer at an hotel built and furnished entirely with salt blocks · driving through shallow water the sky reflects with razor sharp precision · distant volcanoes appear to float above the horizon · into an area of deep potholes · eventually a spot on the horizon becomes an island of churned and fragmented rock and cactus with a shoreline of salt · this seems an awesome and terrible place not suitable for humans · beach the truck after foundering up to the axles in black mud · make camp · scope out painting site · draw until 7:00 · driven in by the cold · 13th April · up at 6:30 and immediately realise we are camped in the best painting site · start new drawing · paint early morning sky · paint all day alternately roasting and freezing · Hidalgo's stove explodes and ignites his clothes and tent and surrounding bushes · we quench the flames and I go back to work until 6.30 · April '4th · work until 3 · the painting is resolved · we walk the circumference of the island on the salt shore · 2 hours · find potshards · preserved bird carcasses · crystals · flamingo eggs · walk the spine of the island and collect cactus spines and fossilized coral which wins me a $l0 bet from a skeptical JG and BV · April 15th · up at 6:00 and launch the truck into 18" water and head SSW towards the nearest peninsular · after 2 hours within sight of a tiny hamlet the water gets deeper and the truck starts to sink · we head N and E · at midday we arrive at dry salt · return to Colchani by 2:00pm · 270 km on trackless salt ·
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