Every one of Steph’s recommendations panned out to be incredible pieces of our trips and we would highly recommend her! If you book at least a few weeks in advance, you can secure flights for as little as $33,000 CLP ($48 USD) – although with Sky Airline and Jet Smart, you are required to pay for cabin baggage and hold luggage in addition to the quoted fee. Alternatively, you can take a tour from Tupiza, a town located some 200 kilometres south of Uyuni. Con el personal 100% comprometido con el turismo. Thanks for all the info you posted, very useful for my upcoming trip in February 2020. At night, the stars can appear in double, reflected by the watery mirror on land. The extra day sees you touring some of the country’s most remote scenery, where a series of deserted mining towns, volcanic peaks and deserted altiplano plains filled with native wildlife are the highlights. Cover photo full. Salar de Uyuni is located in the Daniel Campos Province in Potosí in southwest Bolivia. Finally, those who haven’t had a chance to acclimatize should pick up some Acetazolamide from the local pharmacy in Uyuni. In August, it is the dry season and there are not many bodies of water for reflections, but the salt flats have a beautiful landscape at that time of year. For an increased chance of seeing this, you should visit between March and April. Be sure to take along some props for your perspective photos, like a frying pan or toy dinosaur! In order to avoid this, it is advisable to spend a couple of days gradually adapting at heights of around 1000m and 2000m. If you choose a three-day tour, those will take you up to 4,500 metres (almost 15,000 ft.)! However, the real treasure for the locals lies beneath the salt flat, where approximately 70% of the world’s lithium reserves can be found. flamingoes in lagoon at the salar de uyuni in bolivia - salar de uyuni stock pictures, royalty-free photos & images. Salar de Uyuni is located in the Daniel Campos Province in Potosí in southwest Bolivia. You also might miss out on some of the activities, like riding bikes across the flats. They also offer a visit to a salt factory and end their three-day tour with a hike through a giant volcanic rock valley, which was one of the highlights of our trip. Whereas tours from Uyuni all take the same route and mean that you can expect to be in a procession of other 4WD vehicles packed with tourists and who all get out at the same spots at the exact same time, as there are only two tour agencies departing from Tupiza, you’ll likely only see a handful of other cars during your trip. This marvellous reflection of the sky is most likely to be seen during the rainy season (December to April). The salt flats are formed by several prehistoric lakes, which change shape about 30,000 to 42,000 years ago. It’s still pretty spectacular, and the expanse of white stretches on forever! Salar de Uyuni and Mt. Water from the surrounding mountains gathered here because there was no drainage outlets in the Altiplano. Two-day tours add the region’s colorful, mineral lagoons, while in three days, you can see it all – salt flats, lagoons, deserts and dramatic rock valleys. If you want to save time, and avoid the twisty, turning Bolivian roads, the flights from La Paz to Uyuni are only about an hour. Salar de Uyuni er verdens største saltslette med en overflate på 10 582 km². Stretching across 10,582 square kilometres of the Altiplano, Salar de Uyuni is the world’s largest salt flat. My suggestion is to choose a three-day tour option. Peru Group tours or a private tour are also options. If taking a tour of the salt flights from San Pedro de Atacama, the most efficient means of getting to this town is by flying into Calama, a city situated 100 kilometres northwest. Rain makes mud, so the going gets tough at points along the road. Worldly Adventurer – aka Steph Dyson – is a bilingual freelance travel writer and guidebook author from the UK. Dry season in Bolivia lasts from around April to October and during this time, the salt flats look less like a giant mirror and more like… well, a giant salt flat. If you were to ask the campesinos (Spanish for ‘peasant farmers’) living on the lake’s shores, they will give you a rather different explanation on how the salt flat was formed. Again, this story believes that the mountains were once people and that Tunupa and Kusku were married. While rainy season visits are great for photographers, there are also some downsides to visiting during this time. If you get car sick easily, take medicine and sit in the front seat! Underneath the cemented salt are large reservoirs of lithium-rich brine. However, for the best climate and unrestricted access to all of the sights, you should visit between July and October. Unfortunately, the salar has a tendency to