Salar de Uyuni
Trip Start
Sep 04, 2007
1
8
44
Trip End
Ongoing
Uyuni,
Bolivia
Wednesday, October 24, 2007
I arrived in Uyuni with Matt, an english guy I had met in Potosi, and we were offered a good deal as soon as we stepped off the bus. $70 for a three day tour, all inclusive. Got to love the cheap prices in Bolivia!
So the next day we set off in our Landcruiser: Braulio our driver, Mariesol, the cook, a danish and an italian couple, Paola, an Argentinian, Matt and myself. I had heard quite a lot about the Salar from other travellers, nonetheless I was amazed by the landscape. Surreal, as everyone says. The salt flats are, well, flat. And white. As far as the eye can see. And, far, far off on the horizon it is ringed by volcanoes
Salar de Uyuni
. The first day we drove over the salt flats for hours, taking a break at Isla de los Pescadores (Island of Fishermen) for lunch. This island is covered with giant cactii, some up to 12m high. Pretty cool. On the way there we also passed another tour group, whose Landcruiser had just crashed. They where driving along, when all of a sudden the car started spinning and then rolled, probably due to a broken axle. Luckily no-one of the group was seriously hurt, though their tour was over...
The rest of the day we spent driving along the salt flat, until we reached our accomodation for the night, a salt hotel, made completely of salt, including the furniture. Pretty basic, but cool nonetheless.
The next day the scenery changed to more rugged mountain landscapes, with a smouldering volcano, strange volcanic formations, lakes with flamingoes, barren hills. Stark and beautiful.
The last day we got up at 4 am, and it was bitterly cold (-15 deg C). We drove straight to the geysers for sunrise, whish was pretty awesome. The smell of sulhur was very strong, but walking amoungst the geysers, boiling mudpools, and steam was worth the 'hardship'. Surreal comes to mind again!
We finished off the day at the at another lake, where myself and Paola took a bus to San Pedro de Atacama, while the rest of the group headed back to Uyuni.
