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You are here: Home / Countries / South America / Bolivia / Uyuni Salt Flats Tour

Uyuni Salt Flats Tour

May 6, 2013 by Travelbllgr 6 Comments

First day

Our minibus was due to pick us up at 8am on day one, however at 8:15am we were still standing outside our hotel and our hearts started to drop at the thought that we should have really picked a more expensive tour operator to ensure we actually got picked up. Luckily at 8:20am our minibus pulled round the corner. Result.

We first drove 5 minutes to the Chilean immigration point which only took around 10 minutes to get through, then we drove about 50 minutes further to the Bolivian immigration point which again only took around 10 minutes to clear.

Bolivian Immigration Post, Bolivia
Bolivian Immigration Post

We were then greeted by our tour leader – Tin Tin, a middle aged Chilean man who had been leading tour groups around the salt flats for 10 years. We were in good hands.

Our Driver, Tin Tin, Uyuni Salt Flats, Bolivia
Our Driver, Tin Tin, Uyuni Salt Flats, Bolivia

We had a lovely breakfast – ham, cheese, bread rolls, pate and coca tea before jumping in the jeep and heading to our first stop (shortly stopping at the edge of the National Park to pay our 150 Bolivianos).

Our fellow tour buddies were an English couple – Josh and Olivia, and two German friends, Hans and Tim.

We seemed to visit lagoon after lagoon, each a different colour.

White lagoon

Lagoon, Uyuni Salt Flat Tour, Bolivia
White Lagoon, Uyuni Salt Flat Tour, Bolivia

Green lagoon

Lagoon, Uyuni Salt Flat Tour, Bolivia
Green Lagoon, Uyuni Salt Flat Tour, Bolivia

Hot springs

Hot Springs, Uyuni Salt Flats, Bolivia
So many people…Hot Springs, Uyuni Salt Flats, Bolivia

We were shocked with how many people were in the springs – which was actually only one small pool. As we were lagging behind the other tour groups every disappeared after 5 minutes and left us with the whole spring to ourselves!

Hot Springs, Uyuni Salt Flats, Bolivia
All to ourselves…Hot Springs, Uyuni Salt Flats, Bolivia

Geysers

After stopping at the Geysers we headed to our hostel for lunch – fried sausages, mash potato, cucumbers and tomatoes, and a 2L bottle of coke to share. After lunch we headed to the last lagoon of the day!

Geysers, Uyuni Salt Flats, Bolivia
Geysers, Uyuni Salt Flats, Bolivia

Red lagoon with flamingos

After visiting the red lagoon we returned to the hostel for tea and biscuits, then dinner was served – vegetable soup to start , spaghetti for main, and tinned peaches for dessert.

Red Lagoon, Uyuni Salt Flats, Bolivia
Flamingos at Red Lagoon, Uyuni Salt Flats, Bolivia
Red Lagoon, Uyuni Salt Flats, Bolivia
Red Lagoon, Uyuni Salt Flats, Bolivia

Our hostel for the night was basic – toilets, sinks with cold water but no shower. It was perfectly adequate. Our room had 6 beds which we shared with the rest of the group and we were given plenty of blankets to keep us warm throughout the night.

First Hostel, Uyuni Salt Flats, Bolivia
First Hostel, Uyuni Salt Flats, Bolivia
First Hostel, Uyuni Salt Flats, Bolivia
First Hostel, Uyuni Salt Flats, Bolivia

Second day

We had a great start to the second day – we were given pancakes for breakfast, served with butter, marmalade, and dulche de leche (toffee condensed milk). We then loaded our stuff in the jeep and headed to our first sight of the day…

Stone tree

Stone Tree, Uyuni Salt Flats, Bolivia
Stone Tree, Uyuni Salt Flats, Bolivia

Highland lagoons

Highland Lagoons, Uyuni Salt Flats, Bolivia
Highland Lagoons, Uyuni Salt Flats, Bolivia
Highland Lagoons, Uyuni Salt Flats, Bolivia
Highland Lagoons, Uyuni Salt Flats, Bolivia

Between all the highland lagoons we managed to squeeze in some lunch – tuna, sweetcorn, rice and salad (and a 2L bottle of coke to share).

Jen, Uyuni Salt Flats, Bolivia
Jen, Uyuni Salt Flats, Bolivia

Ollague volcano

Ollague volcano, Uyuni Salt Flats, Bolivia
Ollague volcano, Uyuni Salt Flats, Bolivia
Eagle Rock, Uyuni Salt Flats, Bolivia
Eagle Rock, Uyuni Salt Flats, Bolivia
Rocks, Uyuni Salt Flats, Bolivia
Rocks, Uyuni Salt Flats, Bolivia

I loved the place where we stayed on the second night – a llama farm! There were lots of llamas roaming around outside which I couldn’t help take lots of photos of! The hostel was very new – they hadn’t yet plastered some of the walls, or installed our hot shower that we were promised! Although lack of shower was made up by the fact that we were given our own private room.

