![]() ![]() What to pack when exploring the salt flats What this means for the future of the Bolivian Salar de Uyuni is anyone’s guess. When we recently visited, it was confirmed to us by government officials that the previously halted plans to build Lithium factories had been approved. Altitude and arid air evaporated the water, leaving behind a thick crust of salt beneath which lies 70% of the world’s Lithium reserves, a crucial building block in electric batteries.Īs demand for rechargeable batteries grows, so does the need for Lithium. Thirty thousand years ago, the Salar was an enormous lake. She floods the plain with milk to ensure the child has enough to eat.Īs enticing as these fables are, the true facts about the Salar de Uyuni and how it came to be might be even more interesting. Another popular tale speaks of the mountain goddess Yana Pollera sending her child away as two suitors (Thunupa and Q’osqo) fight over paternity. Her tears and breastmilk mingled creating the Salar de Uyuni. Many a tale has been spun about the origins of the Salar, they seem to have one thing in common, the protagonist is seemingly always a heartbroken mother.Īccording to Aymaran legend, the goddess Tunupa was left by her husband Kusku while breastfeeding their child. ![]() ![]() The Hedionda Lagoon strongly smells of sulfur and the Red Lagoon is bloody red because of the algae.According to legend, the mountains surrounding the Bolivian salt flats were once giant people. Each of lagoons has a distinct colour, which is due to different chemicals or algae in the water. All are part of the Eduardo Avaroa National Reserve National Park and are inhabited by three species of flamingos. Next, what awaited us were the lagoons (Cañapa, Hedionda, Chiarcota and Red Lagoon). On the way, we stopped at the small desert of Chiguan, surrounded by many volcanoes, some of them reaching the height of 5840m – the Ollague volcano. However, the sun warmed up the land relatively quickly and so we welcomed every stop and the opportunity it provided to stretch our legs and admire the singular landscape of the Andes Mountains in Bolivia. But the morning was very frosty and the old Land Cruiser didn’t provide very good conditions for warming up. We spent the night at a pleasant hotel, built for tourists not far from the Uyuni Salt Flats, which was made of salt blocks. ![]()
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