Salinas Grandes

Due to the political unrest in Bolivia, we chose not to go to the Uyuni salt flats as we originally wanted, but luckily Argentina has their own salt flats! Not as big but still really impressive.

It was a long, windy road an hour from town, up and up the mountain. We offered to take two Argentine college students who we shared a fun conversation about travels, their studies in sociology and of course my never-ending questions about mate.

Then finally we made it. Miles of white salt that looked like snow, beautiful turquoise water in the natural pools, and crazy reflections in the puddles from the previous day’s rainfall. It was magical.

For just $5, we got a guided tour that allowed us to drive out onto the salt flats. From there we learned a little about the ancient lake, and how the local community uses the salt today - as salt licks for livestock, for industrial purposes and for cooking (good thing we know more Spanish now as the guide spoke no English!).

At 12,000 feet in elevation, it gave us both a bit of a headache, especially with the sun beating down.

At one point we all got out of our cars to walk single file along the salt to see a natural pool. Not sure why we needed to be so cautious, until a guy’s foot went right through the salt! It wasn’t so bad but he did have to get some bandaids as the salt is quite sharp, it turns out. Lesson learned - follow the guide!

But the tour was so worth it as we also got to be further from the crowds to take in all the beautiful views, along with a few hundred silly photos. 😜Read more