The salt pans of Uyuni in Bolivia are one of the most extraordinary places we have ever been. Salar de Uyuni is the place where travelers in South America take these great perspective and thoughtful Instagram photos. look at #uyuni! This was one of our highlights as we traveled through South America for a year. With so many unique and extraordinary sights, it is a photographer’s dream. Exploring the largest salt flats in the world, we saw colorful lagoons, Flamingos, impressive geysers, swam in hot springs and much more on this incredible journey. A 3-day excursion is very difficult to do independently and is the most popular way to explore the largest salt pans in the world. A trip through the salt desert of Uyuni is an incredible way from Bolivia to Chile. In this entry I will tell you about different tours, prices, sights and tips, everything you need to know to have a good time exploring the most remarkable salt dessert in the world.
Facts about the Salar of Uyuni
These spectacular salt pans are the largest in the world with an area of 10,582 square kilometers (4,085 square miles). Salar de Uyuni is located at an altitude of 3,656 meters(11,995 feet) above sea level! Yes, it is high enough to have altitude sickness when you arrive without acclimatizing. The Bolivian Salt pans were formed about 40,000 years ago, when a huge prehistoric lake tried its hand. The salt layer in the middle is more than 10 meters thick in the middle and it is estimated to be filled with 10 billion tons of salt!
How to visit Salar de Uyuni
The most common way to explore El Salar de Uyuni is a 4×4 tour of the town of Uyuni, a small, remote tourist town in Potosi, Bolivia.
You can also make visits to the Salar de Uyuni of Tupiza, Sucre or La Paz
Sucre and La Paz are located far from the Salar de Uyuni and are a long drive away, but it is possible and fairly easy to arrive by night bus, walk and find a tour when the agencies begin to open and explore the salines directly. Tupiza is in the south of Bolivia, this tour also explores different formations and the price is said to be similar, these tours usually end in Uyuni.
Driving from Sucre to Uyuni
We arrived in Uyuni Sucre by night bus. There are 2 buses that make the trip during the day via Potosi. The direct night bus takes 9 hours to arrive around 5am. Our bus arrived a little strange around 4am, it was cold when we got off the bus and we were a little worried and thought, ” What are we going to do in this cold until something opens?’
Fortunately, there are cafes that are open so early! we had coffee, Breakfast and wifi, and some vanters even came so early, in order to sell us tours.
Driving from La Paz to Uyuni
From La Paz you can travel to Uyuni to buy a plane, train or bus. There is a night bus from La Paz arriving in Uyuni at about 5 am, the night bus takes about 11 hours.
From La Paz you can get to Uyuni by a combination of buses, first take a bus to Oruro (3h 15 min) followed by a train to Uyuni, 7 hours more, it is 20 minutes walk from the station. You can also fly from La Paz to the small airport Uyuni, the airline Amazonas and Boliviano de Aviacion are the main airlines that offer these flights. The flights take about an hour and is obviously much faster and more convenient than the bus.
Best time to visit Salar de Uyuni
The best time to visit Salar de Uyuni, depends on whether you want to see most during the trip, the expanses of white salt marshes, or the incredible water-level surfaces? July to October the climate is fantastic and is probably the most pleasant time for the experience.
The dry season from June to November-Massive dry salt plains completely flat, which created beautiful white pans with intricate patterns of dry salt.Great time of the year to take these beautiful photos to play with perspective with all kinds of toys and other accessories. You will also not get stuck in the mud and are guaranteed to visit the” islands ” (cacti), caves and volcanoes.
Options for Salar de Uyuni Tours
The most popular way to visit the Salar of Uyuni, is a 4×4 tour of the salt flats. The only way to make the independent trip through the salt pans is by bike, motorcycle or renting a jeep. To explore the salt pans, you can choose between a day trip or a three-day excursion.
Full-day excursion to the salt pans, departure and arrival in Uyuni on the same day
A full-day tour is the cheapest way to visit Salar de Uyuni. Tours start and end in Uyuni, most tours take place from 10 am to 5 pm, so it is possible to get to Uyuni by bus, make a day trip and return by bus on the same day.
Typical tours visit the cemetery of the train, followed by a stop in the small town of Colchani. It is the only salt production plant on the Salar de Uyuni, the pyramidal hills sometimes seen in the photos are salt scraped in heaps to be transported to the Colchani salt factory for treatment. Support the locals here by buying a scarf or other souvenirs. You’ll spend the rest of the day exploring the salt pans visit the Salt Pans hotels, and some islands like” Fish Island ” are secluded salt hills covered with cacti and have plenty of opportunities to take great photos of the salt pans! Tours should include lunch. A highlight is stopping at the salt pans to take photos while you play with perspective and cool props and toys.
Three-day visit to the Salar D’uyuni
A 3-day tour is the most popular way to explore the salt pans, and that’s what we did. In the 3-day tours you spend only one day on the real salt pans, the rest of the time you explore unique, varied and simply spectacular desert landscapes!
Day 1-exactly the same as the day tour, we stay only on the salt pans in a salt hotel, where the day tour turns around and returns to Uyuni. It was great, everything was made of salt, even the bed! The dinner was excellent, we even had wine! (pack yours if you want a few drinks). It was cold at night. The shower was available (not from salt), we gave it a jump as we didn’t feel dirty after a full day session.
Day 2-we started early There is a lot of driving on this interesting day. Stop in Gruta de Las Galaxaxias a small cave filled with fossilized algae; several amazing Andean lagoons of different colors red, green and blue with many flamingos in some of them. Unreal flamingos can be found at this height in a salt desert! Arbol de Piedra (the rocky tree) in the wild and wonderful desert of Siloli. You enter Eduardo Avaroa National Park, entrance fee not included, bring enough money and your passport.
Day 3 – we did not return to Uyuni on the third day, but continued to San Pedro de Atacama in Chile, half of our group returned to Uyuni. We all went to the geysers “Sol de Mañana”, viewpoint to see the steaming volcanoes, desert of Dali, swimming in the Thermal aguas (hot spring), Laguna Verde (the green lake). The group returning to Uyuni spent most of the day in the city of Uyuni, we got into another jeep and continued on to San Pedro de Atacama where we arrived at 13: 00.