flood during the rainy season, causing some parts of it such as Isla Incahuasi to become inaccessible. The Salar de Uyuni refers to the world’s largest salt flats, located near the small town of Uyuni, in Southwestern Bolivia. Layers of salt are sandwiched between sedimentary deposits that reach a great depth of 10m in the centre of the flat. Train Graveyard Explore the old, rusting train carriages that have lay on the outskirts of the deserted town of Uyuni since the collapse of the mining industry in the 1940s. Lasting from around December to March, you’ll definitely want to visit if you’re hoping to snap amazing reflection photographs, where the horizon seems to completely disappear and the sunsets are spectacular. If you’re in Chile and want to pop across the the salt flats, a tour from San Pedro de Atacama makes the most logistical sense. Worldly Adventurer is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com, Amazon.co.uk and affiliated sites. Steph. Because there are fewer tourists starting from here, you may need to wait a day or two for a complete group of tourists to form (you need at least four in your group before you can depart). Salar de Uyuni – Bolivia Salt Flats. : Salt Flats of Uyuni) in Bolivia is the world’s largest salt flat and has a surface of 10,582 square kilometres. Three- or four-day tours depart San Pedro de Atacama and stop at the most popular sights along the route: Laguna Verde, Laguna Colorada, El Salar de Uyuni and the Termas de Polques hot springs. Most choose to experience the salt flats via a guided tour. Local advice to relieve the symptoms of altitude is to chew on coca leaves. Quick Overview. The landscape can completely vary depending on the season, meaning that the best time to go ultimately depends on the experience you’re looking for. The best way to see this incredible vista is by taking a three or four day 4×4 tour across the salt flats. However, to get here from southern Chile, departures are more frequent to nearby Calama. Venture through Bolivia stopping to enjoy quaint colonial towns, go deep inside the rich silver mines and embark on an unforgettable expedition through the vast and blinding-white salt flats of Uyuni. It was a great time. She is the author of the brand-new Moon Chile guidebook. The lithium contained in the brine is likely to be processed into lithium carbonate. This is the Salar de Uyuni, the largest salt flats in the world, covering an area of 10,582 kilometers at once mirrors the natural world. I suggest checking for the lowest prices through Skyscanner and then booking directly with the airline. While there are many tours and companies to choose from, I highly recommend Quechua Connection. Most guides want you to be happy with your experience; I’ve found that being clear about what we wanted out of our tour was best for everyone. It’s a journey just shy of three hours and should cost around 15 BOB ($2.7 USD) and a handful of companies run this route. As this water evaporated, high salinity levels caused a thick salt crust to form, leaving behind the impressive salt flat that we see today. Wikipedia | Google | Google Images | Flickr. Conditions on a tour of the Salar de Uyuni are variable. Its otherworldly beauty and surreal nature have made it a hugely popular stop for backpackers and tourists. Hello - thank you for the detailed info. Tell them! Expect to pay around $30 BOB  ($6 USD). Three-day tours start from around 1250 BOB ($180 USD). In Bolivia’s Altiplano, Salar de Uyuni—a 4,086-square-mile (10,582-square-kilometer) stretch of land encrusted with thick etchings of salt—is the world’s largest salt flat. From the remarkable mirror effect and perspective photos to the numerous natural wonders surrounding the landscape, it is no wonder that this part of the world is regarded as a paradise for photographers. Salar de Uyuni este cel mai mare deșert de sare din lume, având o suprafață de 10.582 km². Tour guides should speak English; be sure to confirm this when you book. Thanks for your comments Steve! The Laguna Colorado, Laguna Verde, and other Altiplano salt lakes that are home to Andean flamingos. When Yana Pollera became pregnant, the two male volcanoes fought tirelessly and tenaciously over who the father was. The train graveyard… a strange, but cool homage to Uyuni’s commercial past. If your schedule doesn’t permit this option, however, there are plenty of hostels in Uyuni that you can visit. Salar de Uyuni: a journey across Bolivia’s remarkable salt flats 3 min read • Published Jan 10, 2013 The world's largest salt flat - Bolivia's Salar de Uyuni - is a surreal realm of mirages, where the bone-dry landscape reflects the sky like a mirror… Although it attracts many visitors, it remains one of the world’s most unspoilt and natural landscapes. This train connects Oruro with Tupiza (5.5 hours after Uyuni; 56-239 BOB ($8-$35 USD) and Villazon (3 hours after Uyuni) further down the line. We felt comfortable embarking on a six-week backpacking trip with kids ages 8 and 11 with Steph on our team. Bolivia Many people visit Salar de Uyuni in the hope of seeing the mirror effect. 