South America 2012: The Uyuni Salt Flats

A week after getting back from Rurrenabaque we started out on a journey towards Uyuni. It was shock to the system after beautiful warm temperatures and hot humid jungle. The first step was a long bus trip 12 hours overnight.

We booked our trip with a friends recommendation a place called GeoTrek, trying to secure a good trip with zero turmoil. Of course, in South America this is almost impossible. The first problem started off with our bus. At first the lady from the tour place said she would pick us up and take us to where we would board the bus. She cancelled and got a map and drew the location of the bus and gave us the address. This you would think, when given to the cab driver would be enough to get us there? Nope. We drive around unsure where to go and luckily I see the bus that says "Uyuni" and looks like the bus from the ticket holder. I am always nervous when it comes to being late, and Jessica held us together through these tense moments.

The bus was quite nice and we were very glad to have chosen a tourist type bus. Movies to watch, food to eat and pillows and blankets to make us comfortable. At least me anyways - Jessica has trouble sleeping in the quietest of nights, let alone on a bus in Bolivia where they haven't paved any roads. You can imagine the turbulence riding on these roads.

Twelve long hours later we arrived in Uyuni. Woke up and were promptly handed our breakfast. Fruit loops and yogurt. Yummy! It was about -10 and we didn't want to get off our bus. A few minutes later a lady holding a card with our names on it showed up, so we got off the bus into the freezing morning. We grabbed our stuff and the lady took us too a nice little place for breakfast owned by a Swedish lady called La Vicuna. The next breakfast was much better - fresh warm bread, cheese and jam, all paid for by the tour lady. It was about 7 and our tour started at 10. . Things were going smoothly.....hmmm.

The tour lady said she would be back at ten, give us the details of the trip. At ten she was back. Nice, things were still going smoothly....hmm. Ten came and went and the lady started making excuses why the jeep was late - the que at the gas station was long, they had other passengers whose bus was late, etc. Ok she was still here with us, no problem. 11 comes, no jeep! We had been waiting since 7. Tour started at 9 was our thought. All of a sudden tour lady says "Wait here the jeep will come. Remember Gladys? She´ll come get you" We were like What? Who? Tried to argue and tour lady runs away. Great! My nervous tension is starting to flow. So we sit on the sidewalk and wait. Hmmm... Things ain't so good anymore. Typical Bolivian travel. To make a short story long, we were picked up in the next hour. Ouch, was my feeling as Gladys finally pulled up. Off we went. Not a great start.

We ended up being the first ones picked up. So imagine the two other couples we picked up on the way outta town. Similar feelings were described as we headed for the first sight of the day, which was an abandoned steam train yard 5 kms from town. After two minutes I was done with this place. So we walk back to the jeep. It's gone. Luis our guide had explained in Spanish that he was going to pull around the train yard. None of us English speaking people had understood. Anyways we found him and I thought not a great start again.

Marc and Gabby from England, and Mick and Suzy from Ireland were our companions on the journey. They too were frazzled from the start, and after we left the train yard we drove BACK to town. What!!! Luis went into a house and said something about getting our lunch. Well prepared, I thought! Steam might have been blowing from my ears!

We finally start off towards the Salt Flats. The Salt Flats are a giant 8 meter thick layer of salt that is 12000 km squared. They are the leftovers from a huge sea that was here before the Andes mountains. When the mountains came the sea dried up and this was left. Mesmerizing to the eyes as there is no depth perception. Great photos to be had because of this amazing effect. This place is amazing. We first stop at a salt hotel and eat our lunch and try our luck at some amazing pictures.

We were treated to a wonderful lunch and things were coming together. Alpaca meat and a delicious quinoa dish along with fresh veggies and fruit. Also a Bolivian staple of Coca-cola. It was a great place to have lunch. Very unique in a building made out of salt.

We leave after lunch and head out into the middle of the Salt Flats. Very queer shapes form on the surface of the salt - octagonal rings of salt form from the rainy season's dry up. In the rainy season the Salt Flats fill with a foot of water, and in the dry season it dries up making these shapes. Luis is a master photographer and helped us get some great group shots. Next we drove to Fish Island in the middle of the salt. This place was really cool and has 1000 year old monster cactus all over it. The island was quite large and we got some great pictures as we walked around. Finished off the day with a round of beers outside enjoying this beautiful scenery!

Within fifteen minutes of leaving our sunny spot, the sun went down and the temperature dropped 20 degrees, and we were once again on the road heading to where we would sleep. This again did not seem to be planned out. We drove to about 4 or 5 places and Luis said " uno momento" and went to see if it was ok to stay. After over an hour of stopping and checking there were very few places left to check. Finally we arrived at another salt hotel, our final destination for the night.

The salt hotel was a pretty cool place to sleep. The walls and everything were made of sale, and grains of salt filled the floors and it felt like a beach. We were lucky to have our nice down feathered sleeping bags for the night because the temperature kept dropping. We had a nice meal of chicken and rice and went to sleep.

The next morning we started early and hopped in the jeep. It was a very long day of driving. We drove for a few hours and our first stop was some cool rock formations within sight of an active volcano. We could see steam coming out of the top of the mountain. The next stop was a lagoon with flamingos! For the next couple hours we drove up around and through the mountains. It was amazing to finally reach the top plateau and be at 5000 meters above sea level. The beauty of the mountains is indescribable. Our last stop of the day is Laguna Colorada, an amazing lake that is the colour of V8 juice. It's because of the plankton in the water that makes it red and more flamingoes filled it's waters. Truly a " wonder of the world".

Off to another salt building, and this time a dorm room for all 6 of us to sleep in. So separate beds for us two and four extra people in the room. We arrived much earlier than the first day so we had time to enjoy each others company. A nice dinner and a couple of bottles of Bolivian wine made for a fun night.

Our last morning we were up at 5, yes 5am, after Jessica had a rough night sleeping in the bitter cold. We packed up and headed to our final destination, which was the border to Chile. Although, we had a bit of a problem - the jeep had no heat. Freezing cold at 5 in the morning driving, we all thought we would freeze to death. We stopped by some really cool geysers that morning but were too cold to enjoy them. Our reward for the cold was a natural hot spring for sunrise. Pins and needles getting in and very hot water. Beautiful place to enjoy our last morning. We stopped at one last lagoon. Lagoon Verde was this time a green lake that was very nice, and then off to catch our bus at the border. It was an amazing adventure and something we will remember always.

Wow that's a long post! Happy reading! -Colin

Train Cemetary outside Uyuni