A Flamingo No Fly Zone — “Wait, What?”
Globetrotters Monthly Challenge — January
Once we visited the high Andean Plateau in Bolivia and during the trip came across one of the most confusing signs I’ve ever seen.
Our trip started in Chile and early one morning we piled into a tour bus and began the long climb to the Chile-Bolivia border. The border post was just a small building in the middle of nowhere at very high altitude and, it was bloody cold.
At the border crossing we met our tour guide and half a dozen of us loaded up the 4x4 that would take us on a 4-day journey through this harsh high altitude environment. We convoyed with two or three other vehicles and set off on our adventure.
Many things took me by surprise on our tour but the first was the effects of altitude. If you’ve ever been to very high altitude, 5000m plus (16400ft.), you’ll have experienced the breathing difficulties. The altitude seems to grip your chest like a vice and makes each breath an effort. You get used to it after a while but it’s always noticeable.
Besides the altitude, the other thing that surprised me was the colours of the landscape. In this largely barren environment, the multitude of beautiful colours was a welcome respite. It is as if an artist has touched the land with their brush and seamlessly injected colour into the scenes before you.
Somewhere along the way we came across another type of sign – a giant compass laid out in the dirt. At the centre was a pole with the silhouette of a flamingo at the top and the altitude written at the base. The flamingo on top was forecasting some of the wildlife we might see up there. For on The Altiplano (‘high plain’) lives an endemic species of flamingo known as the Andean Flamingo and it is one of the rarest water birds on earth.
Eventually we did find the flamingos and one very confusing sign (see below). “No flamingos” or “no flying flamingos”, I just wasn’t sure what to make of it. As you can see from my photograph there were many flamingos in the background so I guess they just didn’t get the memo.
The irony of the situation did make me laugh — a great big belly laugh. The type of laugh that makes you feel really good, just pure joy. I’m glad the flamingos ignored the sign because they were beautiful and bright, even if they did seem out of place in that barren place.
The last sign we saw on our tour of the high plains was not so much a sign-board but more a sign of past human enterprise. A set or railway tracks stretching off into the distance of the Plateau. It made for a great photo opportunity and my wife and I did our best to strike a silly pose. This trip was an absolute joy that we will remember till the end of our days.
Thank you for reading and Thank you Anne Bonfert for this months writing challenge.
This prompt has been a firecracker so be sure to check out some of the other fantastic challenge responses.
Michael Williams and Caterina submitted some of my favourite reads.
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