There are still absolutely fantastic places on Earth where you get the feeling of being on another planet. Salar de Uyuni(Spanish: Salar de Uyuni), or simply Uyuni, is one such amazing place.
Uyuni is considered the largest salt marsh on Earth, with an area of 10.6 km². It is a dried up salt lake in the south of the high mountain desert (Spanish: Altiplano), located in, at an altitude of about 3.7 thousand meters above sea level. The salt marsh is located on the territory of the departments (Spanish: Oruro) and (Spanish: Potosí) in the southwest of the country.
Thousands of tourists from all over the planet come here every year to admire the endless expanses of salt sparkling in the sun, which change their color more than once during the day, visit unique salt hotels, watch ancient volcanoes and flocks of pink flamingos.
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Education and Geology
The geological history of the Uyuni salt marsh consists of the sequential transformation of several large lakes. About 40 thousand years ago, the current salt marsh was part of Lake Minchin (Spanish: Lago Minchin), which had previously emerged from the ancient glacial lake Ballivian (Spanish: Ballivian). After the huge reservoir dried out, there were 2 lakes that still exist today, (Spanish: Lago Poopo) and Uru-Uru (Spanish: Lago Uru Uru), as well as 2 salt marshes: Uyuni and Salar de Coipasa (Spanish: SalardeCoipasa).
Both salt marshes are separated from each other by a chain of hills. Lake Poopo is adjacent to a large one (Spanish: Titicaca). During the rainy season, lakes Poopo and Titicaca overflow their banks, causing salt marshes to flood. A small layer of water covering the salt formation turns the salt desert into giant mirror. This spectacle cannot be described in words: the sky above your head and under your feet creates an indescribable feeling of “floating in the air.”
Interior dry lake covered with a layer of table salt 2-9 m thick, and in some places the thickness of the salt layer reaches almost 10 m.
In the center of the Uyuni salt marsh there are several “islands”, which are the remains of ancient volcanoes. Today, their surface is covered with fragile sediments consisting of mineral fossils and algae. Below, lake silt alternates with layers of an aqueous solution (brine) saturated with lithium chloride, sodium chloride and magnesium chloride.
Economic importance of the salt marsh
The Uyuni Salar is of great importance to the Bolivian economy.
The salt reserves in the Uyuni salt marsh are truly enormous: according to rough estimates of experts, the salt marsh contains more than 10 billion tons of salt, of which more than 25 thousand tons are extracted annually.
Secondly, the almost perfectly flat surface of the salt marsh (the average height difference throughout its entire territory is no more than 1 m) serves as the main road route in the Altiplano during the dry season.
Thirdly, the lithium chloride found here in significant quantities is used to extract lithium, which is widely used in the battery industry. About 100 million tons of lithium, i.e. 50-70% of its world reserves are located in the salt marsh.
Fourth, due to its dry air, clear skies, large area of flat surface and high albedo in the presence of even a small layer of water, the Salar de Uyuni is widely used as an excellent testing tool. and calibration of remote sensing instruments of orbiting satellites.
Fifthly, the unique salt marsh is an extremely popular tourist route.
Seasonal effects
During the rainy season (November - March), the salt marsh is covered with a layer of water up to 30 cm, which creates an amazing mirror effect: clouds float across the sky and underfoot. You can observe simply unimaginable landscapes, when cars and people seem to be floating in the clouds.
Amazing mirror effect of the salt marsh...Clouds float across the sky and under your feet...
During the dry season, as water evaporates, polygonal cells resembling a honeycomb are formed on the surface of the salt marsh. Mostly 6-gons are found, but there are 5-gons, 7-gons and even 8-gons.
Climate
In summer, the air temperature in the Uyuni salt marsh area fluctuates around +22 °C. Hot days usually give way to cold nights. Winter (June - August) is considered the most tourist season here, although during the day the air warms up to a maximum of +13 °C, and at night the temperature can sharply drop to -10 °C. During the dry season, the salt marsh landscape is exclusively white.
The rainy season lasts from November to March, during this period the surface of the salt marsh turns into a titanic mirror.
Flora and fauna
The territory of the world's largest salt marsh is practically devoid of vegetation, with the only exceptions being small shrubs and giant cacti (up to 12 m in height). In the summer, from November to December, you can see an absolutely stunning picture here: hundreds of amazing pink flamingos walking along the mirror-like surface of the lake. Every year, 3 species of South American flamingos fly to Uyuni to breed: Chilean, Andean and James flamingos (lat. Phoenicoparrus jamesi).
