Bolivia

I assume you mean a Salt Flats tour (Salar de Uyuni).

Yes. It's worth doing. You can start tours in either Uyuni or Tupiza. I did it from Tupiza - word on the ground is that it's a better place to start that Uyuni, and I certainly had a great time. We did a 4 day tour with Valle Hermoso in Tupiza - fabulous. You'll be a little more cramped with 5 of you in a 4WD, but it will also be cheaper and you will be able to leave when you want as you won't have to wait for other people to fill up the car. Valle Hermoso has a hostel and tour agency just down the road from the bus station in Tupiza.

Enjoy!

Helga

Of course! The tour is a serious showcase for Bolivia's weird beauty, and from what I could tell from speaking to people on shorter trips, most people come to the country solely for that tour. I also left from Tupiza and loved it--used Tupiza Tours. It's definitely more expensive than coming from Uyuni, but not unreasonable by any means.

Salt Flats are a must if you have time. Regarding booking in advance for tours it is usually fine to book when you arrive in Bolivia for both pampas and salt flats TOURS but depending on what time of year you are arriving you may need to book ahead for transport / flights as this is what catchs most people out. During busy season the tourist bus to Uyuni and the flights to Rurre can both book out up to a week in advance. In quiet season (right now) you can usually get them the day before

Hi.

I volunteered in Rurrenabaque for 2 months, and I don't think it's necessary to book before getting to Rurre. I volunteered for a company called San Miguel del Bala, and they are very recommendable. They do the jungletour. Bit pricey (60 $ a day), but worth it. A lot of agencies are bad and treats the animals badly, so I think it's better to pay a little bit more, but for a good service and for someone who is concerned about animals and the environment. For the pampastour, I can recommend Bala-tours (50 or 60 $ a day). They are as well considerent and maybe it's posible to get a discount, if you book with these two together.
If it's to expensive, there is a lot of cheaper companies (half price or less). But they are all the same. Puts you together with other companies, mistreat the animails especially anacondas (they are almost extinct) and espacially if the tourists want it and so on.

Have a nice trip.

Myself and four others are traveling to Bolivia soon in our own vehicles (US registration) can we drive on the Salar de Uyuni?

Flights can book up a couple of days in advance between La Paz and Rurre when the Rurre airstrip has been waterlogged during the rainy season, leading to a build-up of passengers, but otherwise is generally straightforward. I've never known La Paz - Uyuni transport be affected by anything other than bloqueos, particularly around Patacamaya.

I would always book once there, be it Uyuni, Tupiza or Rurrenabaque - there's plenty of competition and availability.

Just to clarify #1: it's cheaper (and quicker) to do the salt flats tour from Uyuni than from Tupiza. Notwithstanding that, the tours starting from Tupiza do have a good reputation, as #1 alludes, and doing it this way has become increasingly popular over the last few years, although the vast majority of tours still start out in Uyuni.

Have a great trip!

#5: Yes.

Hey!

I have just done both a Salar tour and a Pampas tour.

You can just book tours when you arrive into town, however be wary as I did the Salar tour from Tupiza, which was great as you get to see more and leave the amazing salt flat for the final day. However as there has been less tourists coming to Bolivia due to the problems, I was stuck in Tupiza as there weren´t enough people to fill a tour.

I eventually went with Tupiza Tours, had english-speaking guide/cook Archie and driver Reneku, who were both great! We were well looked after!

I dealt with Freddy at Valle Hermoso tours and he was extremely sleazy!! Kept putting his arms around me, which I kept pushing off! Not exactly welcoming behaviour when you are a single female travelling alone. He also lied right to my face about a tour leaving the next day, which was my very first question to him (to which he replied ´we have tours leaving everyday´), and when I returned an hour later to pay, suddenly the answer changed to ´no tours leaving the next day´ but he offered to take me out himself!! Of course whilst trying to grab my hands to hold onto!

As for pampas tours in Rurre, I went with Indigena Tours as I had other people recommend them to me (and Bala was completely booked). I had a guide named Tony, who seemed to have a big problem with me. At first I was unsure whether it was because I was of Asian descent, or maybe because he might have thought I was American (with all the problems between USA and Bolivia, plus I am actually Australian but don´t have a strong Aussie accent... but not an American one either!). In one instance after walking around in the heat for hours looking for snakes, he asked everyone in the group whether they would like him to buy them a cold drink from the next campsite (our bar was closed), everyone except me that is... and when I asked him why he never asked me if I wanted anything he basically replied with ´too bad´! ALSO he fed the monkeys, picked up snakes (one being a cobra which he brought back to the group, after he had caught it and carried it wrapped up in his t-shirt!!) and picked up a baby alligator. All this may sound very Crocodile hunter style and exciting, but it is extremely un-ecologically friendly. Animals should not be fed or handled.

Also heard from fellow travellers that Anaconda Tours went through a whole detailed itinerary with them, which turned out to be a complete lie, as they didn´t even have permits to go into Madidi Park and before the first day had ended they demanded to be returned to Rurre and then weren´t even given a complete refund!

Hope my stories have helped somewhat. :)

My best friend and I completed a Salar de Uyuni Tour leaving from Tupiza In June this year, we went with Valle Hermosa tours who appeared very friendly and competent. When we asked about seatbelts in the jeep we were assured that there were however on the day none such were provided. The first 3 days of the tour were fine however on the last day our driver and cook consumed a large amount of alcohol and not only got up late thus delaying our start but continued to drink whilst driving accross the salt flats at terrifying speed, i can safely say i have never been as scare for my life. To add insult to injury when we asked him to slow down he just laughed and carried on driving erratically. As we passed the site of the tragic accident that had occured on 1st May they slowed down and pointed out that this was the spot that the two jeeps had collided almost as if it were a tourist attraction. As our group was clearly quite distressed at this we again asked if the driver would slow down to which he just laughed and then started to treat the whole incident of May 1st as a bit of a joke which i myself found appalling. I have never been so relieved to get out of a car in all my life i was just thankful that we made it to Uyuni. I write this to warn others of the potential dangers and also as I have seen Valle Hermosa Tours highly recommended in another forum.