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We got to the town of Uyuni in the morning after a relatively comfortable night bus where we got to watch the third hobbit movie ! But since it was in Spanish on really low volume we missed a lot of dialogue so we look forward to seeing in it English ;). We got lucky and got a good deal on a tour to the salt flat, Salar de Uyuni and national park reserve. The next three days were spent driving around in a full 4x4 jeep, stopping to take in sights , explore, etc. Our group was us , 3 French, one Brazilian, and our guide Vladimir, a local. As far as groups of random people that you are stuck with in a small vehicle for days, it was great. Evenings passed playing cards and swapping food, wine, and stories.
The area we were in was a huge salt water sea 30-40 thousand years ago. The salt flats were amazing, 11,000 square kilometers, white as far as the eye could see, 150 meters deep in some places, spotted with islands made of coral and pumice. The salt flat contains more than half the worlds lithium and extraction is bound to be increasingly important to the region's economy. The area is on the border of Bolivia and Chile, with a mountain range teeming with volcanoes separating the countries. Bordering the salt flats we saw many diverse landscapes with fields of quinoa, groups of the wild camelid Vicuna, herds of llamas, flamingos, ostriches, lakes of different colors fed by thermal waters whose different minerals allow for the different colors. Really an amazing landscape, and all of it above 4000 meters! One morning we woke up very early to watch the sun rise by lots of geysers. Amazing.
Our guide was a mechanic, cook, local expert, photographer, all around handyman. It was a great place to visit, we would definitely go there again.
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