the explorers journal - The Explorers Club

hallucinogenic blue, red, and yellow waters
cradle diverse communities of hardy critters like
copepods, algae, and tiny shrimps and worms.
Munching on these minute organisms are flamingos,
who slurp the briny broth through necks thin
and hollow as straws. Neon as some of the candycolored
lakes they haunt, I suspect these birds fly
to the Andes to dye their feathers pink. Or perhaps
the converse is true, and flamingo feathers
leaching pigment are to blame for the bubblegum
tints of certain lagunas.
Either way, these birds are more than pretty-inpink.
If the search for life on Mars is guided by
the philosophy “follow the water,” the search for
microorganisms at this altitude in the Andes is
guided by the philosophy “follow the flamingos.”
The sustenance of choice for Andean flamingos
neatly coincides with Nathalie’s sample specimens
of choice, making these birds ideal signposts
for interesting science. In the weeks before
our Aguas Calientes climb, we drive across the
aching expanse of the Altiplano, scanning lakes
for their spindly profiles. Once spotted, we shoo
them from their aqueous buffet, and Nathalie
wades in with plankton net in tow. On shore, the
rest of the team waits with plastic bottles gaped
wide to swallow samples of microbial muck, which
we will scrutinize back at basecamp.
When the water is too deep for hip waders,
the team takes to the lakes in inflatable boats and
scuba suits. Packing this gear on an expedition to
the arid Altiplano might seem a lunatic proposition—at
least tourists thought so when the High
Lakes dive team practiced their moves in a hotel
pool the previous year. Nathalie tells me that a
Speedo-clad German queried, “Where, exactly,
do you plan to scuba dive around here” She
pointed at the Andes on the desert horizon and
grinned. “See those volcanoes over there”
No diving is planned for this year’s expedition to
the summit lake of Aguas Calientes, but Nathalie
and Clayton Woosley, the expedition field engineer,
plan to collect data on the depth of Laguna
Lejía by traversing its waters in an inflatable raft.
The idea is that learning more about the physical
parameters and biogeochemical character
of these Andean lagunas will prime us to search
for ancient lakebeds on Mars, the ideal sites to
search for evidence of extraterrestrial life.
For days we have waited for calm weather in
order to launch the boat, but wind ricochets unceasingly
around the Altiplano, sculpting dunes
into indecipherable runes and whipping lake
waters into a salty slurry. Eventually, the decision
is made to capitalize on—or more truthfully,
capitulate to—the elements. Propelled by paddles,
the explorers journal