Uyuni is without a doubt the highlight of Bolivia! I’d go as far as saying it’s a top natural highlight of South American, if not the entire world. While not easy to get to. And it’s not a comfortable travel experience, the landscapes are so other-worldly, it’s all worth it. Don’t expect a visit to Uyuni or the Salt Flats to feel like vacation. Go into this adventure in search of a memorable experience and keep expectations at “camping” level and be pleasantly surprised when that is surpassed.

EXPERIENCE

Trips to the Salt Flats begin in the remote town of Uynui fairly far south into Bolivia. If arriving to the country in La Paz, the there are options to fly to take the overnight bus to and from La Paz to get to Uyuni. We rode with Todo Tourismo, and though it’s regarded as one of the best, it is an incredibly uncomfortable night in transit. Had we allowed more time, we could have taken a day to recover before joining our Red Planet tour in Uyuni a few hours after arrival. Tired and sore were how we started our adventure into the Salt Flats after a few cups of coca tea in a funny “home-restaurant” breakfast joint above the street.

The first day we visited a Salt Museum and home salt factory, where salt was being packaged and dried from the flats. This is a very tedious and hand done process. From here we went to the flats to take funny photos playing with perspective and then onto Isla Incahusai to walk among the cacti of this strange salt sea oasis.

The second day we drove by Tunupa Volcano. Then we visited Eduaro Avaroa National Park. Here we drove deep into the park to visit the flamingos of Laguna Colorada as well as the bubbling mud pots of the Geyser Sol de Mañana. We also hit Arbol de Piedra, Laguna Hedionda, and Laguna Hedionda.  The Aguas Thermales were part of the accommodation our second evening a nice place to soak and look at the stars before bed.

The third day we visited the Salvatore Dali Desert and Laguna Verde before the eight hour drive back to Uyuni. Here we grabbed dinner and again immediately boarded the night bus back to La Paz– dirty, exhausted but enchanted.

STAY

We spent two nights out on the Salt Flats. The first night exceeded expectations with a matrimonial suite in a salt hotel build of salt blocks called Nuevo Amanecer. We had a private bathroom with running water, full power and our own hot shower.

The second night was a stark contrast and really more on par with winter camping. We had no running water, only two hours of electricity for light after the sun went down and we were absolutely freezing in our dirty bed even with our winter sleeping bags tucked under the blankets. The toilets here were also pretty much unusable, so plan on being able to tolerate this if booking a trip.

EAT

The food started off rather impressive on our journey with a roasted chicken and quinoa lunch complete with a homemade cupcake. Our first evening’s accommodation was also impressive starting us with cookies, crackers and tea while we waited on soup and some sort of hot dog casserole. We enjoyed playing cards with our Toyota Land Rover mates this first evening and all left full and content. The second day we had a great hot chicken cutlet lunch which was the highlight of eating for that day with an unimpressive spaghetti dinner followed by a pretty unfortunate canned corn, tuna and potato lunch.

Breakfasts en route were quite sparse, the first morning comprised of cheese, ham and bread and the second day dry pancakes and some sort of cereal. Overall we were impressed with the meals given the circumstances and all felt full and satisfied the entire time.