Crossing the salt desert: Uyuni, Bolivia to San Pedro de Atacama, Chile

Since leaving Sucre, Bolivia (finally) on Ash Wednesday, we’ve had some epic scenery. None, however, was more mind-blowing than the three days we spent in a Land Cruiser, traversing the high altitude desert that stretches from Uyuni, in Southwestern Bolivia, all the way to San Pedro de Atacama in northern Chile. From a blindingly white salt desert to Dali-esque rock formations and flamingo-covered lakes, this journey had it all. To complement the sometimes absurdly beautiful scenery, our driver Javier peppered the journey with Spanish renditions of classic 80s and 90s love ballads.

We left Uyuni on a Thursday morning in a Land Cruiser filled with us, a Swiss couple, and two Japanese girls. We stopped first at a train cemetery — a site no-doubt cleverly named to become an tourist attraction — where rusted old trains lie rotting away in the middle of the desert, some of them still sitting on tracks. Then we went to a small speck of a town — Colchani — on the edge of the Salar de Uyuni, where locals make their living processing salt from the flats and selling curios fashioned out of salt to tourists who, like me, until arriving in Colchani were blissfully unaware of their need for a miniature salt llama.

Train cemetery near Colchani, Bolivia.

Then came the main event: the blinding expanse of the Salar de Uyuni, 12,000 square kilometers (more than twice the size of all of Calgary) of white salt set against a brilliant blue sky. A remnant of Lago Minchin, a prehistoric salt lake, the flats stretch for as far as the eye can see, with distant volcanoes and mountains dotting the horizon in places. Being surrounded by blinding white nothingness creates a strange sense of time and distance: as you lumber across the crust in a 4×4, it’s difficult to tell how long it will take to reach a landmark that seems close.

Jump. Salar de Uyuni, Bolivia.

Salar de Uyuni, Bolivia.

Salar de Uyuni, Bolivia.

A landcruiser crosses the Salar de Uyuni, Bolivia.

Breakdown (one of several). Salar de Uyuni, Bolivia.

After several hours of driving, we reached Fish Island, a rocky, cacti-covered hill sticking up from the flats. While it would have looked normal coming out of a proper lake, it looked strange surrounded by white. The island itself seemed to be made of porous volcanic rock. The other-worldliness of arriving at this strange island was amplified by the fact that we were greeted by a lone, curious emu walking comically toward us across the salt.

A natural island covered in cacti in the middle of an ancient salt lake. Salar de Uyuni, Bolivia.

A natural island covered in cacti in the middle of an ancient salt lake. Salar de Uyuni, Bolivia.

An emu near Fish Island, Salar de Uyuni, Bolivia.

After lunch, we left the salt flats, and the landscape turned rugged. We drove west on a dirt track, and when the dirt track ended we simply drove in one of the established paths, passing quinoa crops, llamas, and vicunas, comical-looking animals that could be imagined by crossing an antler-less reindeer with a llama, before arriving in the town of San Juan, where we stayed for the first night in a building made of — you guessed it — salt: salt walls, salt floor, salt tables, salt chairs…

A view of our hotel for the first night. San Juan, Bolivia.

On the second day, we headed out about 8, with the landscape changing every 30 minutes or so.We stopped first at Laguna Cañapas, home to three different species of flamingos. Over the course of the day, we passed several lakes, multi-colored mountains, and surreal desert-landscapes.

Laguna Canapas, Bolivia

Mountains surrounding Laguna Canapas, Bolivia

Lone flamingo on Laguna Canapas, Bolivia.

Two different species of flamingos on Laguna Canapas, Bolivia.

Flamingo on Laguna Canapas, Bolivia.

Laguna Hedionda, Bolivia.

Rock tree, Desierto de Siloli, Bolivia

A little girl crosses the Desierto de Siloli, Bolivia.

Colourful mountains in the Desierto de Siloli, Bolivia.

Vicuna in the Desierto de Siloli, Bolivia.

Desierto de Siloli, Bolivia.

Laguna Colorada, Bolivia.

The view from Laguna Colorada, Bolivia.

View from Laguna Colorada, Bolivia.

Our hotel on the second night on the banks of Laguna Colorada, Bolivia.

And then on Day 3…

Geysers, Bolivia.

Geysers, Bolivia.

Sol de Manana, Bolivia.

Laguna Verde, Bolivia.

Bolivian Migration, on the border with Chile.

Welcome to Chile!

Chile