Our four day tour of the South west of Bolivia and the surrounding area around the Salar de Uyuni (Uyuni salt flats) took us to what seems like a million natural wonders. We saw lagoons, geysers, deserts, salt flats and lots of animals including flamingos, vicuñas and llamas. We drove through what seems like endless beautiful landscapes and had plenty of time to rest and think (and get an awful stomach bug for a day in my case).
The infamous Salar de Uyuni itself is the world’s largest salt flats (12,106 sq km) and lies at an altitude of 3653m (nothing can be at a normal altitude here!) It was originally formed as a result of a transformation between several prehistoric lakes. Apart from salt, the brine under the salt crust contains lots and lots of lithium and is thought to contain between 50-70% of the world’s lithium reserves. It obviously attracts a lot of tourism as well and although we had a few blitches on the way, it was an exciting few days for us.
Cochani salt extraction areas where salt is used for many things including as an ingredient in shampoo
The beautiful thermal baths Termas de Polques at 4200m
Boiling mud at the Sol de mañana geysers
The sulphurous fumaroles (smelly egg steam)
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