The vicinity of the salt marsh is also home to about 80 species of birds, including the Andean goose, horned coot and a species of hummingbird called the Andean mountain star. In some parts of the salt marsh there are Andean foxes and viscachas - small rodents similar to our rabbits.
Attractions
The Uyuni Salt Flat is one of the most unusual attractions in Bolivia, attracting many travelers - about 70 thousand tourists visit it annually.
Locomotive Cemetery
Going to the Uyuni salt flat, tourists will certainly make a stop at the “steam locomotive cemetery” (Spanish: “Cementeriode Trenes”), located 3 km from the city of Uyuni. Once this town, whose population today does not exceed 15 thousand inhabitants, was a major center of Bolivia with a developed network of railways. A sharp drop in mineral production at the surrounding mines in the 40s. last century led to the complete collapse of railway communication in this region. Huge locomotives, electric locomotives, carriages and trolleys were abandoned to the mercy of fate.
Some of the cemetery exhibits are over 100 years old! All these historical specimens are in a very deplorable condition. Local authorities have repeatedly raised the issue of creating an open-air museum, but, unfortunately, “things are still there.”
Quivers
The small village of Colchani (Spanish: Colchani) is located on the eastern edge of the salt marsh, 22 km from Uyuni. The main occupation of the village residents is salt extraction, processing and shipping it to other regions of Bolivia. A special feature of the village are houses built from salt blocks. The local Salt Museum displays furniture and sculptures made from local natural materials.
Salt hotels
Many tourists prefer to stay in hotels built from salt blocks. In 1995, the first such hotel was built in the center of the Uyuni salt marsh, which soon became a popular tourist attraction. The salt hotel was dismantled in 2002 and several new, environmentally compliant salt hotels were built on the outskirts of the salt marsh.
One such luxury hotel, Palacio de Sal (Spanish: Palacio de Sal) is located in the village of Colchani. Walls, floors, ceilings, as well as most of furniture and interior decoration of the hotel - sculptures, beds, tables, chairs and even clocks. The comfortable hotel, covering an area of 4,500 m², has all the amenities, including a Jacuzzi bath, sauna and steam bath.
The only thing visitors are prohibited from doing inside such buildings is licking the walls and interior items. To prevent guests from succumbing to temptation, there are signs all around: “Do not lick!”
Pescado Island
In the very center of a huge salt marsh is the island of Pescado (Spanish: IsladelPescado). The word "pescado" means "fish" in Spanish. During the rainy season, the reflection of the island on the surface of the salt marsh really resembles a huge swimming fish.
The island, with an area of about 2 km², represents the peak ancient volcano. It rises 100-120 m above the salt desert. The island is covered with fossilized coral deposits and giant cacti, some of which are more than 1000 years old. The age of a cactus can be determined by its height, since it is known that cacti grow 1 cm per year. The ruins of ancient settlements are located on the island.
Edionda Lagoon(Spanish: La Grande Laguna Hedionda)
Edionda is a salt lake favored by migrating pink and white flamingos. Since the 3 km² reservoir is surrounded by wetlands, its name is translated from Spanish. does not sound very euphonious: “Big stinking lake.” In the vicinity of the lake you can see herds of llamas and alpacas.
Laguna Colorada(Spanish: Laguna Colorada).
This is a small reddish salt lake located in the territory of National Nature Reserve Andean fauna (Spanish: Reserva Nacionalde Fauna Andina Eduardo Avaroa). The unusual red hue of the pond is given by microscopic algae “algae”. Lake Colorada is notable for its large colonies of flamingos.
Sol de Mañana Geyser Pool(Spanish: Solarde Manaña)
Sol de Mañana is located 50 km from Lake Colorada. The bubbling sulfur pools and geysers of the basin emit sulfur gas with a characteristic unpleasant odor of rotten eggs.
Not far from the geyser pool is the Termas-de-Polques thermal pond, the temperature of which is pleasant for swimming. The mineral composition of the water improves the well-being of those suffering from arthritis and rheumatism.
Laguna Verde(Spanish: Laguna Verde)
Verde - a salt lake at the foot Licancabur volcano(Spanish Licancabur; 5920 m), located on the border with. The green color of the lake is given by sedimentary deposits containing copper. Verde is famous for its hot springs and picturesque scenery. A small “corridor” separates the lake from Laguna Blanca (Spanish: LagunaBlanca) with white water (where the name of the lake comes from), due to the high concentration of sodium pyroborate (borax).
