The time is around 3 am - maybe 4... Should I keep the mouth inside or outside the sleeping bag ? If outside, I breathe better, but, if I leave the mouth inside, I warm up the inside of the bag...

A look at the thermometer : -8°C (18°F) in the tent... the sleeping bag is covered with frost... yet I absolutely have to get up... a pressing need... Cheer up ! The view is worth the trouble. The full moon lights up the "puna" (altiplano) as in full daylight...

We are (absolutely alone) in the "camping Gran Hotel Panorama", close to the Pozuelos lagoon (altitude : 3800 m = 12500 feet). -16°C (0°F) outside, at 8 am...

The warden is away : he has "entrusted us" with his chicken and cat (take along cat and chicken food, to be left in peace...).

Toilets, table, well and shelter against the wind.

The Pozuelos lagoon is a huge lake (75 km² = 30 square miles !), very shallow, crowded with flamencos and many other water birds. The - very short - grass that grows on the edges is food to llamas and sheep herds (and the shepherds go around on bicycle !).

The dirt roads leading to the lake (50 km = 30 miles from Abra Pampa) are not too bad, and not very busy : 5 or 6 cars a day... Cool ! (But it's best not to break down - we only had one flat tyre, but we saw an overturned car...).

Breathing is short, at 12000 feet... and a small rest is welcome, particularly when the sun is warm, during the day...

Why did not I take along a big lens ? The birds are not used to visitors, and fly away very quickly...

We can observe (among other birds) Andean geese (Chloephaga melanoptera) and 3 kinds of flamencos : Phoenicopterus chilensis, andinus and jamesis