salar de uyuni: exploring the salt flats of bolivia

Hey now, hey now, this is what dreamsssss are made of

So yeah, the song from the Lizzie McGuire movie may or may not have been in my head as my jeep drove through the Salar de Uyuni (Salt Flats) of Bolivia.

I may have gotten hit with some rain through my travels in Ecuador, Peru, and Bolivia… but seeing the Salar de Uyuni during the rainy reason made it allllll worth it. During January and February, the normally pure white salt flat is transformed into a gigantic mirror. Really, I’m not sure I’ve seen such a surreal place.

Before I met people who did the Salar de Uyuni tour, I honestly had no idea that you see more than the salt flats. Sure you can opt to do a 1 day tour where you only see the salt flats, but I highly recommend doing a 3 day tour to see the beauty of the entire area.

Enough words, I’ll let the pictures do the talking.

day one

I was a fifth wheel on my tour so I have manyyyy couple pictures

day two

Not pictured: evening stargazing from natural hot springs

day three

your tour of the salt flats

getting there: Salar de Uyuni is only accessible by tour (I went with Salty Desert which I recommend because they go to the hot springs at night!). To get to Uyuni, there are direct buses from a number of cities including La Paz and Sucre. In my opinion, Uyuni is not worth spending a day in, so opt for the night bus and start a tour that same day (though be warned, from Sucre, I arrived at 4:30am!)

cost: 850 Bolivianos ($122) for a tour in Spanish, 1350 Bolivianos ($195) for a tour in English, and 80 Bolivianos ($12) for the national park entrance. Also, if you are headed to San Pedro de Atacama in Chile afterwards, it is 50 Bolivianos ($7)

when to visit: year round! but let me tell you, the rainy season (January/February) is the most magical (ignore that is the one time I’ve been)

what to bring:

• clothing layers – a little chilly in the summer, but very cold during the winter months at night (don’t let the picture of me in the shorts fool you, I was freezing, but wanted shorts for when I arrived in Chile
• water (enough for the length of your tour… I bought 6L bottle in Uyuni)
• sunnies
• sunscreen
• money – besides if you want some alcoholic beverages… you’ll need to pay for bathrooms everywhere besides the hostels. also heads up, if you want to shower, you need to pay for that cold shower too!
• toilet paper (but really, you should have that on you the entire time you are in Bolivia)

 

What do you think – are you dreaming of seeing this magical place?