Uyuni Salt Flats & Atacama
Desert & Altiplano, Chile - Bolivia
The Areas We Explore
This Travesía is articulated around our high-altitude remote lodging, each of which determines the respective exploration zone, using the Explora lodge in Atacama as either a starting point or destination.
Chituca
Chituca was once a shepherding settlement, boasting impressive views of both the Altiplano and the salt flat. This mountain home offers excellent opportunities
to further discover the cultural landscapes around it, exploring local villages while also delving further into archaeological understanding. Explorations take
different shapes and durations: one option is to follow the shepherds’ paths, once used by the area’s original inhabitants as trading routes with other
villages. Another alternative is to visit the secluded village of San Pedro de Quemes, an old Spanish settlement with panoramic views of the Altiplano and salt flat, exploring archaeological sites and human settlements that use quinoa cultivation as a main source of income.
Ramaditas
It is a rare thing to experience silence on a planet where it seems to have become extinct. High up in the Altiplano the only sounds you are able to hear are those of nature herself: the whistle of the wind, the cry of a baby alpaca in the distance, or the crunch of dry earth beneath your every footstep. We invite our travelers to stay in the Altiplano area for as long a possible, so as to reacquaint with a slower pace of mind and body which is rarely found elsewhere.
Explorations in Ramaditas >Lodge Uyuni
Our final lodge is on the border of the Uyuni salt flat, the largest and highest salt flat on Earth. This lodge is located on the slopes of the Tunupa volcano, named after the Andean god of lightning, in whose honor the area’s original inhabitants celebrated countless sacrifices and rituals. The lodge allows travelers to fully
appreciate the sheer immensity of Uyuni. For those yearning for a bit more of adventure, climbing the multicolored Tunupa volcano will take you to 17,822 f.a.s.l.
A less extreme but equally interesting alternative is to circle the volcano
from below, visiting the villages, wetlands and archaeological sites that surround it.
