Visiting La Paz for February’s Carnaval? But don’t Miss Uyuni!

Traveling to La Paz for this February’s Carnaval and checking around to see what else to do during your trip? One of the most striking geological wonders of Bolivia is the Uyuni Salt Flats, located 11,995 feet above sea level in the Bolivian High Plateau (Altiplano). This is the largest desert of salt in the world, with 10 billion tons of salt and 50-70% of the world’s lithium reserves concentrated in a brine brine lake under the salt crust. The inimitable landscape of Uyuni features white salt bordered by red mountains, dotted with red and green lakes, pink flamingos and curly-tailed viscachas, surreal geological formations, noisy geysers and soothing hotsprings, pink flamingos. Pirwa Travel offers full day and 3 day tours of the unrivaled Salt Flats depart by 4×4 from the town of Uyuni.

What is There to See?

Colchani Town

The traditional and rustic methods of artisanal salt extraction can be seen in the one-street town of Colchani, whose inhabitants form a cooperative of the only workers permitted to collect salt in Uyuni. There’s a plethora of salt-based artisan products on view and for sale here as well.

 

The Salt Hotels

The first building erected in the center of Uyuni was the Salt Hotel, which is no longer operational due to the hygienic difficulties of building a hotel in the middle of a desert. Now, it acts as a sort of museum where visitors can marvel at its construction made completely of salt from walls to beds. It and other buildings like it show how locals can cope with scared traditional building materials. Now, Salt Hotels have popped up throughout Uyuni, although in more sustainable locations than the center of the Salt Flats.

Fish Island

When in Uyuni, the various “islands” are not islands in the traditional sense but rather the peaks of ancient volcanoes which were submerged when this area became a giant prehistoric lake, Lake Minchin. These unusual and fragile structures resemble coral and boast deposits of fossils and algae as well as giant cacti reaching 39ft. Colonies of the small rabbit-like viscachas call these home.

The Lagoons

Uyuni has a variety of stunning and distinct lagoons, from Stinking Lagoon, named for the smell that the sulfur and algae in its water produce, to Cañapa, Chiarcota, Honda, Colored (above, center), and Radadita Lagoons. All of these are part of an area which in November becomes a breeding ground for different types of flamingos, most notably the rare James’s Flamingo, as well as other birds. Another good site for flamingo and bird-watching is Red Lagoon (above, at right), located in the Eduardo Abaroa National Park. Other Lagoons, such as the Green Lagoon, are simply famous for their beauty, with a green lake mirroring Licancabur Volcano, at whose base it lies.

Siloli Desert & the Tree Stone

Although it’s found only an hour from the colored lakes, Siloli Desert is considered part of the Atacama, the world’s driest desert. It boasts extraordinary rock formations such as the Tree Stone, which have been eroded over time.

 

Morning Sun Geysers

The Sol de la Mañana, or Morning Sun, Geysers are actually fumaroles which noisily explode through surface holes and mud pools every few seconds. Nearby Hot Springs can help you relax when you’re looking for a less noisy and more soothing display!

 

 

The Train Cemetery

Near the end of the 1800s a railroad was built outside the town of Uyuni, which for a while served as a distribution hub for minerals en route to the Pacific ports. Despite the Bolivian president’s enthusiastic support of the railway, it was frequently sabotaged by the indigenous Aymara. When mining collapsed in the mid-1900s, the trains were abandoned.