Popo


In the south-western part of Bolivia, at an altitude of about 3,700 m above sea level, one of the largest reservoirs of the country - Lake Poopo - is located. Once its area was almost 3200 square meters. km. For years, however, it was getting smaller and smaller, until on February 10, 2016 it became officially known that Popo completely dried up.

The story of Popo

According to the researchers, during the ice age, Poopo was part of a large basin called Balyvyan. In addition to it, part of the same reservoir was Lake Titicaca , Salar de Uyuni and Salar de Coipasa. Approximately 2,5 thousand years ago on its shores began to settle Indians, which belonged to the culture of Vankarani. Before the arrival of the Spaniards in the XVI century, local people engaged in farming and growing llamas.

General information about Lake Poopo

On the map, Lake Poopo is to be found on the plateau Altiplano, 130 km from the city of Oruro . Due to the fact that the Desaguadro River flows into the reservoir, heading from Lake Titicaca, the area of ​​Poopo ranges from 1,000 to 1,500 square kilometers. km. Even during the rainy season at a length of 90 km, the maximum depth of the lake has never exceeded 3 m. The Desaguadero River initially carries fresh water, but in saline lands it is saturated with salt and already in Poopo flows into a modified composition. During a drought and on hot sunny days, the water from the lake surface evaporates, which inevitably leads to an increase in the salt concentration.

The uniqueness of Popo

The fact that now the water surface of Lake Poopo is almost impossible to detect on the map was influenced by the following factors:

Lake Poopo and its surroundings used to be inhabited by rainbow trout, several species of flamingos, Bird's kulik, yellow-tailed teal, and also local varieties of geese, gulls and condors. Near the lake, minerals such as silver, iron, copper, cobalt and nickel are mined. This also contributed to the process of Poopo pollution.

The uniqueness of Lake Poopo is also in the fact that next to it are strange stone blocks that have the form of a parallelepiped. Once upon a time they were created by man, not by nature. Perhaps in ancient times, the locals wanted to build here some kind of monumental structure. According to scientists, in this they were prevented either by war or volcanic eruption. Anyway, these blocks are still here and attract the lovers of antiquity.

How to get there?

If you look at the map, you can see that Lake Poopo is located in the southeast of the city of Oruro . The distance between these objects is about 130 km, and it can only be overcome by an off-road vehicle. The roads here are not laid, so get ready for the fact that you are waiting for a three-hour journey off-road.

From La Paz to Oruro you can drive by car, following the road number 1. It takes about 3.5 hours to cover a distance of 225 km.