Qualla: Eduardo Avaroa Andean Fauna National Reserve

Eduardo Avaroa Andean Fauna National Reserve: Introduction

Mon, 23 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Bob Ramsak, CC BY-SA 4.0. The lagoons come in colors that seem designed to test the limits of photography. Laguna Colorada runs blood-red from algae and sediment. Laguna Verde glows turquoise against the flank of Licancabur volcano. Laguna Blanca sits white and still beside it. Together, they anchor the Eduardo Avaroa Andean Fauna National Reserve, a 714,745-hectare expanse of high-altitude desert in southwestern Bolivia where the Andes make their final push toward the sky and the landscape looks less like Earth than like a dress rehearsal for Mars. Established in December 1973 and named after Eduardo Abaroa, a Bolivian hero of the War of the Pacific, this reserve drew approximately 153,000 visitors in 2018 -- making it the most visited protected area in the country.

Image: Bob Ramsak | CC BY-SA 4.0

Eduardo Avaroa Andean Fauna National Reserve: Where the Earth Still Steams

Mon, 23 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Marquex bol, CC BY-SA 4.0. At Sol de Manana, the ground is not finished forming. Geysers blast columns of steam into the thin air at altitudes above 4,800 meters. Fumaroles hiss from cracks in the earth, and mud pots bubble with the sulfurous heat of magma that lies uncomfortably close to the surface. The ...

Image: Marquex bol | CC BY-SA 4.0

Eduardo Avaroa Andean Fauna National Reserve: Volcanoes at the Borders

Mon, 23 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Mario Falcetti, CC BY-SA 4.0. The reserve contains some of the highest peaks in southwestern Bolivia, many of them straddling international borders. Sairecabur reaches 5,971 meters on the Chilean frontier. Licancabur, the iconic cone that frames Laguna Verde, rises to 5,916 meters. Juriques tops 5,704 meters....

Image: Mario Falcetti | CC BY-SA 4.0

Eduardo Avaroa Andean Fauna National Reserve: Flamingos in the Shallows

Mon, 23 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Oswaldobarbabernal, CC BY-SA 4.0. The reserve was established under IUCN Category IV, a designation focused specifically on protecting the birds that inhabit its lagoons. The most celebrated are the James's flamingos -- one of the world's rarest flamingo species -- which feed on the pink algae that thrive in the ...

Image: Oswaldobarbabernal | CC BY-SA 4.0

Eduardo Avaroa Andean Fauna National Reserve: The Stone Tree and the Dali Desert

Mon, 23 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Mayamedinaarosqueta, CC BY-SA 4.0. North of Laguna Colorada, a seven-meter rock formation rises from the sand dunes of Siloli like a stunted tree frozen in stone. This is the Arbol de Piedra, a ventifact -- a rock sculpted entirely by wind-blown sand over millennia. It has become one of the most photographed featu...

Image: Mayamedinaarosqueta | CC BY-SA 4.0

Eduardo Avaroa Andean Fauna National Reserve: Life at the Edge of the Habitable

Mon, 23 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Manuel Roca Gallardo, CC BY-SA 4.0. Quetena Chico and Quetena Grande are the only permanent communities within the reserve, both founded in the 1920s. Despite their Quechua heritage, residents speak primarily Spanish. Healthcare and schooling were unavailable until the 1990s; electricity and potable water did not a...

Image: Manuel Roca Gallardo | CC BY-SA 4.0