Salt, sand, sky: A Bolivian 4x4 adventure | CNN

Salt, sand, sky: A Bolivian 4x4 adventure

By Sarah Duff, for CNN
2 minute read
Updated 5:55 PM EST, Wed January 14, 2015
The largest salt flat in the world, Salar de Uyuni is a highlight of a multi-day landscape safari across Bolivia's high plains. But there are plenty more photo ops.
Salar de Uyuni —
The largest salt flat in the world, Salar de Uyuni is a highlight of a multi-day landscape safari across Bolivia's high plains. But there are plenty more photo ops.
Sarah Duff/CNN
Start the trip on the Chilean-Bolivian border (you can do it in reverse) and the startling Laguna Blanca is the first lagoon you encounter after entering the Eduardo Avaroa Andean Fauna National Reserve.
Harsh beauty —
Start the trip on the Chilean-Bolivian border (you can do it in reverse) and the startling Laguna Blanca is the first lagoon you encounter after entering the Eduardo Avaroa Andean Fauna National Reserve.
Sarah Duff/CNN
The product of arsenic and other minerals, Laguna Verde's green hue changes from turquoise to dark emerald as winds shift sediments.
Big green world —
The product of arsenic and other minerals, Laguna Verde's green hue changes from turquoise to dark emerald as winds shift sediments.
Sarah Duff/CNN
Almost the entire route between Bolivia's dusty town of Uyuni and San Pedro de Atacama, just over the border in Chile, is made up of dirt roads. Drivers often go off-roading through the desert.
Offroading, the Bolivian Way —
Almost the entire route between Bolivia's dusty town of Uyuni and San Pedro de Atacama, just over the border in Chile, is made up of dirt roads. Drivers often go off-roading through the desert.
Sarah Duff/CNN
In icy winds at more than 13,700 feet above sea level, the 96 F (35.5 C) Termas de Polques hot springs provide a warm refuge for dusty travelers.
High oasis —
In icy winds at more than 13,700 feet above sea level, the 96 F (35.5 C) Termas de Polques hot springs provide a warm refuge for dusty travelers.
Sarah Duff/CNN
The deep rust-red Laguna Colorado is a breeding ground for James's Flamingos. The mesmerizing birds are nonchalant about photographers standing feet away from them on shore.
Flamingo photo op —
The deep rust-red Laguna Colorado is a breeding ground for James's Flamingos. The mesmerizing birds are nonchalant about photographers standing feet away from them on shore.
Sarah Duff/CNN
Bolivia's southwest altiplano is home to three species of flamingos, James's, Andean and Chilean. The flamingos get their pastel pink color from carotenoids in the crustaceans they eat in the salty water of the lagoons.
Pastel beauties —
Bolivia's southwest altiplano is home to three species of flamingos, James's, Andean and Chilean. The flamingos get their pastel pink color from carotenoids in the crustaceans they eat in the salty water of the lagoons.
Sarah Duff/CNN
There's little wildlife on the trip, though you do see lots of flamingos, the occasional flock of vicunas, lone Andean foxes and llamas decorated with colorful pieces of string near the area's few tiny settlements.
Rare wildlife —
There's little wildlife on the trip, though you do see lots of flamingos, the occasional flock of vicunas, lone Andean foxes and llamas decorated with colorful pieces of string near the area's few tiny settlements.
Sarah Duff/CNN
In the middle of the Salar de Uyuni, Isla Incahuasi pops up like something out of a dream. An island of giant cactus, it's the remains of a volcano that was submerged when the area was part of a prehistoric lake.
Dreamscape —
In the middle of the Salar de Uyuni, Isla Incahuasi pops up like something out of a dream. An island of giant cactus, it's the remains of a volcano that was submerged when the area was part of a prehistoric lake.
Sarah Duff/CNN
One of the world's highest lakes sits at the summit of the active Licancabur volcano, which tops out at 17,717 feet above sea level.
Licancabur —
One of the world's highest lakes sits at the summit of the active Licancabur volcano, which tops out at 17,717 feet above sea level.
Sarah Duff/CNN
Salt, sand, sky: A Bolivian 4x4 adventure
CNN  — 

Landlocked Bolivia has much to offer travelers, from the wildlife-rich Amazon rainforest to treks in the Andes mountains.

One of its lesser known highlights, however, is a remarkable 4x4 journey through the altiplano (high plains) in Bolivia’s desert southwest, close to the border with Chile.

Over three days, travelers can take in spectacular and otherworldy desert scenery – terracotta sands strewn with volcanic rocks reminiscent of Salvador Dali paintings, smoking volcanoes, steaming geysers, solidified lava fields and lagoons studded with flamingos.

The jewel is the world’s largest salt flat – Salar de Uyuni.

It’s bewildering and vast – miles of blinding white salt crust stretch in every direction.

[Editor’s note: The original version of this story included a comparison between the size of the Salar de Uyuni and Singapore. Singapore had a 2013 land area of 716.1 square kilometers or 276.5 square miles, according to the Singapore Land Transit Authority; Salar de Uyuni covers an area typically listed at 10,582 square kilometers or 4,086 square miles, though NASA’s Visible Earth catalog lists the size as approximately 8,000 kilometers or 3,100 square miles. The Singapore comparison has been removed.]

Standing atop that crust feels like being on the surface of another planet.

A number of tour operators offer guided 4x4 trips, which typically include transport in Land Cruisers, drivers and accommodation in basic refugios and hotels made out of salt.

Most visitors start the trip from Bolivia’s unlovely, dusty town of Uyuni and end in San Pedro de Atacama, just over the border in Chile.

For smaller crowds and the chance to see the salt flat at dawn, it’s better to start in Chile and end in Bolivia.

Whichever way you do it, it’s an adventurous trip through one of the most unique landscapes in the world.

Getting there

Cordillera Traveller offers three-day and four-day one-way or round-trip 4x4 trips through Bolivia’s southwest desert and salt flat starting either in San Pedro de Atacama in Chile or Uyuni in Bolivia.

Cordillera Traveller has offices in Bolivia (Avenida Ferroviaria, Uyuni, Bolivia; +591 2693 3304) and Chile (Tocopilla 429, San Pedro de Atacama, Chile; +56 55 560254).

Prices start at $185 per person and include meals and accommodation.

Sarah Duff is a South African freelance travel writer and photographer who’s been published in newspapers and magazines around the world. Her work can be found at www.sarahduff.com.