Tunupa Volcano and the Uyuni Salt Flats Private Tour

Day 1

Train Cemetery - Colchani Village - Salar de Uyuni - Ojos del Salar - Dakar Rally Salt Statue - Former Salt Hotel Playa Blanca - Coquesa Village - Thunupa Volcano, first view point - Incahuasi Island - Sunset inside the Salar de Uyuni

You will start your journey taking curious pictures at the Train cemetery located outside Uyuni town. This place shelters dozens of old locomotives and wagons from 1890. These abandoned wagons used to transport extracted minerals from Potosí to the Pacific ocean.

Your next stop will be Colchani Village where you will find many stores selling salt souvenirs and handicrafts. In this place we will show you how locals dry and pack the salt extracted from the Uyuni Salt Flat.

Now it's time to get inside the world's largest salt flat, the "Salar de Uyuni" (10,582 square kilometers). This outstanding place will make you feel out of this world.

During the dry season (from April to November), the surface of the Salar de Uyuni has near geometric shapes formed by the salt particles agglomerated in polygons. In the rainy season (December to March) the Salar is covered with water and resembles a giant mirror.

In some parts of the salt flat you can observe the Eyes of the Salt Flat which are small streams of water that flow from the interior of the earth under the salt.

You will travel to the Thunupa Volcano. On the way you will stop at the Dakar Rally salt sculpture for some pictures. You will also have some time at Playa Blanca former salt hotel, this hotel was closed due to the environmental impact that it was having on the salt flat.

Next to the former Salt Hotel you will find a small mound with several flags from around the world. Travelers visiting the Salar de Uyuni have left these symbolic flags. We invite you to carry a flag of your country and leave it at this significant point.

You will reach the north side of the Uyuni Salt Flat where Coquesa village is located. Twenty-five families make up the original population of Coqueza, but only 12 of them are permanent residents. Coqueza community is located between the impressive Uyuni Salt Flats and the legendary Thunupa Volcano, whose highest peak reaches 5430 meters above sea level.

At the entrance of Coquesa village you will see a Salty Lagoon, home of a few pink flamencos. Livestock is abundant in the surroundings of the bofedal where a great amount of llamas is found.

You will have lunch enjoying the beautiful landscape. We will offer you as a side dish the delicious quinoa real produced in Uyuni. Quinoa was an important crop for the Inca Empire. They referred to it as the "mother of all grains" and believed it to be sacred.

After lunch you will ascend by car up the slopes of the Thunupa Volcano. On the way you will see an abandoned stone town - (Ghost Town) whose uninhabited stone houses tell about an ancient tragedy that forced the inhabitants to flee.

You will then reach the first view point of the Thunupa Volcano. You will walk through quinoa fields to reach the Chantani Mummies' cave. You will see how men, women and children were mummified and placed in sacred spots called Huacas (Mummy graves). The first view point of the Thunupa volcano features an exceptional glimpse of the Salar de Uyuni.

The expedition will continue traveling to Incahuasi Island, home of millenary giant cacti (Echinopsis atacamensis), up to 6 meters high. The Incahuasi Island is a genuine spectacle of life inside the salt desert.

You will climb Incahuasi Island and reach a viewpoint, from where you will have a 360 degree view of the Salar de Uyuni and a privileged view of the Thunupa Volcano.

Your trip would not be complete without witnessing a wonderful sunset inside the Salar de Uyuni.

The tour will conclude in Uyuni town.