8 talking about this. From the bus terminal in Calama, buses leave hourly for San Pedro de Atacama; Tur Bus has the most frequent departures. On a three-day tour you can expect to see and experience the following: Another alternative is a four-day tour from Tupiza. Those who visit have the option to do a one day, three day or four day tour depending on your prefered length of exploring and where you want your tour to start and finish from. San Pedro de Atacama is the most visited town in northern Chile. I’ve used this website multiple times and my reservations have always been honored. Lake Titicaca, the world’s highest navigable body of water, is located at the border with Peru, and the country’s largest … A night in a hotel made out of blocks of salt. Dried up ancient lakes have produced several salt flats – including Salar de Uyuni, the largest salt flat in the world, containing 10 billion tonnes of salt. but standards of tour operators are often better and it saves you having to take the long and uncomfortable bus across the border from Calama (Chile) to Uyuni. Visits can be done as a day trip or a multi-day tour, with lengthier tours venturing further into the remote landscapes up to the Chilean border. The largest salar (salt flat) in the world, Salar de Uyuni, is located within the Altiplano of Bolivia in South America. That way, you can be sure to get the times you want and a lie-flat, or “cama,” seat if you are traveling overnight. As the only travel blog dedicated to responsible, adventure travel in Latin America, Worldly Adventurer seeks to inspire you to venture beyond the beaten trail and find a deeper connection with the countries you encounter along the way. The LUX awards is the most important Professional Photography awards in Spain and so I am still on a high after receiving this prize and wanted to share more about how this photo came to be. On the north east side of San Pedro, Ckuri Atacama (Los Laureles 170, $48,000 CLP ($78 USD) double) has really beautifully-furnished bedrooms with shower rooms, large double bed and a small dining area with your own fridge and plates and cutlery for you to serve yourself breakfast (it’s not included in the price). This is also because you’re taking a route northwest (whereas those from Uyuni are taking a loop west). LATAM has also just announced daily direct flights (2.5 hours) from Lima to Calama, costing from $81,000 CLP ($122 USD). Located at an altitude of 3,656 m above sea level in the Daniel Campos Province, this region is remote, unique, and inhospitable. Visiting El Salar de Uyuni between December and March, Visiting El Salar de Uyuni between April and October, Visiting El Salar de Uyuni in late March or late November. In order to get to the Bolivian salt flats, there are several options. Further information about this is located below. It’s also centrally located and easy to walk or get a taxi anywhere in Uyuni. It is very rare that you are stuck for long as there are always other cars around that are willing to help each other out so sit back and enjoy some of the most beautiful surroundings this planet has to offer. For a traveler visiting South America or Bolivia, visiting the Salar de Uyuni is a must. We're getting quoted anywhere from $450-$600 pp. Aeropuerto Internacional El Loa (CJC) receives around a dozen flights from Santiago with carriers LATAM (expensive), Sky Airline (low cost) and Jet Smart (super low cost). This magical corner of the world is complete with vibrant colored lakes, bubbling geysers, crazy rock formations and quinoa producing villages. An entire industry has been devoted to the extraction of this light metal which is responsible for powering laptops, smartphones, and electric cars. If you are short on time and funds and only interested in seeing the salt plains themselves, a one-day tour will suffice. This lake later transformed into Paleo Lake Tauca and many other smaller prehistoric lakes. Seems slightly on the high side. Transfers are timed to pick up passengers from the arrivals hall just after flights land. If you’re more of a planner like me, use Tickets Bolivia to purchase your tickets ahead of time. Her advice and wide array of options also allowed us to be flexible. While the hotel offers WIFI, the signal is only good in common areas and doesn’t necessarily reach into the private rooms. It does seem a little high though, so I suggest you contact a couple of other tour companies to get comparable quotes.