Saturday, 2026, January 17
Last night I arrived in a flooded Uyuni. Streets flooded and people sheltering. The hotel isn’t far from the bus station, so I arrive relatively dry. In the afternoon, I went into town and discovered it didn’t have much to offer. This morning I duly reported to Red Planet Expeditions, who are going to show John, Noah, Joachim, Mari, and me the salt flats. Our first stop is the train cemetery. It is teeming with tourists wanting to take beautiful pictures of rusted trains, complete with swings and other attractive spots to queue for the perfect photo. Next, we go to Colchani for a salt museum and lunch. In the afternoon, we finally enter the salt flats with about 200 other cars. Our first stop is a labyrinth of salt blocks, which Joachim, Mari and I quickly managed to clear. Surrounding it are the requisite salt sculptures, and the whole thing is quite charming. Now the real work begins, and after a half-hour drive, we’ve lost the crowd and feel like the only ones around the enormous salt flat. Because of the rain, large areas have a few centimeters of water, acting like a giant, endless mirror. The dramatic cloudy sky adds to the spectacle. A magnificent sight. We simply have to keep going, and we’re constantly surprised by the breathtaking scenery. More rain falls at the end of the day, and visibility is almost zero as we leave the salt flats. Long live navigation! Here and there, the salt flats with water, look more like a frozen lake with ice floes.
We spend the night in a salt hotel, and the next day we drive through endless mountain landscapes, stopping at numerous lagoons. Calcha K used to be the steam train’s water tank, but now it’s nothing more than a memory. At Laguna Turuncha, we’re dropped off and walk along the lake to watch the flamingos. They’re on the other side, and by the time we reach the flamingos, the heavens open. The car is waiting for us a hundred meters away, but we’re still soaked to the bone. Heater on full blast and off we go. The sun is shining again as we disembark in a beautiful valley on the Camino San Augustin – Alota. The llamas are feasting on the green moss here. We pass Laguna Chulluncani, Laguna Pastos Grande, Kara Lake, and Laguna Colorada. Here we hike for a while with thunderstorms above the lake and luckily we can dry off with hot chocolate in the tent at the viewpoint. Another visit is to the geysers, bubbling hot mud and colored holes in the ground. Clear volcanic activity around Geyser Sol de Mañana. Beautiful again. Tonight we’ll sleep in a simple hotel in Chalvari, with a hot spring where we can warm up after a delicious dinner.
On the last day, we make a few short stops and arrive early at the Chilean border where John and I continue into Chile to San Pedro de Atacama, while the rest return to Uyuni. Saying goodbye is hard, as we had a wonderful group.
