Uyuni Salt Flats

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So, apologies for the rather late entry as we left Bolivia and the Uyuni Salt flats about 4 weeks ago. I would say I´ve been busy with lots of other stuff....but I dont like to lie. Lazy is probably the best reason. (PS This is Mahara writing - Claire has been pushing me to get it sorted for a while).

So anyway, skip back a few weeks to where we left La Paz. We hopped on a bus heading South from La Paz to Uyuni in order to do a 3 day jeep tour around the Salt Flats and National Park. The bus ride down was an experience in itself. It was meant to take 13 hours but ended up taking 17. Eventually we made it into town 2hrs late to start our tour. Thankfully our jeep had only just left and were able to return and pick us up. It was here that we met our tour companions (Max, Francisco, Sylvia, Bernie, Juan, and Edgar (guide)) and squeezed 8 of us into a jeep.

First stop on the jeep tour was the local salt markets where people dug up the salt from the flats, dried it and then sold it. 50kg of salt for 10 Bolivianos (that´s about $2 NZD). It was on this relatively short trip that we realised our situation:
a) The jeep was ridiculously cramped;
b) The roads were incredibly bumpy;
c) Our jeep only had 3 CDs all of which were Bolivian Disco!
None of these leant themselves to being in a jeep for the better part of 3 days.

After the salt markets we went out into the salt flats themselves. Because we were visiting in the wet season there was a light covering of water across the flats, that gave them a mirror image. Looking out across the flats was like something out of a painting or the Lovely Bones. Mountains on the horizon appeared as islands in the sea. All up it was a pretty amazing sight that is hard to explain and photos dont do justice. As we left the slat flats for our first nights accommodation we got to see the sun set across the plains. It was an amazing sight as the various hues of red, orange and blue covered the sky.

The second day we woke up early and made our way into the National Park. This area was an amazing mix of deserts, mountains, snow, lagoons, and rock formations, too many to describe (best to check out the photos). Visually it would have been on par with, if not surpassed, the Salt Flats. It was easy to stare out the windows at the amazing scenery as it rolled by. The end of the day found us at a camp above a lagoon.

Our final day started at 3:30am so we could see the local geysers which were best in the morning. Once we arrived we realised that Health and Safety was non existent as we drove right up to, and walked around, steaming hot geysers with no barriers or warnings. Claire - being from Rotorua - was pretty familiar with geothermals and ensured we were kept out of danger territory. After the geysers we carried onto the hot pools to see the sunrise. Claire and I were gutted as we had both forgotten our togs and had to resign ourselves to watching others enjoy the nice hot water as we froze in the morning air.

After the hot pools we began the 9hr trip back to Uyuni, up until this point we had been heading coninuously South. Along the way we found that Francizco had a portable speaker which we now put to good use, as Bolivian Disco had long since worn out its novelty. Unfortunately after only a few hours the battery ran out. At this point the entire jeep decided to sing our way back to Uyuni. We took turns singing songs from our various countries, which eventually shifted to various old school sing along songs (e.g. Don McLean - American Pie).
The highlight of the trip back was when the entire jeep sang an amazing rendition of Queen - Bohemian Rhapsody. For some reason everyone, even non English speakers, knew all the words and fell into a natural pattern of falsetto and base etc. It was with out a doubt the greatest sing along I had ever heard. And all without a touch of the original music.

Eventually we pulled into Uyuni town - vocal chords exhausted, a**es numb, and cameras full. All up it was an amazing trip, with a great bunch of people, and some spectacular sights. If anyone visits Bolivia this trip is a must!

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