4WD expedition in the Salar de Uyuni

The Salar de Uyuni is the world's largest salt flat and is in Southern Bolivia. The first day of the salt flat tour we visited the train graveyard, which features Bolivia's first locomotive. From there, we continued on towards Colchani, a village at the entrance to the flats where laborers cut the salt into blocks. There were eight of us crammed into an antiquated Toyota Land Cruiser, which has seen better days. On they way to the salt flats it broke down. It initially appeared like the tour might not happen and we would have to return to Uyuni, but they sent someone out with a new hose and we were off again. But we continued to have trouble the for the entire three days.

The first day of the tour was by far the most spectacular and unlike anything I have ever seen. It is the rainy season, and the miles of white salt were covered in water, with a perfect mirror reflection of the deep, blue sky making it difficult to discern where the land ended the the sky began. We drove for miles across the salt flats with the water reaching the door of the Land Cruiser, feeling isolated from the rest of the world in the enormity of the salt desert. We stayed in a hostel in the middle of nowhere, and the night sky was incredible. We could see the Milky Way, and in a time frame of about 10 minutes we saw 4 shooting stars. On day two we saw numerous flamingos, Bolivian rabbits, and spectacular rock formations. Our hostel was across from a lake and some white mounds that looked like snow but weren't. I couldn't understand the guide, so I don't know what they were but I am guessing some type of mineral or something. It was New Years Eve that night, and they gave us wine and champagne, but we had to leave at 4am the next morning, so things were pretty mellow. AndI ended up getting sick AGAIN from the food they gave us, so needless to say, the rough 4WD driving through the mountains was a bit rough the next day. But despite being sick, I still enjoyed seeing the geysers as the sun rose. After breakfast, the geysers, and stopping at Laguna Verde (the green lake), I took a bus to San Pedro, Chile, which is a touristy little town in Northern Chile.