Salar de Uyuni
Is the world's largest salt flat at 10,582 square kilometers (4,086 sq mi). It is located in the Daniel Campos Province in Potosí in southwest Bolivia, near the crest of the Andes and is at an elevation of 3,656 meters (11,995 ft) above mean sea level.
The Salar was formed as a result of transformations between several prehistoric lakes. It is covered by a few meters of salt crust, which has an extraordinary flatness with the average altitude variations within one meter over the entire area of the Salar. The crust serves as a source of salt and covers a pool of brine, which is exceptionally rich in lithium. It contains 50 to 70% of the world's lithium reserves.
3 DAY SALT FLATS TOUR - STANDARD PLUS $125.00
DAY 1 – UYUNI – COLCHANI – INCAHUASI / ISLA PESCADO – VILLA CANDELARIA
We will leave Uyuni in the morning and first visit the train cemetery where you can see the old rusting trains from decades ago. After this we proceed to Colchani and witness how the salt is processed before we arrive to the Salt Flats themselves and see the “Ojos de Sal” where water bubbles up through the salt plains. We will see where the salt has been placed in mounds ready to be transported, the original salt hotel (no longer used for guests) and visit Inca Huasi (Fish Island) to see the giant cacti and have great views of the salt flats all around. There will be plenty of time for taking amazing photos before we head toward the Village of Villa Candelaria where we stay the night in the salt hotel “Samarikuna”.
DAY 2 – VILLA CANDELARIA – PASO LEON – LAGUNAS – LAGUNA COLORADA
After breakfast we leave to travel further south. We will pass through the Chiguana desert area where the scenery will include a number of extinct volcanoes plus the semi active Volcan Ollague. As the journey continues we will pass by high altitude lagoons that are home to 3 species of flamingo before arriving into the desert of Siloli and the “tree of rock” Our final destination for the day is “Laguna Colorado” an amazing red colored lake. Here we will find the night accommodations (basic dorm style). 4600m altitude.
DAY 3 – LAGUNA COLORADA – GEYSERS – LAGUNA VERDE – UYUNI
Today we have an early start at 5am to visit “Sol de Mañana” geysers and see the bubbling mud pools and steam jets. We will then continue to some hot springs where you will have a chance to relax in the warm water pools and we will also breakfast here. After our relaxing break we continues via the “Dali desert” to see “laguna Verde” where, if conditions are correct, we see the green mineral waters of this lake at the foot of Volcan Licancabur (from here we do the transfers to San Pedro de Atacama - there is an additional fee for this transfer and it is available on 3 day tour only, you arrive in San Pedro approx. midday.). We then start our return journey back to Uyuni where we arrive approx. 5/6pm
My review:
Whereas the Uyuni salt flat is a must see in Bolivia (and i would say a must see within a lifetime) we took the opportunity to enhance the classical 3 day 4x4 overland tour in the region (including the lagoons, flamingos, geysers, thermal waters,etc...) with some volcanoes ascent. We were on both Tunupa volcano (located on the shores of the salt flat, with unique views on it) and Uturuncu which is the highest volcano in the region. It is actually
a Super volcano ! The road leading to an abandonned mine is the highest road on earth reaching 5800m altitude (19000 feet) crossing some active fumaroles field ! This trip was organized by a local company called "andean ascent" (www.andeanascents.com). You'll find some additonal info on their sister webpagewww.el-salar-de-uyuni.com. Whereas one needs some physical condition, it was a great idea to include these hikes on the volcanoes as they were great breaks between the hours spent in the 4x4 vehicle.
