The Uyuni Salt Flats are in my top three experiences from my trip across South America, however I also feel this experience is really shaped by who you travel with, as I had the pleasure of being with some amazing people. We were all as immature as each other, therefore the pictures we took added some great humour to the tour.
I would highly recommend going with one of the more expensive tour companies as we got an English speaking guide and amazing food, however most people were stuck with drunk tour guides who didn’t speak a word of English and simply bread and jam for breakfast, lunch and dinner. As you can imagine, I was a wee bit more happy with my tour! We ended up going with RedPlanet tours, who were honestly perfect, so I will do a bit of a tipping of my hat and plugging for them, however as long as you go for a more expensive tour company you most likely won’t be disappointed.
You actually start off by visiting an abandoned railway track, which actually makes for some really good pictures.
Make sure you pack some props for the Salt Flats, as they make for some great snaps as you can tell from the images. More imaginative the better, if you have some good photos, do send them through!
My favourite was throwing on my captain Jack Sparrow costume and standing over everyone.
Another funny one was us getting our friend Jeff to sit at the front with his hands out, however soon as the photo took we all mooney’d the camera (n0t a clue how to spell mooney, not a regular term from my dictionary…well, sometimes used…my bad).
A globe also works well for a number of pictures, while you can normally find one in the markets for the equivalent of 50p.
Something as simple as a beer bottle or a pack of pringles can also work out quite well, as you can see below (although I accidentally had my leg just out of the picture…Ah well, can’t win them all).
Oh, and final Salt Flats photo that I will upload for inspiration is a crazy dinosaur shot to get something Jurassic Park style.
While the Salt Flats are clearly the main attraction, you also get to spend the night in a hotel made of salt, while you also get to visit a number of absolutely beautiful lagoons.
One of the lagoons turns red while the wind is strong, due to a chemical in the water. It was beautiful to watch all the beautiful lagoons and out at all the flamingos, while our evening was spent in a hot spring looking up at shooting stars, I couldn’t really think of a better way to finish a tour!
You also get to see some geysers up at 5,100 metres above sea level, which really adds a chill, so make sure you bring a jumper with you.
I really can’t emphasis how much being with great people made this amazing, however I would 100% plan on doing this if you are visiting South America.
They end up by dropping you off at the border, where you either get a bus back to Uyuni or you take the bus to San Pedro, a brilliant goodbye to Bolivia and an easy way to change countries.
