Uyuni Salt Flats: Was the 3-Day Tour Really Worth It? A Complete Review

Okay, so you are probably considering a trip to Bolivia’s Salar de Uyuni. Right? The biggest salt flat across the planet! It’s definitely been on my travel list for what feels like forever, and I finally checked it off recently. I went with the ‘From Uyuni 3 Day Salt Flats & Colored Lagoons’ tour, because well it just seemed like *the* thing to do. I’m here to share every bit of my experience. Did it stand up to the hype? Was it really worth giving up three days? Get ready to know everything. This review contains absolutely everything you’ll want to know before signing up!

Booking Your Uyuni Salt Flats Experience

Booking my trip involved a little digging around, like what felt like finding the best deal and reading a whole bunch of reviews, naturally. A ton of different companies run these tours, mostly operating out of Uyuni town itself. I did spot some in Tupiza, which are thought of to offer a slightly different perspective and are considered more quiet. I decided to go with one of the more popular companies – you see their jeeps everywhere – that I booked online. They seemed alright, because, pretty much every travel blog raved about them, plus their prices appeared reasonable.

Make certain that you carefully consider just what is included in the tour price, right? Stuff like entrance fees to the national parks, accommodations, and of course, food. What I found, anyway, is that costs could change a lot. I ended up paying about $180 USD for the 3-day tour. It seemed like alright value. It’s certainly *possible* to find cheaper options, like your budget hostels frequently run them, however sometimes you are definitely going to be sacrificing on the equipment used and comfort. Also, consider if the tours run in English or Spanish, especially if your Spanish skills could be much, much better. So, pretty much all of my trip I was with people who spoke Spanish. My Spanish is fairly conversational, so it turned out fine for me, yet something like that could be an issue for people.

Timing Matters: Best Time to Visit

When to go really does make a big difference in how you see the salt flats. Basically, the rainy season (December to February) brings out the famous mirror effect. You know that one? The water sits on the surface, reflecting the sky beautifully, something else that is cool. The downside is getting to some of the other spots sometimes gets tough, right? The dry season (May to October) provides easy access to all the attractions and it can get really crowded! Like almost Disney levels of crowded. I traveled in November. In the end that kind of was perfect, as the crowds were relatively sparse, also, I still got to experience tiny patches of that mirror effect without battling like, a thousand tourists.

Day 1: Salt, Salt, and More Salt!

Day one actually began in Uyuni pretty early, you know. The town is… how can I put it… basic, at best, but that is why you’re here to see the salt flats. Our group met up with our guide/driver, packed ourselves into the jeep, and after that headed out. First up, we checked out the train cemetery! What is pretty much a bizarre collection of old locomotives left out to rust, like not far from town. I thought it would be rubbish, right, actually it turned out that that makes a great spot for some cool, really unusual photographs. We then went on towards Colchani. What used to be a tiny salt-mining village. We took a tour through the processing plant to gain real respect on how the salt is treated before getting packaged. Yes I purchased the salt with added iodine!

The Salar itself appears fairly soon. I do not believe anything prepares you for it, you see. It is incredibly vast and white. So white! At any rate you instantly need to grab some sunglasses. A highlight would be stopping at the Incahuasi Island. Something that is full of giant cacti. It makes such a odd view rising above the white plain. I will confess. I totally joined in the standard perspective photo shenanigans there with our tour group, including trying to pose eating each other or standing in giant shoes (basically photos which makes them appear tiny when they’re really not). It is really extremely corny, right. But it is really hard *not* to.

Perspective Pictures and Playtime

One thing, it should be remembered, that something else to note is your guide probably would be your photographer. So definitely ask beforehand, that or consider any example photos. So the driver understands clearly your idea, it sounds pretty good, however their actual skill can be touch and go! Like I noticed, our group got on alright. Actually we giggled a great deal at what we created, it wasn’t exactly “National Geographic” quality pictures.

Towards evening we went to our salt hotel. Something that is constructed almost totally of salt bricks! It had very basic comforts. What exactly were comfy beds and surprisingly warm blankets! One thing to realize! It would be freezing at night. After a little bit of tea and a good meal cooked by the tour guide, we headed outside to admire the star filled skies. In view of that pollution levels being low, the stars out there are unbelievably beautiful. You see them vividly with no issue! That can only be obtained out there.

