Saturday 7th October 2006: BOLIVIAN SALT FLATS TOUR: Salar De Uyuni

From Colchani we headed for the salt flats via the Colchani Salt Hotel, made entirely of salt. The Salar De Uyuni are the largest and highest salt flats in the world and one of the strangest looking places on earth as it is just a huge barren expanse of blinding white (when it has rained to Salar becomes a mirror reflecting the sky) that is dotted with small islands and surrounding by mountains.

There is an estimated 10 billion tons of salt on the 4085 square mile salt flat. The salar itself is about 7 meters deep, all of salt, and was once a large salt lake 40,000 years ago. In the Salar there is a part called "Los Ojos" (The Eyes) where an underwater spring causes the water to bubble and locals often come to bathe here to soothe the symptoms of rheumatism.

Colchani Salt Hotel

Los Ojos De Salar

Salar De Uyuni

The Goodfellows on the salt stacks at the Salar De Uyuni