Eduardo Avaroa Reserve can be visited as part of an expedition to Salar de Uyuni. If we would like to see only the largest salt desert – 1/2 day is enough. While choosing the entire package, together with Eduardo Avaroa we take into account 3 days of sightseeing.
Travelling through the salt desert and the surrounding area can be done by yourself or with the Travel Agency. All expeditions start from the village Uyuni. The self-travel is reserved for daredevils who are very well-prepared for it. There is a lot of people who wish to explore which causes congestion at stops and sightseeing. You can ask the Travel Agency for a three-day tour in the opposite direction – that is clockwise.
We spend the nights in the local “hotels”. Most of them resemble a barrack, without heating, electricity and hot water. You should be prepared for modest conditions. Choosing a 3-day trip we visit Salar de Uyuni and around. The first night most tourists spend in a “salt hotel” where everything is made of salt. Starting with bricks, tables, chairs on the bed ends. In such hotels you can still recharge the phone, take a shower. If you have the opportunity, you should use all of that because in the rest places there might be not such luxuries. Most travel agency provide board that is incredibly tasty. They are mainly prepared by the local people that give us lodging for the night.
The date of expedition on Salar de Uyuni depends on what form of landscape we want to see. If we go in dry season, from May to November, we will find endless white salt. If we want to experience the mirror water effect, we choose the rainy season.
Temperatures during the day covered by about 15 C, which means that despite the sunny weather it is brisk. However, the weather can be extremely capricious. When the sun sets and the weather additionally serves a cold wind – it gets freezing. At night, the temperature is able to drop to -20 C. Therefore, it’s worth taking a down sleeping bag, a hat, gloves, a shawl and warm clothing. It is also one of the requirements when we buy a trip through the Travel Agency. You can also rent a sleeping bag from the organizers, as well as other necessary things, there is no need to bring them back with you. An extremely important element that we should have are sunglasses whit dark UV filters. White surface in the dry season that reflects the sun rays can transform into the so-called snow blindness with eye pain and bad visibility.
Zdjęcie wykonane przez Vinci Palad
It is worth going out for a moment from a warm sleeping bag to admire the sky full of stars. Due to the fact that there is a lack of lighting on a large scale – observing the sky is available for an amazing experience. Stars embrace the brighter and closer to the point that he wants to be more than one of them to grab and hide as a souvenir to the pocket. We can see the constellations of the zodiac signs in the sky or see where the Milky Way flows.
The desert of salt is one of the most flat areas in the world (the difference in elevation is 41 cm), making this place ideal for calibrating GPS devices and measuring distances from satellites. It is also a great place to have a fun with perspective. There is no reference point in the desert, so we lose orientation and change perspective. Everything seems to be closer than in reality. Difficult to distinguish the moving points in the distance. Photos enriched with additional gadgets give them a funny character. It is worth asking for help from the guide – they know this game so good that even when you give them equipment which they haven”t know before they will do perfect shots. They often offer interesting ideas. Our guide Jose went on and made the following video ;-).
Most trips return to the place from which they took off – Uyuni. However, you can travel to the border with Chile. This is a very good option for those who want to say goodbye to Bolivia in favor of Chile or to head towards Peru. We decided to return to Peru through Chile, contrary to appearances, this is the fastest way to return.
Border crossing deviates from our imaginations, because it is an ordinary shed in which stamps are stamped into passports. Watch out for minor frauds in the form of “required” to pay tax. After crossing the border, we head 40 km further to the nearest city of San Pedro Atacama, where there is a checkpoint on the Chilean side.
But that’s another new story 😉
