The beautiful Salar de Uyuni is with its 10.582 square km (4.085 square miles) the world's largest salt flat. It is located in the Department of Potosi in southwest Bolivia, near the crest of the Andes, at 3.650 meters high.

Some 40.000 years ago, the area was part of Lake Minchin, a giant prehistoric lake. When the lake dried, it left behind two modern lakes, Poopó and Uru Uru, and two major salt deserts, Salar de Coipasa and the larger Uyuni. Uyuni is roughly 25 times the size of Bonneville Salt Flats in the United States. Salar de Uyuni is estimated to contain 10 billion tons of salt of which less than 25.000 tons is extracted annually.

Every November, Salar de Uyuni is also the breeding grounds for three species of South American flamingos - Chilean, James's and Andean. In the middle of this salt sea lies a waterless oasis. La Isla del Pescado, full of giant cactuses, or the Island of Fish, is named for the shape of a fish it appears to have as you approach. It is the only sign of life for miles.

Laguna Verde, Laguna Colorada and hot springs can also be visited during the Uyuni salt lake tour when entering the National Reserve Eduardo Avaroa. Laguna Verde (Green Lagoon) is a beautiful green colored salt lake on the Chilean border at the foot of the volcano Licancabur. Its color is caused by sediments, containing copper minerals. It is elevated some 4.300m (14.000 ft) above sea level. Laguna Colorada is a red colored salt lake, also because of the presence of minerals. In these lagoons live flamingo's (flamingos at that high and cold altitude!) creating a very unique scene of spectacular beauty!

Salar de Uyuni is estimated to contain 10 billion tons of salt of which less than 25.000 tons is extracted annually. PHOTO GALLERY UYUNI SALT LAKE

REFERENCE PROGRAM (program may change in the wet season from December to February)

Salar Tour 3D/2N Uyuni - San Pedro de Atacama (Chile) (Reference Program Salar de Uyuni)

Day 1 UNDERSTANDING SALAR DE UYUNI
Today we will have an unforgettable trip across 12 000 km2 of fantastic salt landscape. Prepare your camera! The amazing white coat of the Salar de Uyuni (or Thunupa) looks like a huge glacier. We will enter the Salar by Colchani, where we will stop to visit the salt factory and we will receive comments on the salt family economy which command the life of this village.

Once the first visit done, we will enter the Salar and stop at the salt mounts from where we will continue to the dominating and magic Thunupa Volcano. We will ascend a part of the volcano with the car to the Coquesa Mummies. From this point we will have a nice view upon the monumental Salar. Then we will descend to Tahua where we will have lunch at the comfortable Tayka Salt Hotel.

In the afternoon we will get away from the hotel to Chillima village, at the north, from where we will start the second ascension still with the car toward La Pucara. We will start a between 60 and 90 minutes walk to the impressive flat landscape of La Pucara de Chillima. This part is like an intimate retreat of the Salar with an incomparable beauty but as well with a peculiar spiritual presence which come from the stones edifications. With more than 1000 years of antiquity, theses constructions make us think about the way of life of our ancestors. This time the view on the Salar is from the west (sensual Salar) with islands and bays and not very known by tourism. We will return to the car by an approximate 30 minute’s down walk.

We recommend to the people who like to walk to return straight from Pucara to the Hotel by walking. In this case they can use an old way used by the ancients to make ritual visits to this mystic centre. It is about a 2h15 minutes trek which allow to feel a unique and unforgettable experience (If you decide to do so, you have to organize it with the guide)

We will spend the night in the Tayka Salt Hotel with private bathroom, hot water and heating (L, D).

Day 2 ISLANDS, CAVE, LAGOONS CHAIN AND MULTICOLORS DESERT
This day we will cross the Salar from north to south with the first visit at the Incahuasi Island which one of the central tourist attraction. We will follow the little path to arrive at the top of the island from where we will get the amazing 360 º view on the Salar. Then we will continue toward the Mala Mala Bahia, to find the Galaxia Cave where we will find a cactus sanctuary and petrified stromatolites and finally a Chullpas cemetery (ancestral burying) . The cave presents a very weird sub-aquatic geological formation from the era of the Michin Lake (300 000 years ago) and from the Tauca Lake (40.000 years ago).

