Laguna Brava

Laguna Brava lies at around 4,300 metres in the far west of La Rioja, a shallow saline lake some seventeen kilometres long set in a basin ringed by giants: Pissis, Bonete and Veladero all rise above 6,000 metres nearby. The water is mineral-rich and unnaturally blue against the pale salt shore, and it draws flamingos in numbers, principally Andean and James's, along with vicuñas grazing the sparse grassland. Along the old road stand stone refuges built in the nineteenth century to shelter cattle drovers crossing to Chile, small square huts that make the scale of the emptiness plain. The reserve is reached from Vinchina on a long climbing track, and visits are made in a day with an early start.

What you actually see

• The blue salt lake - mineral water against a white shoreline at 4,300 metres.
• The flamingos - Andean and James's flamingos feeding in the shallows.
• The stone refuges - nineteenth-century drovers' huts along the old route.
• The six-thousanders - Pissis, Bonete and Veladero on the horizon.

When to go

December to March, when the high route is free of snow; in winter the pass and lake are often inaccessible. Even in summer, weather turns quickly and afternoon wind is fierce. Trips leave Villa Unión or Vinchina before dawn.

Honest expectations

This is a high-altitude expedition needing a 4x4, registration and ideally a guide; going alone is discouraged and sometimes not permitted. The altitude is severe and there is no shelter, fuel or signal. Flamingo numbers vary sharply with water levels.

Nearby

Vinchina and its stone star are on the way; Villa Unión is the main base.