Uyuni Off The Beaten Path

The title might sound crazy but this tour is extremely popular and you see plenty of cars with tourists all the way, at least 50 or more cars with 6 passengers each per day. I would not call that "off the beaten path" but it is great and interesting and highly recommendable.

You see a lot of llamas on your travels around Bolivia and Peru, and enough alpaccas too, but vicunas, their wild and undomesticated relative is a much more rare sight. I snapped this shot from the truck as they scampered from the road. The graceful animals' fur is the most expensive clothing material and reported to be the warmest too.

We woke up really early on the third day. It was still dark outside so it was freezing cold. We drove uphill for about 1 hour to the Sol de Mañana Geysers. As always, Nico Schumacher made sure that we were the first there. The geysers were quite nice! We got to see the sunrise there. Since we were early, the sulfur fumes were going hot. Also, the mud melting holes were acting up like beasts. The view of the sun appearing through the vapors was amazing.

Though we were getting tired of the strange rock formations by now, this stop was a welcomed relief to get out of the truck on the way back to Uyuni. It was nice to walk around, get some fresh air, and of course, snap a few photos.

All of my off-the-beaten path tips on Uyuni are related. It all starts when we headed off to the Salar de Uyuni and the Reserva Nacional de Fauna Andina Eduardo Avaroa. Our ride was a Toyota 4x4 Land Cruiser. There where 6 passengers including our guide, Nico 'Schumacher' (a nickname given to Nico for his speedy driving). So on we went, 3 Dutch, 1 Israeli, and me :). Our first stop was the Salar de Uyuni. It has to be one of the most amazing sights I've ever seen! The Salar de Uyuni is the largest and highest salt flat on Earth. We stopped right after the entrance to see the unearthly contrast between the salt flat and the surrounding lands.

We drove half through the Salar de Uyuni and stopped at Isla Pescado (local name is Inkawasi) for lunch. This island in the salt flats is surrounded by salt, not water. The giant cacti on the island, some over 12 meters high, have lived for thousands of years. Oh, I saw a Ñandu (locally called Suri and its scientific name is pterocllemia pennata), which is a weird large bird. The scenery is amazing, specially the sharp contrast of the island with the salt flat. We drove half through the Salar de Uyuni and stopped at Isla Pescado (local name is Inkawasi) for lunch. This island in the salt flats is surrounded by salt, not water. The giant cacti on the island, some over 12 meters high, have lived for thousands of years. Oh, I saw a Ñandu (locally called Suri and its scientific name is pterocllemia pennata), which is a weird large bird. The scenery is amazing, specially the sharp contrast of the island with the salt flat.

We exited the Salar and continued to the small town of San Juan (elevation 3800 meters above sea level), where we spent the night. The dorm room we got reminded me to the room of the seven dwarfs in Snow White since it had small beds all clustered together in a small room :).

The next day was a busy one. We woke up early and drove to the most extraordinary scenery imaginable. It was almost as if each day was getting better and better. We started the day by crossing the less spectacular Salar de Chiguanai. Then we stopped at a lava flow rock formation to enjoy the view of Volcan Ollague. Anyway, the lava flow was amazing.