Hi all,
I'm planning a trip to Peru in July/August and want to go to Salar de Uyuni afterward, but that's dry season (so no giant, beautiful mirror). Will the salt flats still be worth the trip? I'm disappointed to not be able to take those amazing sunset pictures, but would still be up for the trip if it's a place worth visiting.
Thanks for any advice you can give!
Lissa
Well, it's still a huge white mass of salt as far as the eye can see and there's very few places on earth like it. And if you take a 3 or 4 day trip you'll see many more mindbogglingly strange/beautiful places in the vast emptiness of the Bolivian southwest.
So I'd say it's definitely worth visiting, with or without mirror effect.
(I'm going on the assumption here that next January's Dakar rally+ , its participants and its spectators, will have left a few spots here or there without black tiretracks, oil spills, urine, empty beercans and cheap booze-n-refresco bottles and +cholitas dead from accidents with quads. Do be back on this forum beforehand to check if that is the case!)
Edited by: Peter_1972
Absolutely agree with the above. And I second the suggestion that you visit as part of a 3-4 day tour through the far southwest of Bolivia. Some of the tours on that route will take you across the border into Chile and you can head back up into Peru from there very easily.
Ha, thanks for the advice! I'll keep it on the list, then. Is there a particular company that goes to the far southwest, or is that something that most organizations do? I'll dive into the forums for further research if it's a widespread thing.
I concur with the two posts above - the salt flats are fantastic in the dry as well. In fact, if you do the 3-day journey covering Salar de Uyuni and the Eduardo Avaroa reserve, it's far easier to navigate in the dry.
As for getting to the region, there are buses from La Paz to Uyuni every day. I had taken an overnight bus which which got us to Uyuni by about 07:00. The town is really small, and there are a number of tour companies with offices right outside the bus stop. A bunch of us booked the 3-day tour with an English-speaking guide right there, leaving at 10:00. If I remember correctly, the cost was the equivalent of 80 USD per person for the full 3 days including food and accommodation. The tour dropped us back at Uyuni in the evening of Day 3 and I caught the overnight bus back to La Paz.
Salt flats are amazing, no matter what time of the year you go. I've never met a person who wasn't amazed by the scenary on the 3 day trip.
In fact the time of the year you are going is probably high season to an extent because thats when all the people in the northern hemisphere have their summer holidays. Apparently it gets very cold. Early this month we had overnight lows of around 10C which was quite warm....
I went in the dry season, at the very end of June.
Yes, you don't get that mirror effect, but it is still absolutely stunning.
The 3 days tours take in much more than just the salt flats themselves - you also get lagoons, hot springs and the Atacama.
Besides, during the rainy season parts of the tour can get cancelled (for example Fish Island). Which would be a shame to miss.
Having travelled extensively in South America I would say this was without a doubt the highlight.
One piece of advice - do a fair whack of research into the companies. There are plenty of threads about that. The rumours about heavy drinking drivers on some of the companies is true.
Just don't cheap out on the company. It's not worth it.
And #6 is right - It will be incredibly cold at night at that time. We reached about -6C, but it felt a lot, lot colder. It gets even colder in August. But, as long as you bring enough clothes, you'll be enjoying yourself too much too care.
I agree, el Salar might be amazing with water but is rainy season while in August you won't have that inconvenient. Besides you have La laguna colorada, la laguna verde, el desiero de Dalí, etc, to see, so you won't get disappointed at all.
cheers!
if you still have a doubt on going to uyuni in august, have a look to these pictures I've taken in august. landscapes are amazing :
[http://www.travelearth-photography.com/p841732143]
I booked a 4 days tour from potosi to uyuni and then to the south- lipez area (Eduardo Avaroa reserve).
It really worth it.
No clouds at all