Day 2: Lagoons, Flamingos, and High Altitudes

Alright day two is focused totally on seeing several lagoons. So you begin that a little early in order to pack every last bit of viewing time in! The landscape will shift remarkably from plain white to stark mountains, also incredibly colored lakes. It may seem unbelievable. The jeep then handled rugged terrain pretty well!

The first one we came upon could be the Laguna Colorada. It is *very* red. What really were thousands of flamingos strutting around. A number of different kinds too, you see! So it seems really special watching that bird wading across shallow mineral dense water. Its beautiful red color makes them special, basically!

Surviving the Altitude

Altitude truly did strike me on day two, honestly! So it may go a lot more quickly than day one’s did, it could have a big influence and hit you rather easily. Elevations are regularly over 4000 meters, nearly, as a matter of fact. Which really, really causes some to go pretty breathless, almost! So bring medications if necessary.

The geysers were possibly the creepiest, and that really, I mean. Called Sol de Mañana, an elevated volcanic spot which steams, and smells incredibly like sulfur. Seeing geothermal happenings in action? Absolutely. It appears awesome in person. The tour continues with the stunning scenery of the Dali Desert, its just too great!

Then came the much anticipated hot springs at Termas de Polques, something else. You need your swimsuit and towels prepared for that! Dipping in really heated water in cooler atmosphere, in fact, is really cool.

Day 3: Sunrises and Goodbyes

Day three would be an early wake-up call, just like every day actually was. Although the reasoning that time was for taking in the sunlight reflecting on the salt lakes!

We watched the rising of the sun shimmering near Laguna Colorada, with our very own warm cups of coffee. We returned by other interesting rock designs to take one look! It felt definitely that time on tour passed so quickly!

Things I Wish I Knew Beforehand

• Bring snacks. Really bring more munchies with everyone in mind!
• Cash, that is extremely vital, really. Many costs require hard cash, mostly.
• The bathrooms there, that is. Cost a charge usually, what is frequently inexpensive still ready oneself?
• Charging ports and power availability, really. You will find only minimal energy there is going around? Buy rechargeable powerbanks when required.

What to Pack: The Essentials for the Uyuni Tour

Let’s run through the absolutely most vital pieces to be prepared, right?

• Warm clothes. Yes! So it really gets surprisingly chilly, you know. Layering clothes will definitely, definitely assist one here.
• Comfortable shoes, what I really was thinking in comfy but robust for every spot of hiking.
• Sunscreen is an extremely important factor. That solar panel in reality, bounces to salt surface region for maximum affect.
• Sunglasses – I mention this to those already yet this really assists preventing yourself from becoming dazed out using an blinding light emanating in.
• A hat protects people coming of sunlight! You definitely do want the face shielded?
• Swimsuit one could enter to warm pools! Pretty necessary and pleasing truly!
• Towel in fact quick dehydration models? What exactly gets a great plus especially using these lagoons.
• Any power charger is pretty valuable especially should electricity happens as fairly unreliable! Never allow things operate very minimal charge particularly throughout an tour that could span around times perhaps longer unless opportunity lets something refilled?
• Digital cameras plus additional rechargeable electronic items? Never, don’t regret skipping such photographs from becoming available throughout all locations from tour routes unless anything else fails entirely elsewhere perhaps due one factor yet additional!

Final Thoughts: Was It Worth It?

Is the ‘From Uyuni 3 Day Salt Flats & Colored Lagoons’ tour recommended then? Yes! The terrain, it might be extremely tough there and also accommodation arrangements may often appear pretty essential indeed still all landscapes completely justifies every element completely? Yes is really so! So basically in summary unless completely averted particularly out these locations please ensure for that factor you could never really have actually averted the specific specific location throughout anytime.

Consider all circumstances regarding that occasion you have gone. You will notice this truly incredible sensation, this tour generates great experience.

• Mind blowing place with mind-blowing scenarios everywhere almost one definitely needs viewing entirely whenever having opportunity completely whenever existing there yourself.
• Preparation for high altitudes and extreme climate? Yes it provides massive impacts one needs dealing effectively indeed and even.
• Selecting a reliable tourist operators, it impacts an encounter seriously perhaps absolutely seriously.

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