More Salta

Our second to last day we traveled to the 7 colored hills and the salt flats. The hills get their colors from their different mineral content.

The salt flats are a working source of salt and to collect the salt, slabs are cut from the ground down to the water below and the water is allowed to evaporate, leaving the salt behind to be collected. Our tour guide noted that sadly all who work on the salt flats eventually go blind because of the strong reflection of the sun.

Endangered vicuña, if you look really hard for the light brownish specks. Their wool is extremely valuable because it's so fine it can be knitted into an extremely warm windproof garment. Wikipedia article on them.