AltoPlano Tour - Uyuni, Bolivia to San Pedro de Atacama, Chile

A custom tour through a company like Todo Turismo, Fremen, Expexsa or Hidalgo will cost a lot more, but you'll stay in a beautiful, heated, private hotel and have nice meals, better guides and better condition vehicles. However, all those companies (except Fremen) can also offer the cheapy-do deal like everyone else, where they just act as 'bookers'. and coordinate an available driver and guide.

There's a heckuva difference. If you can round out around 3 (or 4) people, then the custom tour is not massively more expensive, and very highly recommended. Otherwise, it's pretty steep (although I still recommend it). You certainly won't freeze or go hungry, and breakdowns (if any) will be dealt with much faster. Plus the really good hotels (not Mallku Cueva or the cheap Salt hotels) are amazing, and an experience in themselves.

If you want to do the inexpensive route, definitely follow schmuck's advice above - I agree with it wholeheartedly too. If you want the super memorable experience and a speck of spoiling (and are willing to cough up some major coin), go with the custom tour, especially if your needs will vary from what others in the normal groups of 6 or 7 tourists might want (i.e., longer time exploring some places, needs to approach sites more closely or differently in the 4WD, etc.).

Sorry to chime in again, but I want to be sure you know that there's a big difference, and are totally comfortable with your choice. Either way, the Salar is the Salar no matter whom you travel with, but the comfort and flexibility and number of memories can go waaay up with a custom tour. And orchid's right - it's not that easy to put together, or find other people looking for the same.

Thanks again for your additional advice dlj. I have been in contact with Ivan at Todo Tourismo as you suggested - he has come back with a custom tour option quoting $US385 for 2 persons only, which of course is a huge difference to the backpacker option, but may well be worth it as you have suggested for us "oldies" - we don't mind roughing it but I'm not sure how my wife ( who is an asthmatic ) will handle the altitude/sulphur etc so a bit more comfort in this area will no doubt be worthwhile - is this about the $ amount that you had to pay??? Ivan says it includes best hotels, delicious meals etc, new 4WD english guide and driver - don't need both I would have thought! Would appreciate any further comments. I ahve incidentally looked through your other posts and found your info very helpful indeed - thank you very much!!.

Very welcome, and thanks too. Your price is good (better than mine!).

Believe it or not, the good+ drivers and +good guides have completely different skill sets, and both get tired out themselves by day's end. Yes, it can be done by one person, but once you see the condition of some of the roads, you'll be glad the guide is the one doing all the pointing and talking!

You will love the Salar, the Reserve, the hotels, etc. bring a digital camera though - customs have recently gotten downright nasty when it comes to conventional cameras & films. I brought a nice quality point & shoot digital, and some high quality 35mm gear. One TSA guy demanded my camera and X-Ray'ed it, even though I offered to wait (I had time) until it was quieter. The year before I had researched my airport 'rights' for Canada & US, and didn't realize they had changed so much. Fortunately, the film was new & unexposed, but unfortunately, it was top-end professional film, so tossing it in the garbage cost a few times as much as a regular roll.

For the remainder of the films I had to pull out 10" from the canisters in the bright inspection areas, and then he left my films sitting right on top of the X-Ray machine. Some of it was high-speed, and ended up with some fogging (I found out later). Turns out Bolivia has major Kodak and Agfa (no Fuji) distribution, so its not as hard as in other countries to find good fresh film, but pro film is still a challenge if you don't have much time (places will have to order it). It's probably just easaier to bring digital, unless you're serious, and then, buy the film there, and get it developed there at a quality shop before you return.

If you're gonna buy hand disinfectant, the 'SoapPopular' stuff has no alcohol (so it doesn't smell like you just downed a mickey of vodka, and it doesn't dry out your hands), and costs roughly the same for a slightly smaller bottle. Just as effective.

Get the whole family involved - assign an area of specialty to each person, so everyone gets a chance to shine on a topic, and everyone will end up getting more out of everything.

Have a ball!

Sorry GMJJ - mixed up your post with a family! Got PM'd a lot on this thread, and accidentally mixed you up!

A couple afterthoughts...

You need to pick up the SoapPopular before you go to Bolivia. Same thing for UHT creamers, if you like cream in your coffee: otherwise, ask for solid or canned cream - better restaurants will carry it for cooking only, and will shoot a few stares when you ask to have it in your coffee - not to worry - it's great in coffee - persist!

All those marble-sized dark things you might come across periodically as you cross some of the Altiplano on foot are llama dung. Yes, a creature that big does create poop only just slightly larger than a wild rabbit! Local people often don't think too much about setting right down on it for an outdoor picnic. I'd find a rock instead, if it looks fresh! At least it doesn't smell.

Experience the sunset and sunrise from the Tahua salt hotel, and get a look at the colours of the volcano Tunupa. Towards the place where the salt mining & preparation is done (Colchani? can't recall), the water level tends to stay higher, even when the rest of the salar is drying out. If you ask, you can probably get some photos of that amazing mirror effect, and get the photos of the dry salt pan from other places.

