Uyuni Salt Flat in Bolivia – Full Day Tour

Uyuni Salt Flat in Bolivia Full-Day Tour Overview

10,000 km² of salt flat spread out across Bolivia’s remote southwest. Salar de Uyuni (Uyuni salt flat) is the largest salt flat in the world, an endless sheet of hexagonal tiles (created by the crystalline nature of the salt), dotted with pyramids of salt. Despite the desert dryness, freezing night temperatures, and fierce desert sun, this landscape is not devoid of life. Pink flamingos, ancient cacti, and rare hummingbirds all live in the  Uyuni salt flat.

During the wet season, the salt desert is transformed into an enormous salt lake, albeit one that is only six to twenty inches deep, traversable by both boat and truck. During this time,  the shallow salt lake perfectly mirrors the sky, creating bizarre illusions of infinity. In the middle of this seemingly infinite salty lake is a hotel built entirely out of—naturally—salt;  we recommend a visit if your time permits.

Also worth travelling to are the nearby Laguna Colorada (red lagoon) and Laguna Verde (green lagoon). Laguna  Colorada is a red-hued lake filled with thousands of pink flamingos, while Laguna Verde is a blue-green salt lake found at the foot of the volcano Licancabur. Its shifting aqua colour is caused by copper sediments and microorganisms living within the lake.

Normally, the tour is conducted in 4×4 trucks (usually Toyota Landcruisers) with 6 or 7 people, with the driver often times cooking.  Most 3- and 4- day tours have the same itinerary for the first 2 1/2 days, a day on the salt plains, then heading south to the southwest corner of Bolivia, and then splitting off from there.  The specific sites that are seen can be dependent on the tour, but group input can define which sites are visited and how much time will be spent at each.

Uyuni Salt Flat tour in Bolivia Full-Day Tour Itinerary

Arrival to Uyuni and transfer to the hotel o restaurant for breakfast (Breakfast is paid for by the passenger); around 09:00 am Pick up to begin the tour. We start by visiting the indigenous community of Colchani, where we can see the rustic processing of iodized salt. From here we enter the vast white desert, passing typical sights of salt extraction such as salt mounds, the “eyes” of the salt flats (small pools where water has risen to the surface), and the first salt hotel, which is now a museum, before arriving at Incahuasi Island, famous for the giant cacti that grow on its volcanic rock.
Picnic lunch on the salt flat (only during the dry season)
We continue our tour in the village of Coquesa, where we visit their famous mummies (dating from 700 BC and still retaining parts of the skin, hair and nails). We then go up to the viewpoint from where we can see flamingos. Transfer to the airport or Uyuni town.

You can take tours for 2 or 3 days in Uyuni and coloured lakes.