The most interesting and unusual lake in the world is different from everyone else. It amazes the imagination with absolutely fantastic landscapes - tons of salt turn after heavy rains into a smooth, almost mirror-like surface in which the sky is reflected, and it seems that the sky has inexplicably found itself on the surface of the earth.
Deserted white sea
The Salar de Uyuni, located in Bolivia near the city of Uyuni, is world famous. Its interior is covered with hard salt deposits up to 10 meters thick, which can change their color during the day due to the bright sun or pink dawn rays. From a distance, the desert looks endless, with cracked tiles seemingly stretching beyond the horizon.
At the very big place salt mining (about 25 thousand tons per year) is fearlessly allowed in to amazed tourists, without fear for damage to the useful mineral, because they say that it will last for another few million years. Uyuni (salt marsh) is of great importance for the development of the country's economy, and not only salt is the reason for this. Lithium, used in the production of batteries, is mined here on an industrial scale. Previously, the United States invested huge amounts of money in this particular production, but society had ambivalent reactions to such investment. Many have advocated keeping all profits from lithium mining within Bolivia, and the local government has long been preoccupied with building its own plant.
Geological history
More than 40 thousand years ago, this desert was part of the huge ancient reservoir Minchin, which, when dried, left 2 lakes and 2 salt marshes, separated by hills. In the center of the largest salt desert there are peculiar islands - the tops of previously active volcanoes that have survived to this day.
In prehistoric times they were completely submerged in the water of Minchin, and now the peeking out islands are covered with various fragile fossils. There is a version that the ancient lake went underground, since it is known that the Uyuni salt marsh stores a deep pool under its surface, filled with thick salt blocks. This amazing place is surrounded by mountains, and all the table salt remains at the very bottom of the lake, the water of which contains magnesium chloride and lithium chloride.
Poor flora and fauna
The Salar de Uyuni (Bolivia) is devoid of any flora. If we talk about plants, then only giant cacti make their way through the thickness of salt deposits. Growing up to 12 meters high on a flat desert, they are a truly fantastic sight. At the end of the year (for Bolivia this is summer), amazingly beautiful pink flamingos fly here, walking along the hard surface of the snow-white lake. Researchers know about 80 species of birds that live on the salt marsh. And the poor one animal world represented by colonies of rodents.
Amazing hotels made of salt
Now, near the place where the Uyuni salt marsh is located, there are unusual hotels, which cannot be seen in other parts of our planet. Erected in the early 90s, hotels built from salt offered all travelers who had traveled a long distance to relax in their rooms. Having learned about such an interesting innovation, tourists rushed to stay in unique hotels. True, they were later dismantled due to sanitary problems, but soon Uyuni (salt marsh) was replenished with a new modern hotel, built on its outskirts in compliance with construction standards and hygiene standards.
So in Bolivia, salt is not only a food flavor enhancer, but also an excellent building material, from which all blocks of hotels for tourists, furniture in rooms and even clocks with sculptures are made. When staying in hotels with affordable prices for overnight accommodation, all travelers are strictly warned: not to taste anything. However, so far few have resisted such temptation. True, everyone who spent the night in such a room notes that salt remains literally everywhere: on clothes, hair and skin. Therefore, many people prefer traditional hotels to exotic holidays.
Local residents of the village
The magical beauty of the salt marsh lake Uyuni amazes only foreigners with its landscapes, and local residents, accustomed to unusual species since childhood, have to work daily on the surface of the desert, extracting tons of salt. They fold it into neat small piles, which helps the water quickly evaporate, and then such mounds are easy to transport. Many try to survive due to numerous tourist excursions, selling souvenirs (all kinds of crafts), which simply amaze the imagination of tourists with their variety.
By the way, next to the salt marsh there is a small local museum where amazing salt figurines are displayed. And the houses of the residents, located on the outskirts of the village, are built from this solid mineral. Tourists are frozen in place by the stunning view of boiling white streets and houses against the backdrop of an equally snow-white endless field.
Salt marshes of Uyuni: how to get there?
This amazing corner is located at an altitude of approximately 3.6 thousand meters above the ground, which prevents many curious people from reaching their destination. But this even benefits the lost place, because its remoteness from civilization maintains a stable ecological situation.
To get to the most unique point globe, you need to get to the town of the same name Uyuni by train, plane or by regular bus. In a small settlement there is a huge number of tourist offices offering their services. If anyone doesn't want to join organized excursion by jeep, he can take a private trip in a car with a driver who will quickly take him to the desert.
