So our final day I got up a bit earlier then the others to grab a few photos in the tiny village we’d stayed in. We left at eight and as we were one the edge of the flats, we were driving on them within ten minutes, it was amazing!! For as far as the eye could see just brilliant whiteness.
Bit more lazy Wikipedia plagiarism:
” Salar de Uyuni is the world’s largest salt flat at 10,582 square kilometers (4,086 sq mi). It is at an elevation of 3,656 metres. The Salar was formed as a result of transformations between several prehistoric lakes. It is covered by a few meters of salt crust, which has an extraordinary flatness with the average altitude variations within one meter over the entire area of the Salar. The crust serves as a source of salt and covers a pool of brine, which is exceptionally rich in lithium. It contains 50 to 70% of the world’s lithium reserves. The large area, clear skies and the exceptional flatness of the surface make the Salar an ideal object for calibrating the altimeters of Earth observation satellites.”
We stopped in the middle of the flats with no one else anywhere near us and had a couple of hours to muck around taking photos including the infamous perspective ones. Us girls had all bought yellow underwear with Happy new year on the back that we wore for the photos, to belatedly celebrate NYE, (yellow pants are worn in in several countries NYE to bring good luck for the new year). We also made a video of us all dancing around to a track we’ve been listening to. Very silly, hilarious fun and our CEO Nancy (Chief Experience Officer) has since edited and put it together…..I’ll post the video at a later date when I have it.
After a few hours fooling about with photos etc we drove to Isla Incahuasi right in the centre of the flats. This was the top of a volcano as the whole of the salt flats used to be above sea level. The small island is covered in Cactus, and at the very top is a sacrificial table which the incas still come to once a year to offer the sacrifice of crops, alcohol and two lamas. Even though we were lower then the previous few days we were still fairly high at 3656m and the fifteen minute walk to the top had us all gasping for breath again. The view from top was incredible, complete panoramic of the salt flats stretching away. As it was nearer lunch time a lot of other 4x4s were making there way to the island for lunch, and watching them approach the island was like tiny toy cars crossing a white carpeted floor. On our descent Ronaldo our cook had prepared our final lunch that we sat and ate on a rock salt picnic table and bench complete with a table cloth!
After lunch we drove another hour to the other side of the flats to see salt being farmed by individuals. They mark out a square area of about six metres and scrape the top inch or so up into pyramid which dries out over a day or so. They then carry this back to the small village on the shore of the flats were we saw how its transformed into salt. First completely dried over an oven, them crushed, and then mixed with Iodine and finally bagged. A small half kilo bag is sold for one boliviano, about ten pence. Unbelievable that for all the work, that’s how cheap the salt is. In this small village were also stalls selling all the usual mass produced hats, jumpers, socks etc but they also were making small objects from the salt, like ashtrays or carved lamas. These they could sell for five Bolivianos, so you can understand how important the tourist business is to the communities economy.
We drove our final hour to the town of Uyuni were we’d be staying the night, but first we passed round the outskirts of the town to a Train graveyard. The outside of the town is fairly depressing, and rubbish blows across the scrub for miles surrounding the town as there is no waste disposal system for the town and everyone just leaves there rubbish for the wind to carry off. Whilst obviously I find this a bit shocking coming from a country were I’d feel guilty dropping a lollipop stick, you just have to acknowledge that they have much bigger problems then waste control or recycling, like running water, electricity or enough food. The train graveyard was full or abandoned trains from the 1950s. All rusted away, but a great photo place, and they have added in some swings and a seesaw to all most make it a playground. Again we could clamber all over the engines and carriages so had a bit of a horse around before heading into the town. We said goodbye and thanks to our two drivers and the cook. We’d been really lucky with the guys and the vehicles as so many others breakdown. This was definitely a plus to having done this particularly trip with a tour so that we had a good good team that my tour company always uses. There are some really shoddy operators with drunk drivers, rubbish vehicles, and dangerous driving and some of the tracks that we were on you definitely needed some experienced drivers for!
So after two quite basic nights accommodation, we checked into a hotel with hot showers and regrouped clean for dinner. Uyuni itself is (3669m) is a small town whose inhabitants are either involved in the tourist industry or the military. It’s not a beautiful town in anyway, and you would only come through here to cross the salt flats. Another benefit to being part of a tour, was the experience and knowledge of our CEO, so we never had wander around aimlessly trying to decide where to eat, plus she knows which restaurants in Bolivia we’re less likely to get sick from. We had a great meal for about £3 each. After we headed to Uyuni’s main Gringo hangout, the “Extreme Fun Pub”, which after a totally sober NYE we were ready for…and maybe two of us a little to ready. They have a ridiculous drinking challenge of ten different drinks to see how quickly you can drink them, some are basic shots and a couple are are something worse stronger and bigger! You can can part take in the challenge on your own or in pairs, I’m not overly sure how but the Ozzie guy strong armed me into doing it with him, he went first and I went second, our time was not brilliant and my final action was not appreciated by the barman, that’s all I’m saying on here. We all stumbled home relatively early…..
The trip was for me like many others one of the most visually staggering places I’ve been to. Unlike parts of Argentina were you can drive for hours with the landscape barely changing, here in three days we’d seen coloured lakes, flamingoes, arid desert, geysers, quebradas, valleys, canyons, bewildering rock formations , the blinding white of the slat flats, huge Cactus, lamas, Vicunas, Vizcacha (bit like a rabbit). We also experienced the extreme temperatures and the altitude of the desert. I think it’s hard to really appreciate what you are seeing at times, particularly if you are suffering from the altitude, and having the photos to remind me of the trip will be priceless!
BexBAtoRio 