Llama, Uyuni Salt Flats, Bolivia
Llama, Uyuni Salt Flats, Bolivia
Second Hostel, Uyuni Salt Flats, Bolivia
Second Hostel, Uyuni Salt Flats, Bolivia
Second Hostel, Uyuni Salt Flats, Bolivia
Second Hostel, Uyuni Salt Flats, Bolivia

Dinner was served and we had chicken and chips – and even a bottle of Bolivian red wine. Delicious.

Sunrise @ Second Hostel, Uyuni Salt Flats, Bolivia
Sunrise @ Second Hostel, Uyuni Salt Flats, Bolivia

Third day

We rose very early this morning (5.45am) for breakfast at 6am – unfortunately there wasn’t any electricity in the morning, therefore we were fumbling around packing our rucksacks with our pathetic head torches. Fail.

Admittedly, breakfast wasn’t as great as on the second day, we were served  bread, cake, cereal, yoghurt, tea and coffee.

After breakfast we drove for 3 hours before we got to our first stop…

Railway and train cemetery

Train Cemetery, Uyuni Salt Flats, Bolivia
Train Cemetery, Uyuni Salt Flats, Bolivia
Train Cemetery, Uyuni Salt Flats, Bolivia
Train Cemetery, Uyuni Salt Flats, Bolivia

Uyuni salt flats

Salt Flats, Uyuni Salt Flats Tour, Bolivia
Salt Flats, Uyuni Salt Flats Tour, Bolivia
Our Group, Uyuni Salt Flats, Bolivia
Our Group, Uyuni Salt Flats, Bolivia
Flags, Uyuni Salt Flats, Bolivia
Flags, Uyuni Salt Flats, Bolivia
Uyuni Salt Flats, Bolivia
Uyuni Salt Flats, Bolivia

Whilst at the salt flats we had our lunch – chicken snitzel, pasta, carrots, peas, potatoes and a bottle of coke.

I loved every minute of this tour and would definitely recommend our tour operator – Atacama Mistica. You can read more about our choice of tour operator here.

Filed Under: Bolivia, Countries Tagged With: Atacama Mistics, Bolivia, Dali rock desert, Flamingos, Geysers, Hot Springs, Lagoon, Ollague volcano, Salt Flats, San Pedro, Uyuni

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Comments

  1. Agness says

    May 7, 2013 at 5:07 am

    Every time I see Salt Flats in Bolivia and photos people take there I am so overwhelmed and jealous. Can’t wait to finally get there. The Green Lagoon’s my favorite one!
    Agness recently posted..Postcards from Guilin – Guangxi Province, ChinaMy Profile

    Reply
  2. Sam says

    May 8, 2013 at 2:36 pm

    Ahh! This is making me super excited for the trip now! Also, it’s really nice to know what to expect because information online and in guide books that I’ve seen so far are petty vague and sketchy. Thanks!
    Sam recently posted..The Elephant in the Room: Being British in ArgentinaMy Profile

    Reply
  3. Julie says

    May 8, 2013 at 7:29 pm

    Love your Travel Blog. Looks very interesting place to visit. The Red Lagoon looks pretty impressive, you could even be convinced into thinking that is where the flamingoes get their pink plummage from. The rock formations are very impressive too. Are they formed by the salt?
    Intersting that you seem to get coke to drink rather than bottled water.
    Did you walk from lagoon to lagoon? Looked as though it could of been a long walk between them

    Love Jules xx

    Reply
    • Travelbllgr says

      May 8, 2013 at 8:17 pm

      Yeah it was such an amazing place – so many great photo opportunities! We were in a jeep with a driver so he drove us from lake to lake. Loved seeing all the llamas and alpacas wondering around too 🙂

      Reply
  4. Digital Nomads says

    May 25, 2013 at 7:37 pm

    Stunning photos, I have no idea how did we miss this place when we were there!
    Digital Nomads recently posted..Things to do in San Cristobal: Check out 4 San Cristobal AttractionsMy Profile

    Reply
  5. Peter N. says

    September 26, 2015 at 7:49 pm

    Thanks for a fantastic exciting and informative blog! It´s so good to read “real people” good and bad experiences and advice combined with superb photos:-)
    We are planning to go to Chile->Bolivia->Peru in january ´16 and are keen to pick up as much information as possible beforehand. Did you go on from Uyuni to La Paz afterwards, and if so, did you buy the ticket as a part of the package in San Pedro?

    Reply

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