We will continue the expedition towards San Pedro de Quemes where we will have lunch and a break in the Tayka Stone Hotel. In the afternoon, we will go towards the lagoons chain of Cañapa, Hedionda, Chiarkota, Honda and Ramaditas, where we will see a good quantity of the three kinds of flamingos and other kinds of birds as andean seagulls and wild ducks. These birds live on the lagoons alongside of the volcanoes with their eternal snow on the top and their green sides mixed with other colors done by the borax and sulphur. After the last lagoon, you will enter the huge and great desert area with no roads or ways. These fantastic deserts gather all the colors from browns, reds, oranges, brass, coffee and beige which are successively shown at every curve of the trip. In this area you will find the Tayka Desert Hotel, with private bathroom, hot water and heating (B, L, and D).

Day 3 LAGOONS OF COLOURS, DESERT LADIES VALLEY (Ojo de Perdiz - San Pedro de Atacama) Eduardo Avaroa National Reserve (REA)
We will get out early to visit the Stone Tree which is a stone in a tree shape. Then we will arrive to one of the gem of the Eduardo Avaroa Reserve the Colored Lagoon. This lagoon is the main nesting centre of the three kinds of flamingos and its colour produced by algae and plankton activated by the sun and the wind give the red and pink colour to the flamingos. Then we will surprise the more active moment of the geysers of Sol de Mañana. At this point we will be at the most elevated altitude of the trip (5 000 mts upon the sea level). The cold is intense and we will walk among the smoky and noisy vapour springs and the mud boiling stewpot. The desert and Salar of Chalviri are others landscape of great value. It mixes the white of the snow with the ochre of the desert, the blue of the water and the white of the borax. In Polques, we will have a bath in the hot springs and have a good open air breakfast.

Then we will approach another huge place the Desert Ladies Valley, which is a chef d’oeuvre of the wind work on the rocks. After this valley we will go towards the other gem of the reserve the Green Lagoon which is at the feet of the Licancabur Volcano. We will arrive at lunch time, which is the best time to see how its waters change colours from esmerald green to deeper green.

From this point we will go towards the Chilean border and cross the border to San Pedro de Atacama. It will last about two hours to arrive to your hotel in San Pedro de Atacama.

Nobody can forget the experience of this trip at the end of the world .

(Please take note that due to climate and road conditions (rainy season: December to March) these routes may vary and can sometimes be changed without notice, reason for which this previous detail of the tour in Uyuni is only for reference, and is not to be taken as an exact itinerary of what this tour implies).

REFERENCE PROGRAM (program may change in the wet season from December to February)

Salar Tour 3D/2N San Pedro de Atacama (Chile) - Uyuni (Reference Program Salar de Uyuni)

Day 1 LAGOONS OF COLOR AND DESERTS (San Pedro de Atacama – Ojo de Perdiz) Eduardo Avaroa National Reserve
From the hotel in San Pedro de Atacama to the Bolivian border Hito Cajones. Once you arrive in Bolivia you will enjoy a very rare scenery dominated by the Licancabur volcano and at its feet one of the jewel of the Eduardo Avaroa Reserve (REA) the Green Lagoon which is the first point of our expedition in 4X4. This place is like no other in the world.

In the way out of the Green Lagoon you enter a large landscape: the Valley of the desert Ladies. We will continue to the hot springs of Polque where we will have a bath before continuing to the Geysers of Sol de Mañana to appreciate the volcanic activity.

