Tupiza and the Salar de Uyuni jeep tour...

Visiting the Salar de Uyuni and the surrounding deserts was easily one of the most incredible experiences I`ve had in my whole life. Easily in the top 3 natural wonders I`ve witnessed on this trip. These world famous salt flats are what`s left of a prehistoric lake and are an enormous 4,085 square miles... that`s 25 times the size of the salt flats in the US... so I`m told!! But the facts have no importance when you`re there... all you can do is marvel and squint at the other worldliness of it. I was really lucky have visited when I did because it was just the start of the rainy season. This meant that parts of the flats were dry so you could see the endless expanse of snowy white salt and parts were wet so I got to witness the amazing mirror effect of the water. The surrounding area is a mixture of desert, Dali-esque rock formations, rainbow coloured lagoons, wild vicuñas, farmed alpacas and hundreds and hundreds of flamingos! This area is in fact a breeding ground for 3 species of South American flamingo and it was a delight to see them in such numbers. After my disappointing experience in the jungle I was so happy to have had such a great one in the Salares. I was lucky to have been recommended a great tour by a girl I met in La Paz. It was great to start the trip from Tupiza instead of the town of Uyuni because it meant we started with 3 days in the deserts and finished with our day on the salt flats. Trips from Uyuni go the other way. This made for a perfect climax as what we witnessed got better and better each day. Our guide and cook were mother and son and were such nice people. This was a great relief as I had heard all sorts of crazy stories from people who took trips from crooked guides in Uyuni who were drunk or fell asleep at the wheel! It`s not like there`s a great deal to crash into but I prefered to avoid the situation all the same! This was such a fantastic way to say goodbye to Bolivia... I didn`t see much of this country but what I did blew me away!