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Salar De Uyuni

Photo credit: Nico Kaiser / Source / CC BY
Salar De Uyuni
  • (worth a trip)
  • 10+ km
  • Moderate
  • Average
  • 4-7 days
  • 3 3

The world's largest salt flats

If your budget is tight, make sure to book your tour once you get to the city of Uyuni instead of booking online - Booking there will save you tons of money and you can be looking into paying no more than $80 USD (food and accommodation inclusive)

Salar de Uyuni is Bolivia’s most visited destination and the largest salt flat in the world and the biggest Lithium reserve in the world containing 80% of the world’s lithium, covering an area of 10,582 square kilometers (4,086 square miles). Aside from its undeniable beauty, many people visit Uyuni for the ultimate fool-the-eye photograph.

 

What Salar de Uyuni looks like today did not always do. Approximately 40,000 years ago, there used to be a lake where the salt flats sit now known as Lago Minchin, and approximately 11,000 years ago, by another lake known as Lago Tauka. The lakes were dried up due to a drought resulting in the magnificent landscape we see today.

 

The flat is 120 meters thick and it consists of eleven layers of salt – some of which have a tickness of less than a meter and others more, the superficial layer is 10 meters thick.

 

To be able to appreciate the reflection of the sky on the surface, it is advised to visit between the months of March and April.

 

Tours
To be able to go, you will have to book a tour as going there independently is prohibited. Tours usually last up to four days and include the 4×4 ride through breathtaking volcanoes, lakes, geysers and more gorgeous landscapes that will simply leave you speechless. Most tour companies take seven or eight people in one single tour, meaning that it can get quite claustrophobic and this is not for those who love travelling comfortably – However, it is possible to book private tours for a higher price.

 

It is important to note that the four days spent in the tour are worth it for more than just the landscape of the flats against the sky. There are a lot of activities to do such as going to Pescado Island, the home to cactuses that are well over 10 meters tall. There is also a cavern found here with mummies that are over three thousand years old and during November, several species of flamingoes are born inside the flats.

How to get there

Tours can begin from the city of Uyuni, Tupiza or the Chilean city of San Pedro de Atacama

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