What days of the year can I make this excursion?
The tour has confirmed departures all days of the week, the whole year.
3 days group tour to the Uyuni Salt Flat and Colored Lagoons, beginning and ending in Uyuni. It includes basic accommodation and meals.
You are checking a tour that begins in Uyuni. If you want to see tours that begin in San Pedro de Atacama, click here.
Beginning: Day 1 at 10:15 am at your hotel in Uyuni.
End: Day 3 at 6:00 pm in Uyuni's downtown.
Day 1: We will pick you up at your hotel in Uyuni to take our 4x4 vehicle for 6 people, in which we will make all the tour during the three days. We will leave towards the Uyuni Salt Flat, passing by the train cemetery and the town of Colchani before, where we will be able to buy craftwork. After that, once we are on the salt flat, we will visit the Salt Museum, and we will travel to the Incahuasi Island, a limestone formation in the center of the salt flat. Here we will be able to walk by a track, see the giant cactus and have a privileged view of the salt flat from the top of the hill. We will end the day seeing the sunset inside the salt flat, so then we can go to a refuge in Colcha K, where we will have dinner and rest for the next day.
Day 2: During the morning, we will leave Colcha K and keep going by the road that goes through the Chiguana Salt Flat. We will visit the Cañapa, Hedionda, Honda and Chiarkota lagoons, before enter to the Siloli Desert. We will end the day in the Colorada Lagoon, nesting center of more than 30,000 flamingos. We will spend the night in the refuge Huayllajara.
Day 3: We will leave early in the morning to see the sunrise in the Sol de Mañana Geysers, intermittent sources of water that rise at a 90°C temperature, and where we will have the chance of taking pictures using the contrasts of the first lights and the steam. In addition, we will visit the Polques Hot Springs (time to bathe, according to the times of the tour), the Salvador Dalí Desert, and the Verde Lagoon and Blanca Lagoon, located in the foothills of the Licancabur Volcano. In addition, we will pass by the Valle de Rocas and San Cristóbal, so after that, we will begin our direct return to Uyuni, where we will end the tour.
Altiplanic winter
During the months from January to April, it takes place the weather phenomenon known as the Altiplanic winter, rain season in the central Andes. Due to this, is is possible that the described itinerary is modified as follows:
Force majeure changes
This is a reference itinerary. The route to get to the salt flat, the places visited, the indicated order and the end time will always be subject to changes according to weather conditions, demonstrations and accommodation availability. The confirmation of the itinerary is obtained in the briefing that the local supplier gives a day before the beginning of the activity, which does not mean that it will not be modified due to the happening of the situations already mentioned once the tour has already begun.
The tour has confirmed departures all days of the week, the whole year.
Due to high demand of the activity, we recommend to book at least a week in advance.
The tour is made on a 4x4 (Toyota Land Cruiser) in Bolivia in a group of 6 people each.
Depending on the selected option, you will have shelters with shared rooms for 6 people tops, without heating, or for 2 to 4 people, all with shared bathroom. Bathrooms with showers and also the availability of hot water will depend on the shelter. These details, as well as the possibility to add a related optional service, you can find in the “Included” section of every activity. None of the shelters has internet.
The accommodations have sockets type C, compatible with the types E and F. Anyway, our recommendation is that you carry an adapter to avoid any inconvenience.
Each passenger may carry at most one bag or suitcase of 15 kilos which will go above the 4x4. Because it will be outside the vehicle, it is recommended to take a bag rather than a suitcase, as suitcases are fragile and could be exposed to potential damage. If you do choose to bring a suitcase, it must a maximum size of a cabin suitcase (55 x 40 x 20 cm).
In summer (December to March), the temperature ranges from about 4 °C as a minimum, to 23 °C maximum. In winter (June to September) the temperature ranges from about -20 °C as a minimum, to 16 °C maximum.
We recommend to bring at least Bs. 500 per person for expenses not included in the tour, as entrances to parks, border tax, access to toilets and water.
Most of the tour is made above 13,123 ft. of altitude so it is quite likely to suffer from altitude sickness specially the first day of the tour. To avoid or reduce the general feeling of discomfort, we recommend acclimate to the altitude one or two days above 8,202 ft., drink lots of water before and during the tour, eat light meals (avoid meat) the previous days, and do not drink alcohol the night before the beginning of the tour.
The meals are varied, and includes tea, coffee, bread, cookies and fruit for breakfast, and meat, pasta, rice, soup and vegetables for lunch and dinner. In case you need a vegetarian menu, you must mark your preference during the booking process.
In case of rain, the order of the places visited, the possibility to see the sunrise and the accommodation places are subject to change, because some of the roads might be closed. Added to the previous information, water in the Uyuni Salt Flat is an important obstacle and the Incahuasi Island (located in the center of the salt flat) remains closed. This means the Incahuasi Island cannot be visited and we enter to the salt flat only for a certain distance, so the passengers are safe.
The mirror effect occurs when there is water on the salt flat. This happens only in rainy periods (January and February) and after them (March).
The tour is made in the Altiplano area, at an altitude above 9,842.5 ft. Just with this, our body is submitted to an abnormal stress, which can cause discomfort and risk in people with the conditions mentioned in the restriction’s section. Moreover, the tour does not have health insurance and there are not health centers to treat this kind of situations in a proper manner on the route.
Yes, for the 3-day tour from Uyuni we have available options with accommodations in hostels and hotels. You can check both options and book directly through the website.
If you want to do the round trip tour from Uyuni with superior accommodation please check our tour Superior Uyuni Salt Flat Tour (3 days).