The phenomenon of the sky under your feet
The rainy season here runs from November to March, and the temperature stays at 22 degrees Celsius. On days of heavy rainfall, excursions to the lake are suspended, as salt water can cause corrosion of cars. Despite the fact that winter is quite cool here, the period June-August is the season for tourists from all over the globe. The most beautiful phenomenon is when, after rain, the amazing salt marsh of Uyuni is filled with several centimeters of water. The photo of the mirror surface with the running clouds reflected on it causes genuine amazement in everyone who encounters this phenomenal landscape for the first time.
The space seems to expand, and a visual illusion arises in which it seems as if not the ground under your feet, but the sky itself is thrown down. Visible boundaries disappear in this place, forcing everyone who sees the world inside out to admire the natural attractions. The Salar de Uyuni, protected by mountains, is a quiet and peaceful area with a complete absence of winds. For the sake of the spectacle of the shiny surface, travelers from all over the globe rush to visit this enchantingly beautiful place.
True, many who arrive here experience an unpleasant state of dizziness and shortness of breath associated with acclimatization. And it takes several days for the body to fully get used to being so high above sea level.
Abandoned Train Graveyard
However, before getting to the salt marsh, all travelers visit one more attraction small town, which once upon a time was the center of the country with railway tracks passing through here. The economic situation, which was not developing in the best way, led to a decrease in income from the mining industry.
The railway in the city is now reminiscent of abandoned carriages and locomotives in the salt desert, which has become a real train cemetery. Local authorities have repeatedly raised the issue of creating a museum on this site, since many of the abandoned specimens are more than 100 years old, and they are all now in a ruined and rusty state. Unfortunately, no one is still working on the open-air cemetery, and the question of preserving the heritage remains open for a long time.
Everyone going on a long journey needs to take certain things with them so that a trip to the Uyuni salt flat (Bolivia) brings only positive emotions.
- Moisturizing cream for constantly dry skin.
- Sunglasses. The light here is so bright that it hurts your eyes.
- Warm clothes, because even in summer there are always cool evenings in the desert.
- A sleeping bag for those who want to watch the sunrise by the lake.
- Rubber boots.
- National flag. There is a special area in front of the salt hotel, inside which tourists leave the symbol of the country as a souvenir.
Conclusion
Lake Uyuni (Bolivia) with its extraterrestrial landscapes will always attract travelers who want to walk across the sky abandoned to the ground and enjoy it to the fullest unique species. Stunning endless expanses will give free rein to the imagination, and quiet place will remain in the memory for a long time, like a real giant mirror in which the clouds, always rushing somewhere, are reflected.
The bottom of a salt lake in the south of the Altiplano high-altitude desert, or in simple terms - the Salar de Uyuni ( Salar de Uyuni), located in the heart of Bolivia, everyone dreams of seeing. A phenomenon that is unique in nature is at the same time the most ordinary place. Here, at the bottom of the ancient sea, table salt was simply always mined. There is so much salt here that there will be enough for everyone for millions of years to come. The thickness of its deposits reaches 8 meters. And during the rainy season, the salt marsh is covered with water, turning into the largest mirror in the world! Tourists are allowed here quite calmly, without fear that they will spoil the precious material. And the Dakar race has also moved to Bolivia and part of it takes place on the salt marsh.
The Salar de Uyuni salt marsh not only seems somehow wild and prehistoric, it is so. Bolivia is the richest country, if you keep in mind Natural resources. Russia and Peru will compare with it. And oddly enough, for the most part the rest of the world's population exploits the resources of these countries. There are rich deposits of tin, gas, oil, lithium, zinc, iron and other minerals. Bolivia was generously gifted. But she also generously allows herself to be robbed.
Forty thousand years ago, an ancient sea splashed on the territory of the salt marsh, from which a lake subsequently emerged Ballyvyan. Now all that remains of the sea are lakes ( Titicaca, Poopo And Uru-Uru) and salt marshes - Uyuni, which is open to tourists, and Koipas.
In Uyuni, the fine line between using resources and living in harmony with nature is most strongly felt. Although the reserves of salt are really large, there is a feeling that when we come here, we are entering the holy of holies of the planet and treating everything with due respect. It’s not us who are so cool that we were able to buy a ticket to the other side of the world, it’s Nature that let us come here.
