The Salt Flats in Bolivia, A Must Visit!

27 Mar The Salt Flats in Bolivia, A Must Visit!

Posted at 12:27h in Off the Beaten Track, South America by Wander-lust 0 Comments

Reflections, crystal-white salt, never ending views, ice scraped mountains, wildlife, and this all above 4000 km height. Combine breath taking colorful lagoons with steamy volcanoes, geysers and warm hot-springs. This popular destination is without doubt an unforgettable and magical journey that you will never forget! Experience the world’s largest salt flats: Salar de Uyuni

The view from the air is exquisite, you can already see the Salt Flats from here

How to get there:
I traveled from La Paz to Uyuni by plane and I paid 1350 Bolivianos for a return flight (this is around 190 euro). The flight only takes 50 minutes and it departs at 7am with Amazons airlines or at 8am with BOA airlines. The view from the air is exquisite, you can already see the Salt Flats from here.
From the airport you need to take a taxi that will bring you to the center of Uyuni for just 10 Bolivianos (1.40 euro). You can also take a bus from La Paz to Uyuni, that will only costs you 30 euros for a return ticket and they will drop you in the center of Uyuni. It takes around 8 or 9 hours one way (depending on the traffic).

TIP! Make sure you arrive in the center of Uyuni before 10am, so you will have enough time to arrange your tour. The tour starts around 11am.

Tours
The Salar de Uyuni tours range in length from one to four days. During a one day tour you will experience the salt flats as well as a few other sights in the surrounding area and you’ll do it by jeep. The three or four day tours will take you deeper into the desert where you will see steamy volcanoes, geysers, colorful lakes, warm hot-springs, unique wildlife and a lot more…..I definitely recommend a three or four day trip if you like a little adventure.

Where To Buy Your Ticket
You can choose to book your ticket in La Paz (or another city), but we’d heard that it’s cheaper and also super easy to fix in Uyuni , so we decided to book it there. When you arrive in the center of Uyuni in the early morning you will find many local agencies who all want to sell a ticket to you. They will attack you and it’s hard to choose. For your info, they all offer the same tours, it’s just the price that diverse from the other. Eventually it’s cheaper to book your ticket in Uyuni. We paid 680 Bolivianos for 3 days, including food, drinks and 2 night’s stay.

TIP! Try to find at least 5 people and start to negotiate (every jeep will take a group of up to 6 people).

The Tour
Day 1:

Arrive at the small village of Colchani where you will have the chance to buy some local souvenirs
The original Salt Hotel
Salar de Uyuni (Uyuni salt flats), where you get enough time to make pictures and see the sunset
Uyuni center where you will have dinner and spend the night

Mirror mirror on the wall..

The Sunset at the Salt Flats is something else..

Image by Nancy

Day 2:

Wake up at 7am and leave at 8am
Breakfast in a small village on the way to the next stop (Bread with jam and coffee or tea)
Exploring the Cementerio de trenes
Valle de Rocas where you get lunch (meat with salad and potatoes
Small desert of Chiguana on the south side of Salar de Uyuni where you stop at a lookout to view steamy volcanoes
Breathtaking colorful Lagoons: Hedionda, Onda with many flamingos , Lagoon Colorodo National park (protected where you need to pay 15o Bolivianos)
Eat and sleep in a hostel. You get a tea and coffee with cookies when you arrive and for dinner we got this nice vegetable soup and spaghetti with a bottle of red wine

TIP! Bring your own wine! Or…. If your wine is finito and you wish for more than you can buy it in the small village where you are staying (around the corner), that sells beers, wines, cookies, chips and more.

Cementerio de trenes

Train tracks leading to…

Valle de Rocas

Lagoon Onda

Lagoon Colorodo

Day 3:

Wake up at 6am, have breakfast (delicious pancakes for breakfast in the morning with tea and coffee) and leave at 7.30am
Visit the Sol de Mañana” geysers while the sun comes up
The natural hot-springs. The volcanic activity produces some thermal springs. Best way to get warm again.
Laguna Verde – the green lake – only green in October and November due to the change in alga’s
Lunch on the way back – salad with tuna, vegetables and pasta with a beautiful view (6 hour ride back to Uyuni)
Last stop is the local market 1 hour before Uyuni. Time to go to the toilet and buy some drinks

Sol de Mañana” geysers

Sunset at the geysers