What days of the year can I make this excursion?
The tour has confirmed departures all days of the week, the whole year.
If you cancel your reservation up to 15 days before the start of the activity, we will refund you 100% of the reservation payment. No refunds will be issued on cancellation requests received after the indicated anticipation.
You can reschedule your booking without any additional cost until 15 days before the beginning of the activiity.
Uyuni Salt Flat tour, starting in Uyuni and ending in Atacama. Includes transportation, hostels accommodation and meals.
*Despite the 4x4 vehicle has space for 6 passengers plus the driver/guide, the last seat of the vehicle is narrow, so in case you want comfort for all the passengers, our suggestion is to make the tour in two groups of 3 people each (two separated bookings).
*If you have doubts about the proceedings to the enter to the country due to the pandemic, you can check the requirements in this website.
Start: Day 1 at 10:00 am at your hotel in Uyuni.
End: Day 3 at 1:00 pm at the bus station or downtown San Pedro de Atacama (this end time could be modified due to weather conditions or force majeure reasons, which is why we recommend you leaving San Pedro de Atacama the day after the end date of the tour).
Day 1: We will pick you up at your hotel to leave Uyuni taking the direction to the salt flat, even though, first we will visit the train cemetery outside the city. Just before entering to the Uyuni Salt Flat, we will pass by the town of Colchani, where we will have access to different craftwork, mainly made with salt. After that, we will travel through the salt flat in our vehicle, passing by the Dakar Monument and the Salt Museum, until getting to the Incahuasi Island. This rock formation has a lot of giant cactus and we can get to the top of it going over the marked track. From the highest part of the island, we will have a very good perspective of the greatness of the salt flat. After that, we will wait the sunset to see the phenomenon in a privileged place, before leaving the salt flat to Colcha K, where we will have dinner and rest our first night.
Day 2: We will leave early from San Juan del Rosario to continue the route through San Agustín and Villa Alota. This is because we will visit the tourist attractions of this part of the mountain range, beginning by the Anaconda Canyon. Here, we will stop in the viewpoint and we will take some pictures of the particular shape that has the river in the bottom of the canyon. Then, we will visit the Vinto Lagoon and Italia Perdida, a place full of rocks with different shapes and sizes in which we will be able to take varied pictures. After that, we will go to Huayllajara, where we will have our dinner and then we can get some rest of the itinerary of the day.
Day 3: We will leave early in the morning to visit the Colorada Lagoon. Here we will stop a moment to enjoy how quit is this landscape and be able to take some picture to have a good memory of this moment. We will also pass by the Sol de Mañana Geysers and the Polques Hot Springs. The route includes the visit to the Blanca and Verde lagoons. Then, we will continue to the border with Chile, to make the procedures and continue to San Pedro de Atacama, where we will end our tour.
Altiplano winter
During the months from January to April, it takes place the weather phenomenon known as Altiplano winter, rain season in the central Andes. Due to this, is is possible that the described itinerary is modified as follows:
Force majeure changes
These are reference itineraries. 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, road conditions, demonstrations and accommodations 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 some 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.
It depends on the passenger’s nationality. Passengers from Chile and the rest of South America, and passengers from Western Europe do not need tourist visa, while the passengers from United States, Central America, Asia and Africa do need tourist visa, which price is US$ 100 or US$ 160 according to the country (you can check the price per country here). The visa is obtained directly in the border, where along with the payment of the visa in cash (bolivianos or US dollars in good condition), the passengers will have to present their passport and two wallet-size photographs. In case you are a foreign person resident in Chile, besides your passport, you should take your ID card, so you can prove your residence to the police authorities in customs.
The activity is made on a minibus in Chile and on a 4x4 (Toyota Land Cruiser) in Bolivia, with capacity of maximum 6 people each.
Hostels have private double room, with private bathroom, hot shower and heating in common areas.
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.
In Toconao Street, in San Pedro de Atacama (intersection with Caracoles Street), you will be able to find some exchange offices where you can obtain bolivianos to take for the tour.
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, but only in English. The English-speaking driver service has an additional cost of US$ 150 per group. You can select it as an optional service during the booking process.
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