At any moment, the fragile balance may be disrupted, volcanoes will roar and remake our world beyond recognition, as they have done many times before. - the place is beautiful, its beauty cannot be described. But at the same time, it is an open wound on the body of the Earth. And there is salt in this wound. And salty tears are not at all noticeable here. The technogenic world has practically won. So let us be sensitive to the suffering of our Mother and respect her. Drop by drop and just a little. But small steps always lead to great happiness. Enjoy and rejoice in beauty, but do not disturb it.
Information about the salt marsh
| Name | Salar de Uyuni |
| Where is | In the south of the Altiplano high plateau in Bolivia near the city of Uyuni, near the border with Chile, at an altitude of 3650 m above sea level |
| What is | The largest salt marsh in the world. Table salt reserves amount to about 10 billion tons |
| Origin | About 40 thousand years ago as a result of the drying up of the ancient Lake Minchin. As a result, two lakes were formed - Poopo and Uru-Uru and two salt marshes - Salar de Uyuni and Salar de Coipasa |
| Dimensions | The area of the Uyuni salt flat is about 10,500 sq. km, which is about 25 times larger than the area of the famous Bonneville salt flat in the USA |
| Lithium reserves | The Uyuni Salt Flat contains about half of the world's lithium reserves - 100 million tons |
| GPS coordinates | 20° 11′ 14″ S, 67° 32′ 57″ W -20.187222°, -67.549167° |
Where to buy a tour to the Uyuni salt flat
To see all the wonders salt marsh of Uyuni, the easiest way to get to the town of Uyuni.
There are two ways to buy a tour to the Uyuni salt marsh:
- Book a place on the tour via the Internet, or by calling an agent of one of travel companies, taking tourists on an unforgettable trip to the Altiplano high plateau, but this will be more expensive and less clear than fitting into a tour on the spot. One of the advantages of booking is that you don’t have to wait, because during the hottest season you can wait for your turn to go on a tour for a couple of days in the city of Uyuni.
- Come to Uyuni and find a tour on the spot. Usually, arrivals are met by the owners of inexpensive agencies right at the bus and taken to their office, telling along the way about the advantages of working with them. It's much cheaper, and you can bargain.
We were not traveling during the peak season, so we had more than enough options! And we bought the tour from those who offered the most cheap price along our route. Then we were simply placed with other people in a shared car.
Routes through the Uyuni salt flats and high-mountain lagoons
The standard itinerary includes three days and two nights in the wildest part of Bolivia. How much does a tour to the Uyuni salt flat cost? depends on how good you are at bargaining. We bought a tour for $100 (or 700 Bolivianos) per person. This amount included everything from food to transfer to the border with Chile. We paid separately only for tickets to national park Eduardo Avora (150 Bolivianos per person), which is home to the amazing Colorada Lagoon and high-mountain thermal springs.
If you are interested in how to choose the right tour from Uyuni, then we decided to publish maps from all the guidebooks that somehow ended up in our hands. By looking at offers and maps of attractions, you can book your own tour and find someone who will take you exactly the way you like. A private tour, of course, will cost more, as will options with a choice of special meals and overnight accommodation.
But if you need to travel on a budget, you can still get an idea of how the tour is organized and find the tour operator that is closest to your desired itinerary.
Interesting fact. If you don't want to drive through the wild altiplano (high desert), you can limit yourself to exploring just the salt marsh and the unforgettable and otherworldly train graveyard. Many come here in the hope of catching famous photo reflections of the sky from the water surface of the salt marsh (during the rainy season). To do this, you need to come to Uyuni, book a hotel here and ride the Salar de Uyuni for as many days as you want, waiting for the right weather. Selection best hotels in Uyuni is presented below.
Detailed map of the Uyuni salt marsh
Tour program
Route map on the Altiplano plateau
Different route options
One-day, two-day and three-day tours from Uyuni in Bolivia
Salar de Uyuni Tour Options
One day tour
- Hotel of salt (Hotel de sal);
- Return to the city of Uyuni.
Two days tour(two days, one night)
- Steam Locomotive Cemetery (Cementerio de Trenes);
- City of salt Quiver + souvenirs (Ceramica de sal);
Salt mines (Montones se sal); - Hotel of salt (Hotel de sal);
- Incahuasi Island with giant cacti (Isla Incahuasi - pescado);
- Volcano de Tunupa;
- Caves;
- Mummies (Momias).
