A Journey To Salar de Uyuni Where You "Walk In the Sky"

You Can Walk In The Sky at Salar de Uyuni

You arrive at this large flat plains area but you immediately notice this is no ordinary plane.  For one, you do not see any grass or dirt.  Actually, you do not see any ground at all!  

In the distance you see a small figure, it is a person.  That person looks like she is floating in the sky.  Is this an optical illusion?  A mirage?  Or you dehydrated and seeing things that are not there?  No, you are fine and have arrived at Salar de Uyuni, as known as the Uyuni Salt Flats, the largest salt flats on Earth.

Person "walking in the sky" at Salar de Uyuni.

You have planned your trip so that this the rainy season and it had just rained.  This produced a reflective mirror of the entire sky.  The water level is shallow and that is why you see the person in a distance appear as if they are walking in the sky.

This is the grandest wide scale illusion in the world for pictures and videos.  It can make for quite a selfie to blow your friends away.

Yes, Salar de Uyuni is a major attraction in South America.  However, many Americans, Europeans, and Asians have never heard of it.  Even those who have heard of Salar de Uyuni have never seriously considered visiting.  Plus this post is provide some interesting things that are happening in the area that you can make a trip out of it.

What Are Salt Flats

A salt flat is an expanse of flat land that is covered in a layer of salt and a variety of other minerals.  Did you know salt flats are formed from the remains of dried up lakes in the middle deserts.  In a more wet environment, the lake would form but at salt flats the water evaporates faster than the rain can replenish the area.  The salt and minerals that were dissolved in the rain are left behind.  Isn't rain water fresh water, how could there be salt?  Yes, rain water is generally fresh water but they often have trace amounts of salt and other minerals.  These small amounts added up over an extended period of time creates the layer of salt.  

Salar de Uyuni at the Dry Season with Salt Flats visible.

Where Is It and How Do You Get There

The Salar de Uyuni salt flats is located in southwestern Bolivia.  Fly into La Paz and then to Uyuni, the closest city to the Flats.  Getting to Uyuni from La Paz can be done by plane, train, or even by bus.  If you have time check out La Paz for a few days before heading to Uyuni.  La Paz is quite the bustling city and there are a number of culinary delights to sample whether you are a foodie or not.

This area is approximately 12,000 feet or 3,660 meters above sea level.  That means it is best to give yourself several days to use to the thinner air before venturing out to the Flats.  It is a high desert with a reflective and bright flat plains plus mountains in the distance so the Sun will feel extra bright.  Bring sunglasses, sunscreen, and a hat during the daytime.  At night, be prepared for a very chilly environment so definitely have several layers of clothes with a mountain hiker's gortex  jacket with you. Also, bring lots of water as the air is dry and you are at a desert.  

From the city of Uyuni, you can book single day tours and multi day tours to get there.  We recommend multi day tours and explain why below.

When To Go

For the magical optical illusion, you want to go in the period from November to March which is the rainy season.  If you go during May to October you can see the geometric crusting shapes and the actual land itself.  However, for the purposes of our discussion stick with the rainy season.

During the rainy season the daytime temperature often ranges from 60 degrees to 80 degrees (15 to 27 degrees C) which is quite comfortable.  It will drop by over 15 degrees F usually during the night.

Salar de Uyuni at Sunset

What To Do

Multi day tours are advantageous over single day tours because of the incredible amount of wildlife and landscapes to see.  A single day trip is simply not enough to witness some of nature's most glorious creations.

These tours offer round trips back to Uyuni.   However, you make more use of your time if you book to transfer to San Pedro de Atacama in Chile by bus.  This can only be done by multi day tours, so that is another advantage of a longer trip.  Atacama is a very nice bonus to visit and from there you can fly home from Chile.  We are fans of multi city travel where you do not have to return home from the city you fly into.  This way you see a lot more and save a ton of time not having to double back.  We wish more cruises are like this where they sail from Point A to Point B and drop off Point A passengers and go back with new Point B passengers.  It would be a win for travelers.

Tours

If budget is not as much an issue, the 3 day tour with private heated hotel rooms are the way to go.  The other 3 day tour options will have you sleeping dormitory style hostels.  If you are okay with that by all means do it as it will be a fraction of the cost of the hotel room tour.

Laguna Colorada

Lo and behold this area does contain a lake.  And you guessed it, it is a salt lake and it is shallow.  This lake is called Laguna Colorado and it is known as the Red Lagoon.  Once you get there you will see why as the water looks like it is dyed a pastel red.  It looks thick enough in some places that you feel like you can walk on it.  There are a bunch of different bird species there walking or swimming in the lake.  With the mountains behind, it is a surreal scene indeed.

Laguna Colorada

Salvador Dali Desert

There is Salvodr Dali Desert, also know as the Dali Valley.  This is located inside the Eduardo Avaroa Andenan Fauna National Reserve.  The desert has a variety of landscapes that resemble Salvador Dali's surrealism paintings.   If you are a Dali fan, this area is a must see.

Salvador Dali Desert

Salvador Dali Desert Painting

Salvador Dali Persistence of Time Painting

Salt Piles

While you are at the mai flats take a look and take pictures of the cone shaped salt piles.  They look like a lot of salt but it is nothing compared to the amount salt at these flats.

Salt Piles at Salar de Uyuni Salt Flats.

Fun Fact 1 

It is the world's largest salt flats an estimated to contain over 10 billion tons of salt.  Now we just need to find that much pepper and we will be set for dinner!  

Fun Fact 2  

In ancient Africa and the Middle East, salt was often used as a form of currency before printed money was invented.  In fact the word "salary" is derived from the ancient word for salt which is "salaria".  Imagine if this was ancient times in Eurasia or Africa and you found out about this place.  You would be thinking of untold fortunes if you could negotiate with the locals to get the salt and somehow transport it over the Atlantic.

Flags At Flats

There is a stone outcrop where a number of country flags are planted blow hard in the wind.  It is a nice surreal picture to take, one of many surreal scenes you will see on this trip.

Lonely Flags at the desolate Salar de Uyuni Salt Flats.

Dakar Rally Monument

More recently Bolivia has been promoting the Salar Salt Flats with the Dakar Rally.  The Dakar Rally is a eclectic caravan of cars, dune buggies, light motorcycles, quad and dual ATVs, and trucks the crisscrosses the world.   And yes they race through the area.   It has been become so ingrained that a monument called the Dakar Monument has been erected back in 2014.  The Dakar Monument is a must see when you visit and a great place for a picture.  There are several legs of the journey and Bolivia is one of them.

Dakar Bolivia Monument for Dakar Global Rally.

Summary

We hope you enjoyed our post on this most surreal location and surrounding area.  If you do make it to Salar de Uyuni, please post comments and share your thoughts.  Thanks for visiting us here at Secluded Glen, the authority on unique and obscure vacation destinations.  Until next time.