Date of Entry:  November 10th 2015

Place of Writing: Kultur Berlin Guest House, November 21st 2015

You people probably think I’m ridiculous.  Well maybe I am, but you’ve never been to the Salt Flats in south Western Bolivia.   They’re are incredible, and with that in mind I find myself in Uyuni for a third time looking to book yet another three day tour. And you know what, even know, I’d be thrilled to go back for round 4.

In Uyuni there are over 80 agencies offering these tours, and picking a good one is a bit of a crap shoot.  Here are a few rules to do a good job and get the best experience you can hope for our of this incredible part of the world.

1. Always ask how many people maximum will be in the car.  This should be 6 plus one driver, trust me when I say saving 20 dollars by going with a company that allows for 7 is just not worth it.  the jeep is your home for large parts of the next three days and 7 people plus one driver is just not comfortable for all involved.
2. Always check reviews online.  There are a few companies that should be avoided, such as Fatima’s Wara del Altiplano travel who I went with on my second go around, and, according to my brother Ripley Tours, who have a reputation for drunk drivers.
3. Always book in Uyuni and always bargain.    You’ll save money booking in town almost every time, and the closer it is to leave time the better deal you’ll find.
4. Try to get the driver name and passenger breakdown. Look for reviews online mentioning your driver by name and use your judgement regarding the passenger breakdown.  That said agencies have a tendency to switch the passengers around last minute and there’s not much you can do.
5. Don’t expect luxury.  This isn’t that kind of experience, expect basic comfort levels and amazing landscapes and you’ll be thrilled.

Since there’s not much to do in Uyuni I end up spending a whole day visiting more than 20 agencies and getting prices.  I wrote them all down and then lost my ipod after the tour, so the specifics are sadly gone, but the prices ranged from 600 to 850 Bolivianos for a 3 day tour.  And 1000-1400 for the companies that would arrange a 4 day tour.  That is with the exception of the number 1 rated Red Planet which started at 1300 for 3 day tours with an English speaking guide.  Before we get into the trip a few words on Red Planet,  I’m sure they are good but they go to the same places (except they stay beside the hot springs instead of Laguna Colorada  the second night which in my opinion is a downside) and have the same types of cars, and having an English guide is a limited advantage here, since there’s only so much to say about the amazing places you see and since usually someone in the car like me can translate Spanish to English without a problem.  I will also say that at lunch time of the first day I saw four red planet cars parked together and the drivers huddled, some of them with beers in hand.  who knows if it was just one, or a once in a blue moon thing, but it’s what I saw.

At any rate I end up booking a 3 day tour with Andes Salt Expeditions  who at time of writing have just overtaken Red Planet for the number one ranking on Trip advisor.  I got them down from 750 originally to 690 with a guarantee of 6 people mx. The family who works in the office is very friendly and I had a fun time negotiating with them.

The next morning I’m at the office at 10:00 am only to find out I’ve been given away and shifted to another company Estrella del Sur (Southern Star, who are not on trip advisor).  I’m not pleased with this as I chose my company carefully, but the people at Andes Salt Expeditions assure me it is a company that will offer me the same level of service, and while I’m skeptical, I have no real choice so I climb in to the front seat of a very good condition and big Toyota Land Cruiser, hopeful they’re not lying, and, spoiler alert, they weren’t.

I meet the rest of our crew quickly enough saying hello to Brent from Ohio (who lives in Hawaii)  Claire and Erwan from France,  and then shortly thereafter we stop to pick up Jordi and his wife Enki who are from Barcelona but live in the Canary islands.  Perfect, a mix of french Spanish and English, the three languages I speak, meaning the next three days are going to be fun for my brain.

Our driver is Miguel, a very friendly young Bolivian man who actually grew up most of his life in Buenos Aires Argentina before returning to his birthplace around Uyuni for work 4 years ago.  It doesn’t take us long to figure out we’re lucky to have him.

Our first stop, just like last time is the train cemetery just outside of Uyuni.  Hardly the highlight but still a beautiful place to be, marvel at the old trains, the beautiful blues of the sky which are always memorable here, and of course to climb some trains, which I waste no time doing.

Sand Tornado!

After just under half an hour we pile back into our car and head out towards our next stop, the tiny tourist town at the edge of the salt flats where we get twenty minutes to buy souvenirs, something not really feasible for such a long trip, still I snap a few pictures of the gringo paradise.

