What to pack for a Bolivian Salt Flats tourPosted by Aitor Mercero on July 1st, 2016 Travelling to a remote place like Salar de Uyuni may be a lifetime and unforgettable experience, but in order to fully enjoy your tour you should plan in advance and know what you should pack.
Salar de Uyuni delights us with awe inspiring and unmatchable landscapes which bring us the opportunity to take a lot of creative photos and play with perspective and depth of field. You will also find wildlife such as llamas, vicuñas or flamingos. And when the sun goes down the views are truly something remarkable not only to keep in mind but to portray for the posterity. You won’t want to stop taking photos, seriously. So you will not want to end up with dead batteries by surprise.
Related to the previous point, good photos need good preparation in advance, so don’t forget to bring props you may consider necessary such as a tripod for still photography. Additionally, you will not want to run out of memory. Yup, you will be recording videos and taking tons of photos, so bring some SD cards to boost your camera or smartphone memory. Camera choice is an important one, so bring the best one you have and take advantage of it. Nowadays we have wonderful smartphone cameras out there, but be aware of bringing a portable battery charger (we all know how fast those screens can drain batteries).
When it’s time of rainy season, the mirror effect is something surely to admire, but that’s due to large amounts of water covering the salt flats. So bringing some boots for the water is a good idea. In case you are wondering when is the best time to travel and which the advantages and disadvantages between the dry and rainy seasons are, you can read our tips in this other article.
Taking care of skin is a healthy and essential practice. We are talking of 5.000 metres of altitude, so don’t underestimate the power of the Sun. In Salar de Uyuni the sun hits stronger than you may be used to, so take a protective sunscreen (with a minimum of a +50 Sun Protection Factor) and don’t forget your sunglasses, as the Sun reflects in the salar and may harm your vision.
It can be very cold up here in Winter, with temperatures between −9 and 5 °C in the months from June to September, and drops up to -20 °C at night. Make sure to bring warm clothes, including hiking boots, scarf, warm socks, gloves and thermal shirt and, of course, your warmest coat. You will also want to be prepared to fight the cold and sleep comfortably at nights.
We will always do our better to provide you with nice local food, but in case you are willing to eat something else that you think we cannot provide due to the circumstances, it’s not a bad idea to bring some snacks, refreshing drinks/water jug or food of your choice.
You will see a lot of wildlife living in its natural habitat such as pink flamingos, vicuñas, llamas and alpacas. While we will try to get as close as we can, is not a bad idea to have a pair of binoculars to quietly watch them behaving in a natural way from a distance.
The towel can be just about the most massively useful thing any interstellar hitchhiker can carry according to the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. It even has its own day, the Towel Day which is held every 25 of May. And while we are not going so far away as to talk about interstellar travels, the truth is that is an item of considerable value after having a shower or bathe in hot springs. So yeah, don’t forget a small towel at home or you will regret it.
At night, the Salar can be VERY cold, and even though we will sleep at hotels/communities where some blankets will be provided,some extra warm is always welcomed. If you are willing to venture forth you can take a look and book safe and reliable Salar de Uyuni Tours in Banjo Tours. Like it? Share it! |
