Laguna Grande home to three of six species found globally

There are six species of flamingo worldwide: Two species, the greater and the lesser flamingo, are native to Africa, Asia, and Europe. The American flamingo, also known as the Caribbean flamingo, can be found in the Caribbean, parts of northern South America, the Galapagos Islands, along the Yucatan Peninsula, and in the United States. The Chilean flamingo, the Andean flamingo, and the James’s or Puna flamingo can be found throughout South America. And all three can be found at Laguna Grande in Argentina’s Puna de Atacama!

So many flamingos at beautiful Laguna Grande Reserve

Laguna Grande is a beautiful saline lake at an altitude of 13,615 feet (4,150 meters), meaning the air is thin. In the early morning hours, the temperatures are chilly. The thermometer registered an air temperature of 24.8 Fahrenheit (-4 Celsius) at 6:30 a.m. on the first morning I spent photographing flamingos in March 2024. But I didn’t mind. At the lagoon, as the sun rose, there was just Therese; our guide, Lautaro; me; and oh, thousands upon thousands of noisy flamingos.

In the six or so hours I spent photographing (one sunrise and one sunset), we saw just four other vehicles. Only three stopped — long enough for its passengers to get out, snap a few selfies with flamingos in the background, and then drive off. Like I said, lots of flamingos and very few people.

Sadly, the bird flu virus found Laguna Grande

I had heard that the flamingos in Laguna Grande had been infected with the H5N1 strain of avian flu virus (bird flu) before I arrived. But seeing its devastation in person was something I was not prepared for. It appeared that most of the dead birds — numbering in the hundreds by my estimation — were James’s flamingo species. Seeing pink and white feathered carcasses scattered here and there along the shoreline, each glistening with frost in the early dawn, was not fabulous at all. In short order, I switched from photographing the beauty of the moment to documenting the impacts of a virus. To learn more, I encourage you to read my story in our HI Travel Tales Subscriber Club newsletter, “Dead flamingos were not why I came to Laguna Grande, Argentina but….”

Discovering amazing colors of Laguna Carachi Pampa

I will admit to a bit of skepticism when Lautaro suggested I might like to photograph flamingos at a nearby smaller lagoon — Laguna Carachi Pampa. He told me there would not be huge flocks of flamingos. But at sunrise, during golden hour, he said the combination of colorful flamingos standing in still water that was reflecting the colors of the red and black rocks from the surrounding mountains would create an otherworldly scene to photograph. He was not wrong. The flamingos are Andean, and number in the hundreds, not thousands. But during sunrise, the number of flamingos didn’t matter. Here, in the golden light of early morning, with splashes of red reflecting in the water, flamingos can appear to be bathed in fire — appropriate since the origin of their name appears to date back to the 1560s, from either a Portuguese or Spanish word that meant flame. Also, in ancient Egypt, flamingos were thought to be an incarnation of the sun god Ra, and it is from the Egyptians that the legend of the Phoenix, a mythical bird of fire that bursts into flame, was born. Photographing flamingos that morning in the rich, golden light, I could almost imagine a flamingo becoming a Phoenix … almost.

HITT Tip: Getting to Laguna Grande and Carachi Pampa is not easy. First, you must get to El Peñon, which will be your base camp for at least two or three nights. You can certainly drive yourself if you have a 4×4, but understand it is a rough trip with few services between Salta and El Peñon. It is much safer and easier to hire a guide and driver. While there are certainly other guides and organizations, we have had personal experience with and can enthusiastically recommend the experts at Socompa Adventure Travel. They also have priority use of the best pension in El Peñon, Hosteria El Peñon. I would recommend you plan on four nights minimum at El Peñon, chiefly because there is so much more here to see and photograph than just flamingos – Dunas Blancas, Campo de Piedra Pómez, and Cerro Galán Caldera to name but a few. And, if you like night photography, like Therese, the night skies are off-the-charts amazing.