Adventures in the Bolivian Desert (in Photos)

Posted on April 28, 2015May 3, 2015 by Andrew

Exploring the Salar de Uyuni salt flats in Bolivia is unlike anything I’ve ever done before.

Words can’t possibly do it justice, so here are some pictures.

3 - Uyuni #001 (IMG_3596) — Bolivia’s train graveyard is just 15 minutes from Uyuni.

3 - Uyuni #002 (IMG_3677) — The Dakar cross-country road race crosses the Uyunui salt flats at 280kph.

3 - Uyuni #003 (IMG_3686) — We slept in a tiny hotel made from salt bricks.

3 - Uyuni #004 (IMG_2189) — If it had rained last night, this salt flat would be reflective like a shiny mirror.

3 - Uyuni #007 (IMG_2279) — The perspective allows you to do some pretty weird stuff.

Some things work better than others.

3 - Uyuni #008 (IMG_3747) — There’s a ‘fish mountain’ made of coral from when all this was underwater.
Cacti grow on it now. Seeing cacti grow out of coral is more than a little trippy,

3 - Uyuni #012 (IMG_2375) — Sunset is all kinds of fiery.

3 - Uyuni #013 (IMG_3817) — Llamas graze in the distance.

They call this place Mars. For obvious reasons.

3 - Uyuni #015 (IMG_3865) — Seeing snow capped mountains behind a lagoon in the middle of the desert is somewhat disconcerting.

3 - Uyuni #016 (IMG_3908) — We were barely specks in the vast desert.

3 - Uyuni #017 (IMG_2489) — Mature and adolescent flamingoes in the red lagoon.

3 - Uyuni #029 (IMG_3809) — Sunrise is even more stunning than sunset.

3 - Uyuni #019 (IMG_4020) — In no-man’s land between Bolivia and Chile, the clash of terrains almost looks photoshopped.

When I booked my trip to Salar de Uyuni, the main thing I was hoping to see was the reflective mirror surface after rain. I didn’t get to see that, but what I did see was well worth the effort to get here anyway.

If you’re ever near Bolivia, don’t miss this.

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