Three days tour(three days, two nights)
- Steam Locomotive Cemetery (Cementerio de Trenes);
- City of salt Kolcani and museum + souvenirs (Ceramica de sal);
- Salt mines (Montones se sal);
- Hotel of salt (Hotel de sal);
- Incahuasi Island with giant cacti (Isla Incahuasi - pescado);
- View of the Oyague volcano (Volcan Ollague);
- Lagoons (Lagunas altiplanicas - Canapa, Hedionda, Honda, Charcota);
- Silioli Desert and Stone Tree (Desierto de Silioli y Arbol de Piedra);
- Laguna Colorada;
- Hot springs and geysers (Aguas Termales y Sol de manana);
- Desierto Salvador Dali (Desert of Salvador Dali);
- Green and white lagoons (Laguna Verde y Blanca);
- Volcan Licancabur;
- Return to the city of Uyuni or transfer to San Pedro de Atacama in Chile.
Lexus Tour of Salar de Uyuni
We set off on our trip to the Uyuni salt marsh after 11 o’clock in the afternoon, one of the very last in the city. We got a Lexus and four traveling companions. And unexpectedly, an elderly couple from Uruguay left us on the morning of the second day of the tour: they didn’t like the service, they felt bad from the altitude (the tour takes place in the highlands at an altitude of 3 to 5 km above sea level) and they basically looked unhappy with everything that surrounded them . And then the four of us were left. Traveling with us were nice guys from Brazil, Tasiana and Augusto, with whom we became friends. The driver Rosendo also made a good impression. All that remained was to get used to Bolivian time: if they say that you have to get up at 4 in the morning, you can safely tear your head off the pillow at five.
Salar de Uyuni on the map
Uyuni in Bolivia
Uyuni is a city in Bolivia famous for that, which is located next to the largest salt marsh in the world, Uyuni. This is the place where salt is mined, and now it has also become popular place for tourism. This is where tours to the Salar de Uyuni and the high altiplano plateaus from Bolivia begin.
How we got to Uyuni from La Paz
We got to Uyuni by the cheapest bus from La Paz, driving along terrible Bolivian roads. I couldn’t sleep at night because of the constant shaking and cold. Although we were given a blanket, it was not enough. Our flight arrived in Uyuni at six in the morning and it was the very first bus arriving in the morning. The driver kept up the pace all night along the dirt road, making it completely impossible to sleep. Tired, we quickly found a travel agency and signed up for a tour starting the same day.
Hotels in Uyuni - where to stay
Uyuni is a rather small town. However, there are many hotels here and they are all quite expensive. Therefore, it is important to really choose good hotel and pay specifically for the quality of service, and not just for proximity to the salt marsh. It’s worth settling in Uyuni if you want to look exclusively at the salt marsh or are returning after a tour of the Bolivian altiplano (or the same tour that starts from) and need to recover after a rather difficult trip from an everyday point of view.
- Hotel de Sal Casa Andina- grade 9.3 . Unique hotel in Uyuni from salt blocks with beautiful ethnic decoration. Guests praise the spacious rooms and cleanliness. Bicycle rentals are available and breakfast is included in the price. Book >>
- Jardines de Uyuni- grade 8.1 . A bright hotel in the city center with heating (which is very important!) and breakfast. Guests note the comfort and warmth. Book >>
- Hotel Palacio de Sal- grade 8.4 . A great option to live right in the middle of the salt desert in a hotel made of salt. Spacious, bright rooms, excellent Wi-Fi and breakfast. The hotel is located near the town of Colchani (20 km from Uyuni), famous for its souvenir market. Book >>
Walk around the city of Uyuni
The town of Uyuni itself is also quite expensive. Compared to the capital, food in restaurants here is much more expensive. We walked around the city a little, even twice. In general, you can get around the entire city of Uyuni in half an hour. We looked at the monument to the Dakar race, which is now held in Bolivia, went to the local market and were glad that we had breakfast in a decent cafe. We had no time to sleep, at 11 we were loaded into our Lexus, and we went to look at the mysterious Salar de Uyuni salt marsh.
Our route through the Uyuni salt marsh and high mountain lagoons
- On the first day we saw the train cemetery and the salt marsh itself. Then we marveled at three species - the Chilean, Andean and James flamingos - that come to such a barren land to start a new life here.
- Bizarre rocks and stones - that’s how it turned out. And it ended with incomparable and beautiful!
- We started the morning with hot springs, and then set off through the Salvador Dali desert.