It might be worthwhile getting a wide-angle and telephoto (or 'magnifier' snap-on for a point & shoot camera) lens for your camera. Its a bit of money, but otherwise you just might miss out on some especially amazing shots, and there's nothing more frustrating than being 'that close' to an unforgettable image.

If you stumble upon any Vicuna (pronounced 'Bic-KOON-ya) woolen garments, snatch it up (if its from a reputable source): I've seen simple scarves selling for over 300-700 pounds sterling from the UK. Its the lightest, softest (more than Angora), warmest (than Alpaca) and moisture resistant natural fibre. It takes around 3-4 years for them to grow a full coat, then the government pays people to shear the wool (to avoid having poachers kill these gentle, fast creatures), and sell it to be made into garments. They are nearly endangered (they're numbers are under close watch, if I recall, but I believe they're no longer endangered), and have some quantities of kept animals in other countries sharing the Altiplano, but only Bolivia has the greatest numbers of truly wild & free vicunas. You'll probably see quite a few on the Alvaroa reserve. They look like a woollier deer, and run somewhat like a Llama or Alpaca, only faster.

Since Bolivia is still a relative adolescent in terms of developing its tourism-oriented mindset, if during any part of your tour you're not completely happy, please do politely raise your concern or wish: the request just may not have occurred to anyone. Any oversights aren't due to any ill-will to the extranjeros.

Off my soap box.
Enjoy.

The really last suggestion.

Still under the assumption you might take some photo snaps... If your camera accepts filters, definitely bring/get a polarizer. You will need to 'dial-it-in' for each scene to maximize the effect, but for what it does on the high altitude skies, mineral-coloured soils of the desert, Laguna Colorada, and Laguna Verde will make your eyes pop out of your head. If you haven't bought it yet, get the sales clerk to demonstrate how to use it - its so simple. And at the Laguna Verde, the amount of wind really makes the colour in the lake far more intense. If when you arrive there, the colours are somewhat 'flat', ask to spend a bit more time waiting, and there's a great chance a wind will pick up, and when it does (it might take 20 minutes to go from dull to vibrant), and when you combine that with the polarizer, it'll redefine your notion of drama in a photo.

Off soap box again, but then smashing it with a mallet, and burning it, so I can't get back on it this time...

Don't worry about the soap box - it has been very useful for us!! Thanks again for your additional advice re the Vicuna and photography - from a pro this is really helpful. My wife studied photography professionally and I like to dabble as well - we are both digital now though - much easier. Our daughter and son-in-law made this trip last year and came back with some stunning shots which was the basis for our own inspiration to vist the area on our own S America trip.

I think I may have misled you incidentally - the cost quoted was $US385/person for 2 people for the 3 days, 2 nights. Is this in the ball park? Ivan is currently investigating some other options that might reduce this but maybe we should go for it as he has quoted?? I gather that you stayed in the Tahua Hotel on the Salar which was fantastic - where else? Cheers and thanks again - you really have been a great source of help on this.

Thanks for the soap-box comment!

Yes, stayed in the Tayka Salt Hotel on the western edge of Tahua, and the Tayka Stone hotel god-knows-where smack in the middle of the Eduardo Avaroa Reserve (And near absolutely nothing. Repeat nothing.). Which also made it kind of neat.

I wouldn't try to reduce the price, unless they can say what specifically would be cut out to meet that reduction. If you cut prices too far, I've found a few times there that people (in general, not this tour operator) will meet it to retain your business, and begrudgingly struggle to find a way to cover their costs. So I wouldn't push the prices down unless its an 'all-on-the-table' negotiation where everyone knows whats being removed for however much dollars, and you can decide the value of that item. And why start the tour off on a slightly sour note by over-negotiating? Remind yourself what you might pay back home for this, and consider that you're also giving to the local economy, not just as charity, but for actual services rendered.

Considering the cost of the Tayka hotels is pretty pricey (for Bolivia, at US$75 per person, per night), and that all hotel meals are normally an extra cost, all tour incidentals are covered, and that the normal 'el-minimo' Salar tour will try not to leave with less than 5 people (and preferably 6 or 7) at approx US$100 a pop, and that they may charge extra for an English guide, plus you're getting a definitely better-condition vehicle, and a better than average driver, I probably wouldn't try to push the price down. You could end up with a slightly lower quality driver or vehicle or guide (still probably above average quality, but that could increase the risks of problems and/or downtime for repairs), or the meals may become smaller. It already sounds quite reasonable (relative to what you're getting) to me.

If I quote what I paid, I'll get flooded with hate PM's again, so I won't. I'm hoping I won't get chased off this site. At least not until I can help just a few more people out with my perspectives. ;-)

Sounds like you'll have fun! Hope the opinions help.

Fly to Uyuni on Aerosur DC-3, gives plenty of time for checking out what hotel you want and checkout the 4 WD for your tour - it is a great experience and not expensive [only three times per week from Cochabamba tho.