Home to a handful of tour agencies and a pleasant main plaza, Tupiza is a relaxing place to spend a couple of days while researching agency options. Start in Tupiza End in UyulniĪ more pleasant (if slightly pricier) experience can be had by taking the back road to the Salar, leaving from the south-Bolivian city of Tupiza. If you are planning a 3 or 4-day tour then there are a lot more options to choose from when it comes to a starting point and an ending point. We do recommend being cautious and doing your research as we found that quite a few of the tour agencies in Uyuni tout unreliable cars and dangerous drivers. This is most likely the place you will start out if you are doing a 1 Day tour of the salt flats. It’s by far the cheapest place to pick up a tour, with trips on offer for as low as B$600 (about $80 USD). Most tours of Salar de Uyuni leave from the town of Uyuni itself, a dry desert settlement located near the salt flats. This phenomenon creates stunning optical illusions and unique photo opportunities for visitors. However, in the rainy season, the flat transforms into a massive reflective surface, resembling a giant mirror due to a thin layer of water that covers the salt crust. In fact, Salar de Uyuni is not just a salt flat but also contains significant lithium reserves, making it a valuable resource.ĭuring the dry season, the salt crust hardens and forms a vast white landscape, creating a surreal and otherworldly appearance. These minerals give the salt flat its unique colors and patterns. The salt crust on the surface is composed mainly of sodium chloride (table salt) along with other minerals such as magnesium, potassium, and lithium. Underneath the salt crust lies a thick layer of brine, which is a concentrated solution of salt and water.

It is a vast expanse of dried-up prehistoric lakes, and the salt flat itself is the result of the evaporation of water from these ancient lakes. Salar de Uyuni is made primarily of salt. Located in the Bolivian Altiplano, it is the world’s largest salt flat and is located at a high altitude of 3,656 meters (10,000 feet) above sea level. The Salar de Uyuni is a 10,582 square kilometer expanse of cracked white salt, left behind when an ancient salt lake named Coipasa dried up thousands of years ago. Think 10 billion tons of salt sprawling across an endless desert. The Salar de Uyuni is one of the most spectacular adventure-travel destinations on Earth.

Salt flats utah tours