Llamas (29 K)

The "Puna"
"Puna" is a Quechua word that means moor or cold earth.
It is an immense plateau of more than 3,500 meters, in which the traveller feels that he is nearer the sky. In its immensity, it crosses the borders and reaches Bolivia and Chile. The Puna has different colours due to the content of the rocks, the snowy mountains and the deep gulches are its main characteristic.
Among the mountains there are dozens of volcanoes that are among the highest on earth. The numerous basins without drainage have formed big salt lagoons due to evaporation.
The climate is extremely dry, hot during the day and very cold at night. The rain is a rarity during the summer and there is no snow in winter, although very seldom there is the white wind, a winter storm that lasts many days. Rains do not reach the 250 mm a year and sometimes it is even less than 50.
The wind combined with oxygen shortage due to the height, produces " apunamiento " headache, dizziness or sickness.
During the day the sky is transparent, of an intense celestial blue as nowhere else and the brightness reaches unique levels in the world.
At night one can observe infinity of stars, the vision is favoured by the purity of the air and the absence of sources of artificial light. The stars are within reach of the hands.
Due to the extreme aridity, the flora is very scarce, standing out the tola, chipúa and añagua besides small queñoa forests (polypelis tomentella) which is an endangered tree.
The fauna is also scarce, standing out species like the llama, the guanaco, the vicuña and the alpaca; the ñandúes and great quantity of birds like the flamingos and the condor.