Flamingos in the Eduardo Avaroa Andean Fauna National Reserve in Bolivia

© Art Wolfe/Danita Delimon

Strolling across the Red Lagoon

Let's escape the winter weather for a while and enjoy a summer scene at the Laguna Colorada in the south-west corner of Bolivia. This 23-square-mile shallow salt lake sits high in the Andes, about 14,000ft (4,267m) above sea level within the Eduardo Avaroa Andean Fauna National Reserve. Also called the Red Lagoon, it sometimes turns tomato-red, due to microscopic red algae and sediments.

During the rainy season from December to April, flamingos flock to the area to dip their bills into the water to filter out delicious plankton and algae. These birds are not born pink - they start off white or grey but pigments in their food gradually filter into their skin and feathers. No wonder a group of flamingos is sometimes known as a “flamboyance”.

You can find three of the six types of flamingos here; the Chilean, Andean and the world's largest population of the endangered James flamingo, once thought to be extinct.