Then you will arrive to the Red Lagoon which is the other jewel of the Eduardo Avaroa Reserve. This lagoon is the most important place for the three kinds of flamingos. The red color of the lagoon is produced by active algae which react with the sun radiation and wind. The pink color of the feet and feathers of the flamingos is also produced by the same algae. These fabulous deserts own a great variety of colors as red, orange, ocre, brass, browns and beige. Here we will know the Stone Three and on the way we will meet the wild vicuña with its fine and high figure. We will continue the way towards Ojo de Perdiz where we will spend the night in the Tayka Desert Hotel private bathroom, heating and hot shower. (L, D)

Day 2 LAGOONS CHAIN, THE BIG SALAR (Ojo de Perdiz – Tahua)
Today we will drive to the chain of lagoons Ramadita, Honda, Chiarkota, Hedionda and Cañapa . In theses lagoons there is a large number of flamingos of the three kinds (Andino, James and Chilean) who share the volcanoes, their eternal snow and green sides (paja brava, yareta and thola) with other species of birds as Andean seagulls and wild ducks. Other colors from the sand and rocks ate by the millenaries winds and from the borax and sulfur. We will have a campestral lunch on the shore of one of the lagoons. During the afternoon we will go towards the Galaxy Cave, a cactus sanctuary, petrified estromatolitos and Chullpas (antiques cemetery). The cave has a very strange geological sub aquatic structure from the time of the lakes Michín (30 000 years ago) and Tauca (40 000 years ago).

After lunch, we will direct to the other island of the big Salar La Isla Pescado (Fish Island). Very few visited by tourists. There, we will have a little ascension to the top to experience another close and intimate contact with the white desert.Then, at the end of the day we will take the north to get the feet of the Thunupa Volcano.

We will spend the night in the Tayka Salt Hotel, with private bathroom, heating and hot water (B, L, and D).

Day 3 PUCARA AND MORE OF THE BIG SALAR (TAHUA – UYUNI)
We will continue our expedition in 4X4 to the Chillima village, at the north from where we will start to ascend in the car to Pucara. From this point we will do a 60-90 minutes walk to the impressive part of the Salar called Pucara de Chillima. This part is like an intimate retreat of the Salar with an incomparable beauty but as well with a peculiar spiritual presence which come from the stones edifications. With more than 1000 years of antiquity, theses constructions make us think about the way of life of our ancestors. This time the view on the Salar is on the west (sensual Salar) not very known by tourism with island and bays. We will return to the car by an approximate 30 minute’s down walk. From this point we will go to Coquesa Mummies with fabulous views on the Salar which loses itself in the horizon.

We recommend to the people who like to walk to return straight from Pucara to the Hotel by walking. In this case they can use an old way used by the ancients to make ritual visits to this mystic centre. It is about a 2h15 minutes trek which allow to feel a unique and unforgettable experience (If you decide to do so you have to organize it with the guide).

Then we will go back to the Salar at its center to the Incahuasi Island which is sited at the center of the Salar. This place is one of the biggest attractions for tourists. At the top of the Island we will find an extraordinary place with a 360 degrees overview on the Salar. Then we will continue to the Salt Pyramides near the village of Colchani. This will be our last stop on the Salar to make photos of the sunset. Half an hour later we will arrive to Uyuni. Nobody can forget the experience of this trip to the end of the world…

(Please take note that due to climate and road conditions (rainy season: December to Mart) these routes may vary and can sometimes be changed without notice, reason for which this previous detail of the tour in Uyuni is only for reference, and is not to be taken as an exact itinerary of what this tour implies).


Tours include:
- Overnight stay in comfortable Tayka hotels.
- All meals
- Transport 4X4
- Spanish driver/guide

Tours do not include:
- entrance fee’s
- alcoholic drinks, personal snacks and tips.

Optional:
- Flight ticket to/from Uyuni (from/to Santa Cruz, La Paz or Cochabamba (only Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sundays)
- Bus tickets to Sucre or La Paz
- Hotel reservations in Uyuni after the tour has finished
- Bilingual guides

Do not forget to bring the following items:

The route to the salt lake is cold, windy and with high solar radiation. Over day is generally sunny and the weather is pleasant. Our recommendations on what to bring with you are:
- Warm clothes.
- Gloves.
- Wool socks.
- Hat covering your ears and to protect you from the sun.
- Boots.
- Towel.
- Swimming suit.
- Lips moisturizer.
- Sun block 30+.
- Sun glasses.
- Lantern.
- Raincoat (From December to March)

Note: Don’t forget to bring a copy of your passport.

Contact us for more information or for making a reservation for Salar de Uyuni.

Check out the reference programs for the Uyuni-Uyuni tours.

Watch some short movies made on and around the salt flats in Uyuni.