We were back in Tupiza, but of course wanted to see the famous saltflats of Uyuni (Salar de Uyuni). So we decided to take a tour. There are daily departures to the Salar and the Southwest of Bolivia from Tupiza and Uyuni. From Tupiza, it’s a 4 day trip.

We left at 8 am; in a 4WD (Toyota Landcruiser) with an English couple, the driver and the guide/cook. The first day was long and we sat in the car a lot. But the scenery was beautiful, so that made up for a lot. We saw many lama’s, a falcon (you don’t see them here a lot) and a few condors.

no images were found

We reached the highest point of the trip, 4855 meters (14.500 ft), and saw the remains of the 400 year old town of San Antonio de Lipez. We were together with another group and we stayed together the whole tour.

no images were found

The second day was a lot shorter. We went to see geysers and had a wonderful hot bath in a natural hotspring. The water was very warm and it was hard to get out.

no images were found

The geysers were beautiful, very different from other geysers we have seen. These were holes in the ground instead of little hills on top of the ground. Very spooky and weird.

no images were found

no images were found

On the third day we saw some beautiful lakes and many flamingo’s. All lakes are surrounded by white stuff. That almost never is salt, but Colpa and Borax. Colpa is used to make shampoo and with Borax they make glass (windows). Some of the lakes have unusual colors, such as red and black. These colors are formed by algae’s and minerals in the water. We also went into a cave where fossilized algae’s have formed stalactites on the ceiling. Very strange.

We spent the last night in a salthotel. Almost everything was made of salt; the walls, the tables and chairs and the floor was loose salt.

We had to get up really early on the last morning to be able to watch the sunrise on the Salar de Uyuni from an ‘island’ about in the middle of the saltflat, Isla Incahuasi. This ‘island’ is sort of a big rock whit a lot of cacti.

no images were found

We also took some funny pictures on the Salar. Because it’s such a huge flat, you can’t see depth on the pictures so you can take pictures with a funny effect.

Right outside Uyuni is a traincemetary where a lot of old trains and locomotives are rusting away.

no images were found

After 4 good days in a beautiful scenery, we were back in Tupiza. The evenings and nights were very cold, as soon as the sun went down it was freezing. The days were warm and sunny. The southwest of Bolivia is absolutely stunning, maybe even the most beautiful place in the world we have seen so far. There are high mountains, beautiful volcanos, lakes in different colors, gorges and huge flats. You can see about all the colors of the rainbow there. Red, pink, purple, orange, yellow, green, gray, white and the bright blue of the sky all blend together. And then there’s the Salar de Uyuni itself; huge and bright white. There’s salt as far as you can see.

no images were found