The flats were part of the ocean. In the ocean the bottom is not flat. In this case a small island was formed.
It is now no longer on the bottom of the ocean so instead of fish and coral it now has cacti, birds, and the tourists that visit during the day.
It is weird seeing coral exposed on an island at over 3000 m above sea level.
Although the cacti living on top of that coral look even stranger.
There are still pits and cracks formed as the sea slowly dried up around it and this would have had waves crashing against the rocks and coral.
The views were stunning from the top and you could really appreciate how large and flat this bed is. The clouds were also moving pretty quick and making the shadows race across the white backdrop.
These cacti take a long time to grow and this one may make it all the way out of the crack in a few decades or so.
This was a really cool stop as we crossed the flats to make our way to Chile.

Cool!