SUD-LÍPEZ

Circuit from Uyuni

The proposed circuit is the classic itinerary realized by the agencies of Uyuni, which gathers the most beautiful sites of the region: 3 days of unforgettable journey. You can ask to do it in the opposite direction with an additional night (more expensive). It is preferable to finish with the Salar and not with the Villa Alota - Uyuni route, which is of no interest at the end of the trip.

The groups are generally made up of 6 people. Your agency will place you with travelers with the same profile. Lodgings are precarious almost everywhere for small budgets, but the comfort increases with the influx of tourists. However, do not expect luxury! At best you will sleep in a room for 2 and at worst in large dormitories for 8 people, without heating. It is necessary to bring a good sleeping bag. The lunch, cold, is usually prepared by your driver and taken on the road during the stages. Hot meals are served in the evening in the refuges. Today, there are several medium and high category hotels that will satisfy the more demanding travelers (private sanitary facilities, hot water, etc.).

Day 1: Departure from Uyuni early in the morning. Visit of the Salar de Uyuni and its islands of Pescado or Incahuasi. Arrival in Coquesa (north of the Salar) or San Juan de Rosario (south) in the late afternoon. Night in a refuge near the Salar.

Day 2. Departure as soon as possible to arrive at the Laguna Colorada in the late afternoon. The entry in the South-Lípez constitutes an apotheosis. After 10 minutes of travel, the alignment of volcanoes that surrounds the South-Lípez offers you its colors, gray, silver, white and red: a splendid panorama.

The beginning of the route passes by the salt desert of Chiguana. The next half hour brings you to the first lagoon, Cañapa. The next 2 hours of the trip are interspersed with other lagoons with greenish colors (Hedionda, Tiercota and Honda). The lagoon Hedionda is the den of the pink flamingos (superb photos assured). Then follows a huge desert esplanade, the Siloli desert, and then towards the Agua de Perdiz mountain which presents blue and green tones in the hollow of its rocky formation. Its name means "partridge water mountain", which is as surreal as the scenery that currently surrounds you.

Suddenly, from the horizon, a conical mountain appears and, in its hollow, the Laguna Colorada! Here, you will have to pay the entrance fee of the Andean fauna reserve Eduardo Avaroa.

Night in a dormitory in a refuge, most often the one of Huayllajara, where you will find small stores selling cookies, drinks and alcohol and even hot showers.

Day 3. You have to get up early once again. One hour from Laguna Colorada, we discover the geysers Sol de Mañana (4 850 m). About an hour later, the splendid Laguna Challviri is discovered. After Challviri, the Dalí desert extends. To close the route in beauty, here is the Laguna Verde, the green diamond of Bolivia that the Chilean agencies have long presented as their property. You are at more than 4 300 m of altitude, dazzled by the metamorphosis of the waters at 10 am. Behind you stands the Licancabur volcano (5 920 m).

Return to Uyuni by the same route to Villa Alota, then San Cristobal. Then you cross the valley of rocks and other geological curiosities; then, finally, Uyuni.

Ofcourse, you can do longer tours, including an overnight stay on the Salar, climbing a volcano (Tunupa, Licancabur, etc.), visiting San Pedro de Atacama in Chile, or continuing north to the Salar de Coipasa and the Sajama National Park.

Circuit from Tupiza

This route allows to avoid the classic loop which consists in repeating a part of the itinerary and then turning off via Alota, the least interesting of the circuit.

Day 1: Head west to El Sillar, San Pablo de Lípez and Laguna Morejon. This route gives you the opportunity to experience the South of Lípez far from the touristy tracks (even if all the travelers have passed on the information). You will pass through villages of another age, pass a high pass (at almost 5,000 m) on the slopes of the Uturuncu volcano (6,008 m), rich in condors and eagles. Night in Quetena Grande (4,200 m) before joining the classic circuit.

Day 2. Direction the desert of Dalí, then the volcano Licancabur (5 920 m), the Laguna Verde while going up towards the thermal baths and the geysers Sol de Mañana. Then we reach the Laguna Colorada and its colony of flamingos. Night and sunset in Huayllajara (4 320 m).

Day 3. Sunrise on the Laguna Colorada, then direction the Siloli desert and the stone tree. You will then see 4 magnificent lagoons coiled at the foot of the volcano Ollagüe (5 868 m): the Lagunas Hedionda, Chiarkota, Cañapa and Negra. We take the time to admire the Salar de Chiguana and the old railroad linking Bolivia to Chile, then we go to the mirador of the volcano Ollagüe. Night in Atullcha. Possibility to visit also the Gruta de las Galaxias, an incredible natural formation.

Day 4. We finish with the apotheosis of the Salar of Uyuni and the Isla Incahuasi.

Several other options are possible: an extra day at the beginning of the tour to visit Guadalupe and the Ciudad Roma, and to discover the Laguna Celeste; 3 extra days to the Salar de Coipasa, and then the Sajama National Park.