Lauca National Park and prehistoric cave art

Breathtaking altitude

We have  spent several days on altitude between 3500 - 5500 above sea level. But not only the altitude left us breathless.  Lauca is home to some amazing altiplano scenery, snow-sprinkled volcanoes, sparkling lakes and isolated hot springs. It's also shelters pretty highland villages and a huge variety of wildlife - not least the nimble-footed vicuña and the rabbit-like viscacha.

At that day, we visited northern part of the Park called Plaza Surire (Plaza = place). Thanks to our guide - Flavio (owner of Terrace Lodge in Putre) who designed the map of this region -  we were driving to see red "moon landscapes" - volcanic landforms, and then visit several prehistoric caves in the canyon.

Taking rest on Llareta after a cup of Aymara herbal remedy chachacoma :)

Green cushions

Llaretas - are green plants occurring in the Puna grasslands of the Andes in Peru, Bolivia, the north of Chile and the west of Argentina at between 3,200 and 4,500 metres altitude. The plant grows 1.5mm/year. 




Moon landscape of Suri Plaza




The canyon

Undiscovered cave paintings

Starting from Suri Plaza, we walked along the canyon to see paintings found on caves walls of undetermined historic origin. According to our guide, those are not exposed to a public. The knowledge about it were passed from grandfather to a son and as it's pretty hidden deep in the canyon, not many people know about it. Maybe it's better like this.

After 1 hour walk down the canyon we reached the caves.

We were very impressed by the state of the paintings.
In some caves they are pretty easy accessible - and therefore damaged by erosion. But in this one - they are very well maintained.

The exact purpose of the paleolithic cave paintings is not known. Evidence suggests that they were not merely decorations of living areas, since the caves in which they have been found do not have signs of ongoing habitation. They are also often located in areas of caves that are not easily accessible. Some theories hold that cave paintings may have been a way of communicating with others, while other theories ascribe a religious or ceremonial purpose to them. (from Wikipedia).

We are not sure which time exactly does the paintning come from. If it shows llamas/alpacas - it must be younger than around 4,000 B.C. This was when Llamas were domesticated by the Tiwanaku in the higher Andes Mountains near Lake Titicaca. If the paintings show vicunas - it must be much older. 
Impressive, isn't it?