After leaving Uyuni, we drove around the salt marsh and walked on the salt, saw an island of cacti in the sea of salt, even lay down and ate in a restaurant made entirely of salt, and at night slept in a salt hotel not far from the salt marsh. In the sun, such blinding white light hurts your eyes, so sunglasses are just necessary thing on this journey!
The Salar de Uyuni is a dry salt lake in the south of the Altiplano desert plain in Bolivia, at an altitude of about 3650 m above sea level. Area of this unusual place 10582 sq. km and it is the largest salt marsh in the world.
The main minerals are halite and gypsum. The inside is covered with a layer of table salt 2-8 m thick. During the rainy season, the salt marsh is covered with a thin layer of water and turns into the largest mirror surface in the world.
2. About 40 thousand years ago, this area was part of Lake Minchin. After it dried out, two currently existing lakes remained: Poopo and Uru-Uru, as well as two large salt marshes: Salar de Coipasa and Uyuni. The area of Uyuni is approximately 25 times larger than the area of Bonneville Dry Lake in the United States.
5. In the middle of the endless mirror space, it seems as if you are on another planet or the end of the world has come.
6. Due to its large size, flat surface and high albedo in the presence of a thin layer of water, as well as minimal altitude deviation, the Salar de Uyuni is an ideal tool for testing and calibrating remote sensing instruments on orbiting satellites. Uyuni's clear skies and dry air allow satellites to be calibrated five times better than using the ocean surface.
10. After a trip to the salt marsh, the car is completely covered with salt and must be thoroughly washed.
11. Thanks to its flat surface, the Uyuni salt marsh serves as the main transport route in the Altiplano. Construction is underway near the salt marsh international airport, capable of receiving long-haul aircraft. Its opening is scheduled for 2012.
12. In the center of the salt flats there is a salt hotel, and next to it is a structure made of salt blocks, where tourists coming from all over the world place the flags of their countries. As you can see, there is also a Russian flag.
14. The Uyuni Salar contains a reserve of about 10 billion tons of salt, of which less than 25 thousand tons are extracted annually.
20. Hotels here are built from salt, or rather, from salt blocks. Tables, chairs, beds and other furnishings are also made of salt. And on the walls there are notices with a polite request not to lick anything. You can spend the night in this hotel for $20.
26. Salt restaurant. If suddenly the food turns out to be under-salted and there is no salt shaker nearby, you can lick the table.
28. Salt sculptures.
32. Despite the harsh conditions, several species of cacti grow on this salt marsh, and also live and reproduce rare species hummingbirds, three types of flamingos, ostriches and other living creatures.
35. Every year in November, three species of South American flamingos fly to the Uyuni salt marsh to breed - the Chilean flamingo, the Andean flamingo and the James flamingo.
39. Instead of sheep in these parts, there are alpacas. Alpaca wool is used to make warm and soft blankets, rugs and clothes, and fur is used to make household items. Alpaca wool has all the properties of sheep wool, but is much lighter in weight.
41. The strings are tied, apparently, so that they are visible from afar.
42. One of the attractions of the salt marsh, which is also visited by tourists, is the cemetery of steam locomotives, located near the tracks railway from Antofagasta to Bolivia, 3 km from the city of Uyuni. The “cemetery” contains the steam locomotives of the named railway, retired from train service in the 1950s, when mineral production at the surrounding mines fell sharply. In 2006, the local government adopted a 15-year regional development program, one of the points of which is the transformation of the “cemetery” into an open-air museum.
In hotels located on the edge of the Uyuni salt marsh, walls, ceilings, floors, furniture and even clocks are made entirely of salt. At the same time, all rooms provide modern amenities, including a sauna, bath, bathhouse, and jacuzzi. One night in such an establishment will cost a tourist twenty dollars, and he will be required to comply with the main rule of the hotel, which appeared after the owners began to notice that the furniture began to shrink in size: “No licking!”
The Uyuni Salar is notable for being the largest dry salt lake in the world: its area exceeds 10.5 thousand km2, and it is located at an altitude of 3.5 thousand m above sea level. m. The Uyuni salt marsh is located in Bolivia, in the south of the high desert plain of Antiplano, near the city of Uyuni.
This unique natural phenomenon is separated by about 500 km from the capital of Bolivia, La Paz. south direction, and on geographical map this area can be found at the following coordinates: 20° 11′ 14″ S. latitude, 67° 32′ 57″ W. d.
