Salar de Uyuni, Bolivia

Salar de Uyuni, Bolivia
Credit: Ezequiel Cabrera

The world’s largest salt flat, Salar de Uyuni, is located in Southwest Bolivia. At 10,582 square kilometers (4,085 square miles), the Salar de Uyuni becomes the world’s largest mirror when covered in water.

If this fascinating phenomenon alone wasn’t enough to entice tourists to visit, there is also an antique train cemetery in the area, 3km outside the town of Uyuni.

Because the Salar de Uyuni is so flat, NASA is able to utilize it to calibrate some of their satellites.

While the Salar de Uyuni itself is devoid of wildlife, it is used as the breeding grounds for some species of pink South American flamingos once a year in November. There are hotels for tourists nearby and they are almost all built out of salt blocks, including the furniture.

Salar de Uyuni, Bolivia
Credit: Daniel Perez
Salar de Uyuni, Bolivia
Credit: Luca Galuzzi

9 thoughts on “Salar de Uyuni, Bolivia

  1. I wonder if deer go there to lick the salt

    or cows

    or rabbits, rabbits like licking salt too

    i even like to lick salt sometimes

    what if we filled the flats with tequila? the world’s largest margarita?

  2. hey i go there and drift around my honda all the time….its even better when there is water to puddle around in …

    1. I guess it depends on when you are cycling there. The wet season might be not really bike friendly…

    1. When is the time for the lake a little bit of water not all dry?
      We re planning a trip to Bolivia from Turkey , I couldn’t find more information about this lake.
      Thank you

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