SALAR DE UYUNI

 The Salar de Uyuni is a stunning National Park consisting of salt flats, deserts, magically colored lakes, volcanoes (active and dormant), natural pools (and hot baths), all located at altitudes of over 4000 meters. The natural beauty is simply incredible and a must see of any trip to Bolivia and in fact Latin America.

 Upon arrival in the town of Uyuni you will be approached immediately by several tour operators touts who already know what you are coming for. If you haven’t pre-booked a tour try to arrange a tour for the same or next day as Uyuni really is a dull place in the desert.

 The basic tour takes 3 or 4 days and costs around $80-$100 depending on the season. A4 wheel drive jeep will take you along some of the most beautiful, amazing and incredible landscapes of the planet. It is truly unbelievable how many different, but always beautiful landscapes you get to see in a couple of days. The trip starts in the vast Salt Flats just outside of Uyuni. If it has rained before (fingers crossed) the Salt Flat is covered by a thin layer of water which turns the flats into a perfect mirror… surreal and fantastic. In this case since there is nothing… really nothing in the wide surrounding to use for orientation you seem to lose the feeling of perspective and depth. Wow!!

You can opt to have a stop at the beautifully colored Tunupa volcano where you can go up and have a view over the lake. When you continue it is possible to stop at a Hotel made out of nothing but salt, including the furniture. Some tours stay overnight there, but that is very expensive though. After that the tour continues through a more and more desert like landscape. Most tours will spend the night in a simple hotel. The next day you travel to a couple of multi-coloured lagunes, filled with flamingo’s through some incredible desert landscapes. During this route you’ll always be surrounded by ancient vulcano’s (some of them are active!), which seem to smile at you peacefully while you drive along. The lagunes are breathtaking. Take your time here. Again you will spend the night in a basic hotel. The next morning you should wake up very early to see the geysers in the Sol de Mañana Geyser Basin erupt. Yep, some of these steamy friends blow steam 20 meters high into the sky. After this spectacle you continue to some natural hot baths (Termas de Polques & Salar de Chalviri). Do you dare? First you’ll have to challenge the icy cold before you can plunge into these natural hot baths.

 From this point the standard tour returns to Uyuni in a full day drive through some amazing landscapes. Some tours can drop you off at the border of Chile where you can continue to the San Pedro de Atacama desert (make sure to arrange your pick-up in advance). Another option is to have your tour continue to Tupiza, close to the Argentinian border. Again, it’s a spectacular drive which takes about 2 days and this option is highly recommended. Note, if you’re coming from Argentina and entering Bolivia in Tupiza, it’s also possible to do the Salar de Uyuni tour from there.