South & Central America

Salar de Uyuni & the Coloured Lakes

Not only is the Salar de Uyuni the highest salt lake in the world standing at 3650m, but it is also the largest and twice as big as the Great Salt Lake in the USA, covering approx. 10,000 sq kms. For those seeking some of South America’s most extraordinary scenery and isolated pristine wilderness, then to journey across this surreal landscape of strange hexagonal shapes encrusted in the salt and ten metre high giant cacti is a truly other-worldly experience.  Drive to the Isla Pescado where you can find unique fauna and flora, completely isolated for thousands of years by the vast plains of salt or climb Volcan Tunupa for an amazing view across the great Salt Lake.

Further south from Salar de Uyuni is a world of bizarre rock formations, snow-tipped volcanoes and sparkling soda lakes of dizzying shades of jade and red, filled with flocks of pink flamingoes.  The Laguna Colorada (Coloured Lake) at 4278 metres high and 60 square kilometres, gets its name from the effect of wind and sun on the micro-organism that live in it.  The pink algae found in the less than 1 metre deep lake provide food for the flamingos and also gives them their pink colour.

South of the red waters of the Laguna Colorada lies the Laguna Verde (Green Lake) which gets is impressive colour from magnesium, calcium carbonate, lead and arsenic.  The lake lies on the foot of Volcan Licancabur which is on the border between Bolivia and Chile.

This journey south is for the more hardy traveller and uses the best available accommodation, which is basic, but this extraordinary travel experience is reward enough.

Our preferred hotels include:

Il Palacio de Sal
or otherwise accommodation is in small, rustic but comfortable guesthouses