Update: Check out the video at the bottom of this post!

One of the things that I have been most excited about in South America is visiting the Bolivian salt flats. Simon, Graham and I booked onto a four day jeep tour and were joined by Jamie, an ecologist from North Carolina.

Before I tell you about one of the most incredible trips we have taken so far, here is some information in case any of you want to do it in the future. I would highly suggest starting your tour in Tupiza. This is in part because it helps with acclimatisation to the altitudes the tour reaches, and also because the trip visits so many more beautiful places than if you do a shorter trip from Uyuni. The trip from Uyuni also involves a significant amoutn of time driving back along roads you have already seen, whereas this basically doesn’t happen on the Tupiza trip. We booked with Torre Tours and I only have amazing things to say about the quality of the service. The tour cost £130 each for three nights and included all of the food you could ever want. It also included a cook and a driver.

We met Roberto, our driver, just before 8 am and set off promptly. We had plenty of space in the jeep which was just as well as this was going to be a long and very bumpy ride. The first stop was at the Quebrada de Palala. These rock formations have been eroded by the elements.

We then drove along some slightly scary roads until we reached the altiplano, where thankfully things flattened out. The road took us through very poor gold-mining communities, where people can expect to pan between 15 and 30 g of gold per month. We stopped to have lunch in one of the towns, and our chef Reina had prepared a tasty Bolivian stew.

In the afternoon we stopped to take photos of lots of llamas. Llama meat is very lean and cheap. The animals are viewed as being very clean here as they only use one spot as a toilet. They are left to roam freely so farmers here use brightly coloured wool to identify their herds.

After this we visited ‘mini Macchu Picchu’, an abandoned colonial village and now the home to several chinchilla. We were now at 4690 m and it started snowing. The snow storm blew over as quickly as it had started and all of a sudden it was hot. The weather at this altitude can be crazy!

We then drove through several villages to the village of Quetena, where we were to stay for the night. The village is above 4000 m and people from other jeeps were feeling the altitude. We were all luckily feeling ok, although there was plenty of coca tea going around for those who needed it. The accommodation was surprisingly nice, and also toasty warm which was a surprise. We had another delicious meal from Reina before heading out to see the stars. We had been told that there was no light pollution here so the stars were spectacular. Sadly the moon was incredibly big and bright for the duration of this trip, so I can’t comment on that!

The next morning we had a simple breakfast before setting off for day two. The main theme for this day was lagoons, flamingoes and mountains. We visited a smelly sulphur containing lagoon before stopping at Laguna Kollpa, where soap and borax are harvested.

We then drove through the Desierto de Dali which has surreal mountains and lava formations.

From here we went to the Laguna Blanca, which was home to a large flamingo population before stopping at the Laguna Verde. Normally, the water here is a bright turquoise-green due to the wind keeping the minerals in the water in suspension. When we arrived there was no wind, but Roberto assured us that if we waited around for ten minutes it would pick up. Sure enough, ten minutes later, the water at the far side started to change colour and then slowly the whole lake turned green. The green lake is at the bottom of the Licancabur volcano, which was where the Mars Rover was tested. Apparently the conditions here are as close to Martian as possible – low air pressure, high winds, extreme temperatures and rocky terrain!

Once we had taken lots of photos of the green lake we went to the Polques hot springs to have lunch and bathe in the hot water.

We then stopped to see some fumaroles and geysers. We had previously visited some in New Zealand, but the total lack of health and safety in Bolivia made this time much more exciting (it was also disgustingly smelly from all the sulphur).

On the way to our accommodation for the night we drove over the high point of the trip at just under 5000 m. We then dropped our bags off before visiting the Laguna Colorada. This lake is a fiery red due to the plankton and algae in the water. It is also home to a lot of flamingoes.

The accommodation for the second night was much more basic and FREEZING cold. I had thermal everything on, a jumper, wooly hat, sleeping bag liner, fleecy sleeping bag and two blankets and I was still cold. Before going to bed we introduced Jamie to some of the card games we have been playing along the way.

On day three the first stop was the Desert de Siloli. Here the rocks have been eroded over time to leave some amazing formations.

At this point I think its worth pointing out that none of this trip is on a road. At best, the drivers follow tracks. Sometimes there are multiple tracks heading in all directions to the horizon. As far as I can tell, the drivers just pick one and follow it as they all join up again at some point in the future. At least I hope they do!! The drivers were also obsessed with ‘checking’ the cars. Every time they stopped they would tighten up the wheel nuts and look at the engines. Our jeep seemed to get more attention than most!

We visited another four lakes, where they harvest borax and salt and yes are also home to lots of flamingoes. At one of the lakes we were lucky to see an andean fox. We also passed lots of vicuna, which are beautiful but also very skittish so we have no photos.

Our lunch stop was in the most Martian scenery so far!

We then stopped to take photos of an active volcano, and to play in the amazing rock formations. We all kept forgetting how high up we were and were ambitious in what we decided to climb. We would then be left gasping for breath after a little bit of exertion!

Our final night was spent in the Salt Hotel. Almost everything was made out of salt (they had a very strict no liquids in rooms policy!). This place also had a HOT SHOWER! There was only one shower though, so everyone had to buy a ticket and stand in a very long queue. Luckily the brilliant Roberto had planned for this and ensured we were at the hotel first.

On the final day we arrived at the Salar de Uyuni. These salt flats are the largest in the world at 12 500 km2. They are also pretty high up at 3650 m. We set off at 05:30 in order to see the sunrise, driving for a very long way across nothingness. I was impressed previously by Robertos navigational skills, but this was amazing. Just driving through nothing in the dark for almost an hour, before stopping at the perfect spot just before the sun came up.

It was rather chilly, but incredibly beautiful, and totally worth the early start. We played a game of football to keep warm (again forgetting about the lack of oxygen). Roberto then got into photo taking and got some great shots for us.

After this it was time for breakfast at the Isla Incahuasi, a rock formation with more than 6000 cacti. we then set off for a stroll before being picked up by Roberto and driving to the perfect place for ‘fotos locos’ or crazy photos. I will post one of these below, and put the rest in a separate blog post.

Bolivia has the most incredible scenery. We drove for four days through a constantly changing landscape and hardly passed any civilisation. This trip has to be one the highlights of the past year – amazing!

• Salt Flats