Salar de Uyuni (salt flats), in Bolivia, an experience to remember

posted in: SouthAmerica, Travel | 0

Visiting the Bolivian salt flats (The Salar de Uyuni) was on our bucket list for quite some time. You can visit the salt flats during the dry season, but at this point you just see the salt flats, but there is no reflection/mirror effect. While if you go during the rainy season, there is a small layer of water over the entire flats and it gives this special mirror effect. It is an absolutely unreal experience.

This year, my brother and I, both could take a week off in February – which is the rainy season in Bolivia. It was an ideal time to visit the salt flats. This is also the summer season – but please do not expect very warm temperatures, especially in the evenings and nights, which are always cool and windy.

We had booked our 3D/2N trip with Quechua connection 4wd – and they were spectacular. They picked us from the Uyuni airport in the morning and directly drove us to the office. Where we packed our 4×4 for the 3 day trip. All the bags are packed in a waterproof tarp that protects them from the elements.

The Salt Flats are very close to Uyuni – and you can chose to do a 1day tour, where you are driven back to Uyuni at the end of the day or continue further for a multiple day tour (which we chose). The 1 day trip is more or less similar to the first day of the multiple day tour.

We started for the Salar around 11:30 and we stopped by some souvenir shops right before entering the Salar. This is a small town that is the gateway to the Salar. After the souvenir shopping and information about the Salt – we entered the Salar. The first stop is the salt hotel – where there is a nice (Dakar) Bolivia monument made of salt and lot of international flags on display.

With the Indian flag next to the salt hotel.

The salt hotel is a stop where most of the tourist head for using the restroom and then having a lunch around the hotel. The salt hotel also has a nice cafe for small snack items and most importantly pay-by-use restrooms.

While we were taking photos around the salt hotels – our drivers and guide set-up a table and our lunch. What a beautiful lunch spot – on the salar with a bright blue sky overhead.

The food was impressive (as it was just sourced from Uyuni) before we left an hour or two ago. We had nice steak, salad and even a apple cake as dessert.

Some amazing scenes along the salar – i love the perfect mirror/reflection.

My brother and I.

Our group with some funky poses and photos.

Goofing around with my brother.

It was an amazing experience – a one to remember. The salar is so different than anything what we have experienced before. It is miles and miles of salt, with a thin layer of water on top. When the water is still, the horizon is one with earth. You cannot tell them apart. With the sky so clear, it gives a very different perspective to reality and allows for some fantastic perspective photos. We loved the day on the salar. We were glad that we could experience the perfect mirror experience rather than just salt flats.