Bolivia - Salar de Uyuni

Byatangajwe: 03.09.2018

The actual highlight was still waiting at the farewell after more than two months in Bolivia. The reason why most tourists travel to this country. The Salar de Uyuni - a huge salt flat. This can of course be visited in one day from the town of Uyuni OR you can embark on a 4-day tour from Tupiza to Uyuni. Tupiza has much more to offer than Uyuni. Uyuni exists practically only because of tourism. There are more than 100 agencies fighting for tourists. In Tupiza, things are a bit more relaxed. There are only about 10 providers, it takes one more day for the route and costs a bit more, but you swim a bit against the current. Nevertheless, you see the same 4x4 jeeps everywhere, doing exactly the same tour and stops. Each jeep has 4-7 people. And there are probably about 100 jeeps on the 4-day sections - at least that's my estimate. So quite a lot! And in the 4 days, we covered about 1400 km. In contrast to my previous tours, I would spend the majority of my time in the car here. And not on the highway, but off-road. Now in the dry season, that's relatively easy, but in the rainy season, it's a bit more complicated. If the water is too high on some sections or the holes and bumps on the ground are covered by mirror-smooth water surfaces, you should only venture onto the routes slowly and with safe drivers. But the landscapes are even more impressive in that case.

So, with 2 Spaniards, 2 Italians, a cook, and the driver, the journey began. Starting in warm Tupiza, but already on the first day we should reach altitudes of 4000 m. That day we also had the longest distance to cover. And we already got a taste of the next few days. Incredibly vast and varied landscapes. And continuously cold. During the day, you have to protect yourself from the sun, although it's not particularly warm, but at night the temperature drops to a few degrees below zero and you cover yourself with everything you have. Mornings always start early because you have to cover a lot of distance. There's no heating in the simple villages and accommodations, electricity and hot water are rare.The first viewpoint where we stopped. El Silar - That was close to Tupiza. A short time later we were already in the Altiplano at over 4000m altitude. In this area, there is also one of the highest villages on Earth at around 5000m altitude. Those are tough conditions here.<img src=

This was the lunch break. Somewhere in the middle of nowhere there are always a few scattered settlements.And spectacular landscapes.

Then there were ruins. This time from the Spaniards and not from the Incas.Including Vizcacha, sunning itself.We also encountered llamas. They run everywhere and belong to someone somehow. And at night, they are driven back into their enclosures. So as not to fall prey to pumas or foxes.

Then came the first lagoon with flamingos.In the early morning, everything is frozen, so they can walk on the ice. But there are always a few open spots.Looks like it was created by human hands. But it actually happened naturally.The Dalí Mountain. Because it's so colorful.And then suddenly there was a little fox by the roadside and everyone went crazy. Soooo cute! And of course, they immediately fed it with cookies. Tourists are terrible!

Days 2 and 3 were mainly spent between 4000 and 5000 meters. It's strange when you drive straight through deserts for hours and are basically always significantly higher than the Alps, and yet there are volcano peaks rising all around. Day two started with a visit to the Laguna Verde. Arsenic-containing!! That's why there are no animals to be seen here. And in combination with the sunshine, the lagoon shines in the most beautiful green.

Right next to it is the Laguna Blanca. The water here is also perfectly suitable for wildlife.Then we went to the thermal baths to warm up! That was really nice and hot after the morning cold.And a vicuña also made an appearance.

At over 5000m, we got to see a few hot springs and geysers. A geothermal power plant will actually be built nearby in the next few years.

It's impressive to see what comes out of the earth.

Next highlight was the Laguna Colorada - the colorful one. And the colors were really beautiful. All red, and then thousands of flamingos.

The water appears red because of the microorganisms that live here and on which the flamingos feed.

We got really close to them here. But still, this was the first time on my trip that I missed having a really good camera. More zoom just wasn't possible. A proper camera would have been really worth it on this tour.

The next morning, we were able to enjoy the panorama view one last time.

And a few kilometers later, the scenery changed completely. Arbol de la piedra - the stone tree.

My fellow travelers were not always the fittest. I could have looked out the window all day. And that's what I did...

And then it looked like this again.

And the next lagoon. With even better pictures.

There were even a few small holes in the middle of the desert.

And in them, you could find these perfect salt crystals. Of course, the tourists immediately took some. Salt is really hard to find in Europe.

And why the train cemetery in Uyuni is a tourist highlight, I will never understand. Just clean up the trash!

On day two, we were already very close to the Chilean border. From there, it would have been just a hop, skip, and a jump to San Pedro de Atacama. Now, after 4 days, we had arrived in Uyuni and the most convenient way to continue to Chile was to book a transfer that basically takes me through most of the places I had already visited to the border. Including an overnight stay in Villa Mar. The next morning, we were dropped off at the border and had a short drive ahead of us to the tourist hell San Pedro. To my surprise, I had to set my clock one hour forward instead of backward. So one hour closer to Germany, even though Chile is completely east of Bolivia. Well, that's probably still due to the Pacific War. ;-)

Food

So, years ago, I read an article that McDonald's closes its branches in Bolivia due to lack of success after years of trying. It just wasn't accepted. And Bolivians believe that fast food in general just can't be good and that good food takes time. Well, I don't know the real reasons, but in my opinion, that can't have been it. I really haven't seen a single McDonald's, only Burger King very occasionally. But despite that, you can always buy something quick, greasy, sweet, fried, or whatever unhealthy on every corner in Bolivia for little money. And even the traditional dishes that Bolivians are very proud of mostly consist of the same things. Meat, preferably chicken, with rice, quinoa, and/or potatoes, maybe a bit of vegetables, and the main course is done. There's ALWAYS a soup before that. But the soup is usually quite good. I was constantly told to try this and that, but it often seemed to me as if I had a choice between the same 10 dishes all the time. And of course, burgers and pizza on every corner. So overall, the food didn't convince me that much, but it was always plentiful and cheap. So there's actually nothing to complain about. Although my stomach sometimes struggled.

And yet, Bolivia could become a role model or savior for the world. Because they still work in agriculture very traditionally and almost like during Inca times. I have already mentioned the thousands of different potato and corn varieties. But Bolivia used to be the largest quinoa producer. A lot of quinoa is produced in the highlands of the Altiplano. The fields lie fallow for one year and are cultivated for one year. And since Mother Earth is still sacred here, no fertilizers, herbicides, or pesticides are used. And the small fields and terraces cannot be worked with large expensive machines. All real manual labor. An incredible number of different colorful quinoa varieties. So 100% organic and eco. This naturally means that the yield also depends heavily on the weather and varies considerably. So it should actually be an export hit for Europe. It used to be. In good times, 50kg of quinoa were sold for 3000 Bolivianos. So about 380 Euros. Today it is sold for about 150 Euros. But Peru recognized the trend and produces with modern methods and agrochemicals, so they can sell 50kg for about 40 Euros. So dear dear environmentalists, if you're going to consume quinoa, please choose Bolivian quinoa. It's always organically produced and directly from small-scale farmers.
And by the way, nobody here puts quinoa in salad.