In southwest Bolivia you can find the worlds largest salt flats. At 10,000 square kilometres they are hard to miss. These flats, which are 3,600 metres above sea level, were once prehistoric lakes. Now you can find over half the worlds lithium resources there, and at some point, nearly 99% of Bolivia's backpackers. I met up with Alicia, Nils and Niclas in Sucre and we bused down to the dusty and derelict Uyuni to find a tour to take us around the salt flats for a few days finishing up in San Pedro de Atacama, in northern Chile. These tours are easy to find so fortunately the next morning we could escape that horrible little town and head to one of Bolivia's highlights.
The three day jeep tour took us first to a Train Cemetery then on to Isla Incahausi, once an island in the lake, where we enjoyed great views of the flats, took photos with giant cacti, and, for a small price, used the best toilets in outback Bolivia. The rest of the day was spent driving on the salt flats, stopping to take the token tourist shots. Which were actually far harder than we thought!
That night we slept in a salt hotel, which was pretty cool because, as the name suggests, everything was made of salt! The walls were salt, our dinner tables were salt, the floor was salt , our beds were salt. It was incredible.
During day two and three the landscape was very different to that first day on the salt flats. We were travelling across a barren desert. With a lot of beautiful lakes. And flamingos! I've finally seen flamingos! As we were driving, the scenery reminded me of the Tongariro Crossing, except on a larger scale. This wasn't the only time on this trip I have felt lucky to be from New Zealand. In the desert in Bolivia and I could say we have something just as pretty at home!
For my last stop in Bolivia, and for the most stunning three days in this interesting country, I will let the photos do the talking.
The three day jeep tour took us first to a Train Cemetery then on to Isla Incahausi, once an island in the lake, where we enjoyed great views of the flats, took photos with giant cacti, and, for a small price, used the best toilets in outback Bolivia. The rest of the day was spent driving on the salt flats, stopping to take the token tourist shots. Which were actually far harder than we thought!
That night we slept in a salt hotel, which was pretty cool because, as the name suggests, everything was made of salt! The walls were salt, our dinner tables were salt, the floor was salt , our beds were salt. It was incredible.
During day two and three the landscape was very different to that first day on the salt flats. We were travelling across a barren desert. With a lot of beautiful lakes. And flamingos! I've finally seen flamingos! As we were driving, the scenery reminded me of the Tongariro Crossing, except on a larger scale. This wasn't the only time on this trip I have felt lucky to be from New Zealand. In the desert in Bolivia and I could say we have something just as pretty at home!
For my last stop in Bolivia, and for the most stunning three days in this interesting country, I will let the photos do the talking.