Local residents are convinced that the salt lake is the bitter tears of the abandoned Tunula, whom her husband, Cusco, left with a baby in her arms and went to another, Cousin. After his departure, the woman sobbed bitterly for long days and nights - and her tears, mixed with breast milk, formed a huge salt lake, the Uyuni salt marsh (interestingly, that’s what the Bolivians call this area - Tunula). The gods, seeing this, enchanted the three people - and now they rise high mountains on the outskirts of the salt marsh.
Geologists explain the appearance of this phenomenon differently. They claim that 40 thousand years ago there was Lake Minchin here, which dried up over time: the lack of tributaries and the hot sun did their job. In its place, several ordinary lakes and two salt marshes were formed, separated from each other by mountains.
The appearance of the Uyuni salt marsh was influenced by the formed reservoir, which did not have any tributaries. The water in it evaporated much faster than precipitation fell, as a result, the amount of salt at its bottom constantly increased. After the water had completely evaporated, a solid layer of salt formed in place of the lake, turning the area into a salt marsh.
Description
The layer of salt that covers the Uyuni salt marsh is uneven and its thickness ranges from several centimeters on the outskirts salt lake up to ten meters in its center. During the rainy season, a layer of water 30 cm thick accumulates on the surface of the salt marsh, which creates a mirror effect: the sky, sun, clouds and other objects are so accurately displayed underfoot that it seems as if all the people around are literally floating in the clouds.
But during the dry period, grooves appear on the surface of a dried-up reservoir, which, connecting with each other, form a “honeycomb” - these are mostly hexagonal shapes, but can often be seen with five, seven or even eight sides.
In the very center of the Uyuni salt marsh there are the destroyed remains of the craters of long-dormant volcanoes, which at the time of Lake Minchin were completely under water. Their tops are covered with fossils and algae, and only bushes and cacti grow on them - the only vegetation adapted to life in this area.
Flora and fauna
Since the Uyuni salt flat is completely covered with a layer of salt, it is not surprising that there is practically no vegetation and fauna here. Among the wild animals that live here are foxes, viscaches (rodents that resemble rabbits), and alpacas. The only plants you can see are huge cacti, the height of which reaches twelve meters, or several types of shrubs.
During the rainy season, more than eighty species of birds fly to the Uyuni salt marsh, among them the South American pink flamingos, which acquired their amazing colors by eating algae algae growing here.
Birds live here because the algae and crustaceans on which they feed are not found in freshwater, and therefore, being the only food for these birds, force them to live in not very favorable places: the water here is so alkaline that, if not for the extremely thick skin, could easily corrode living flesh.
Minerals
It is interesting that under the thick layer of salt (and there is more than 10 billion tons of it here) there is brine - water containing, in addition to salt, magnesium, gypsum, and also the lightest metal - lithium. Geologists say that the Uyuni salt marsh contains about 100 million tons of this metal, which is more than half of the world's reserves.
Lithium is considered a very promising metal: it is used in the manufacture of laptops, cell phones, batteries and other equipment, and presumably will soon find use in the mass production of batteries for electric vehicles.
Despite the prospects, Bolivians have a negative view of lithium mining in the salt flat, and therefore foreign companies that have tried to build factories here have encountered resistance and rejection from the authorities (which is not surprising, since the Bolivian government itself is planning to address this issue).
Climate
The warmest weather here in summer is in December and January, when the mercury shows daytime temperatures of +22°C, but the nights here are cold throughout the year. From November to March there is a rainy season. Tourists need to take this point into account, since the tour may well be canceled or rescheduled due to heavy rainfall: salty water can damage the vehicle. This period is an ideal opportunity to watch flamingos, which just fly here to nest.
In winter it is not very cold here: temperatures fluctuate around +14°C, but frosts are common at night, and the mercury thermometer can drop to -11°C. There is little precipitation here at this time, and therefore the Uyuni salt marsh is an absolutely dense plain. Therefore, it is during this period that the peak tourist season falls - from June to August.
How to get to this wonderful place
Mostly tourists come to Uyuni from the capital of Bolivia, La Paz. There are several ways to get here from La Paz:
- Airplane - an airport was opened in Uyuni several years ago. From La Paz you can fly here on planes of two airlines at once, which allows you to quickly get to your desired location (especially if you give preference direct flight, which does not transit into any city).
- Buses from La Paz go daily through Oruro, and therefore the total length of the road to be covered from La Paz to Uyuni is 569 km.
- With transfers - you can get from La Paz to Oruro by bus (the journey will take about four hours), and then transfer to the train to Uyuni (since bus station is located some distance from the railway station, you will have to take a taxi).