Just before we head back to the car we acquire some coca leaves for Brent who has a headache from the altitude already thanks to some friendly tourists in another jeep who over here us asking if the shops have any for sale.

Soon enough we’re on our way to our next stop, somewhere I’ve somehow never stopped on my previous two tours, a place where they harvest the salt and then a brief stop at some small bubbling water pools flowing up from beneath the salt.  Our driver Miguel describes it somewhat poetically, underneath the salt are veins of water much like the human body has veins of blood, these pools are the results of small cuts to such veins, and are highly salty and surprisingly cold.  I make a small inukshuk for my mum on one of the pile of salts so that she might have eyes over the salt flats, if such things do actually work.

From here we head on to the original salt hotel, where Miguel drops us at the Dakar monument before continuing on to prepare our lunch while we marvel at the stunning whiteness.  The Dakar rally runs through Bolivia every year and seems like an amazing spectacle, a race crossing some of the worlds most impressive landscapes.  Together we get to know one another a little better as we amble over to the salt hotel, stopping for a brief Salt Llama ride, and some flag pictures (me again forgetting to have found a Canadian flag to add to the collection,  and then finding out it’s claire’s birthday.  I have to say, I can’t imagine a much better place to celebrate than with a day on the Uyuni Salt flats, one of my personal highlights of South America.

Seems an odd pairing

After a tasty lunch we climb back into the car and head deeper into the salt flats for some ridiculousness, the required silly photos. Perhaps the only failing of Miguel is that he does not have a dinosaur, but I travel with enough weird stuff to make up for it and thankfully our group is entirely open to my ludicrous creativity and even brings a few of their own crazy ideas to the group.  All the props you see in the countless photos below, come from my bag, because I’m just that cool.

The volcano I visited last time with Sara

Miguel is not only patient but volunteers some ideas and expertly takes many of the photos you see before finally welcoming us back into the car and driving onward to our next destination, Isla Inca Huasi, which for the first time I learn is actually a different island to Isla Pescador.  Again I opt not to pay the 30 boliviano fee to climb the island and head out for a stroll around it, thinking I’d be alone, though I end up being joined by Brent and the Catalan couple.  We end up chatting in two languages as we make the circuit around the island in the considerable mid afternoon heat of the Summer.  As we walk an Atv motors past and around us at some distant, we can;t be sure but we suspect it’s security for the island making sure no one is trying to clamber up the back way.  Sadly, unlike the first time I was here there’s no little lake section, which gave me the rare glimpse of the mirror effect outside of rainy season.

From here we head out for a long drive to the edge of the salt flats and past the place I spent the second night of my four day tour with coral cave.As we reach the edge of the salt flats someone points out the strangest cloud I have ever seen, the sun sinking behind it, it takes one colours closer resembling a gasoline slick than a cloud, and yet the air here is clean, crisp and pure.  I have no idea what caused this strange cloud, only that the colours were more pronounced through sunglasses (which I borrowed momentarily from Brent to see as the only member of the group without them)  and that it was beyond strange, and very beautiful.

As we leave the majestic Salt flats behind and head past the basic refugio’s where most groups are staying beginning to wind up into the Andes mountains the sun paints the sky a bright orange colour behind the few white clouds, and I’m watching in wrapt awe as we arrive in our little town and Salt hotel, where we end up being the only group spending the night.

We enjoy a tasty meal during which Miguel comes to us with a proposition, we can go on the standard route tomorrow or we can take his preferred route, through many of the places I saw on my first tour after a snow forced change of plans, but with lots more stops and some lakes I’ve never sen before.  The whole group senses his enthusiasm for this ultimate route and trusts him which thrills me, since it means I’ll be seeing still more new places in this incredible part of the world.  The morrow’s itinerary decided we  head off for an early bedtime.

Tomorrow’s start isn’t too early at around 7 so I lose myself in Eric Schlosser’s Command and Control, different than my standard reading material but a fascinating and horrifying examination of Nuclear Weapons and all the dangers they bring to the world, recommended to me by Thea who I met back in Santa Cruz, and Samaipata.  I drift off to sleep scared and worried for the world but still very excited for the coming day, knowing that the day will end at one of my favourite places in the world, Laguna Colorada.