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The Uyuni Salt Flat (Salar de Uyuni) is located in the Potosí and Oruro departments in the Southweast of Bolivia, near the crest of the Andes. It is not only considered the world's largest salt flat but when it's cold and wet it's also the largest natural mirror on the planet. It sits at 3,653 meters above sea level, extends across 10,582 km2 (4,085 square miles) and has a 9 million ton reserve of lithium and other minerals such as halite and gypsum.
 Salar de Uyuni is estimated to contain 10 billion tons of salt, of which less than 25,000 tons is extracted annually. All miners working in the Salar belong to Colchani's cooperative. Every November, Salar de Uyuni is also the breeding grounds for three species of South American flamingos: the Chilean, James's and Andean flamingos. It also has a cactus forest that is a breathtaking place for photography and landscape observation.
A great tourist destination; highlights include a salt hotel and several so-called islands. As it is so flat it serves as a major transport route across the Bolivian Altiplano. The semi-desert and volcanic region involves economic importance and extraordinary landscapes of natural beauty. The Uyuni Salt Flat, Green, Yellow, and Light Blue “Coloured Lagoons” are the greatest attractions in this region. There are also spectacular geysers, rock formations, and volcanic wells that take visitors back to those times when the Earth was being created.
Driving in the middle of this salt lake is an extraordinary experience, especially during the winter, when the intense blue of the sky contrasts drastically with the brilliant white salt. A “white-out” effect is produced when it is cloudy, causing the horizons to disappear which makes almost impossible to differ land from sky. Formation Some 40,000 years ago, the area was part of Lake Minchin, a giant prehistoric lake. When the lake dried, it left behind two modern lakes, Poopó Lake and Uru Uru Lake, and two major salt deserts, Salar de Coipasa and the larger Uyuni. Uyuni is roughly 25 times the size of the Bonneville Salt Flats in the United States. Millennia of wet and arid periods on the Altiplano are recorded in the thick Quaternary lake sediment of the salar. Accordingly, the Salar de Uyuni continues to be the focus of paleoclimate efforts by researchers worldwide. One such example is the presence of coral within limestone beneath a paleo-lakeshore terrace.  Although the salar itself is incredibly barren, nearby to the west, along the Bolivian-Chilean border, lurks a geologically active landscape characterized by major volcanoes of the late Cenozoic magmatic arc cresting above colourful brine lakes. Active hydrothermal systems are evident by numerous mudpots, geysers, and geothermal springs, providing a stark dichotomy with the frigid climate. In addition, an expansive, flat "Martian" landscape, adorned intermittently with irregularly-shaped wind-eroded boulders, exists between the volcanic peaks. NASA has utilized the extreme environment of the salars and its environs, with respect to landscape, altitude, and climate, in its quest to discover the origin of early life on Earth and on other planets.
Due to its large size, smooth surface, high surface reflectivity when covered with shallow water, and minimal elevation deviation, Salar de Uyuni makes an ideal target for the testing and calibration of remote sensing instruments on orbiting satellites used to study the Earth. In addition to providing an excellent target surface the skies above Salar de Uyuni are so clear, and the air so dry, that the surface works up to five times better for satellite calibration than using the surface of the ocean. In September of 2002 a team took detailed GPS elevation measurements of a portion of the salt flats. This GPS data was then compared to the data from several ICESat passes over the area were used to evaluate the accuracy and precision of ICESat's instruments. Places of interest
Uyuni Village, here you will find a “train cemetery”, which features railroad machinery that dates back to 1890. Pulacayo, located at 22 km away from Uyuni. At the end of the 19th century it was the most important silver production centre in the country. Colchani or “Dry Port”, it is the main access to the Great Salt Flat, because it is located on its banks. Intense undeveloped salt extraction can be observed from this village. Eduardo Avaroa National Reserve, located at the South of the department of Potosí, it holds some extraordinary coloured lagoons: Red Lagoon and Green Lagoon, some geysers, and geothermic wells of surprising shapes and a diversity of flora (102 species). This incredible ecosystem allows the appreciation of interesting endemic fauna such as the “Soca Cornuda” and the “James Flamenco” that live among a variety of Andean and Chilean flamencos. Isla Pescado (Fish Isle) or Cujiri Island, located at 74 km away from Colchani. It is in the middle of the salt flat and it is an exhibition of picturesque rock landscapes. The granite and organic earth allowed the growth of giant cactus here. They are approximately 6 meters high and have developed an interesting ecosystem. It is one of the best places for picture taking on the island as well as the entire Salt Flat desert. Incahuasi Isle, best known as the Island of Fishermen, it is formed on top of volcanic remains of petrified calyx Tiwanaku archaeological sites, 2 Inca ruins, 30 caverns and 12 natural tunnels have been identified on the isle. So if for your next holidays you are thinking on finding a peaceful place, rich in nature and interesting and breathtaking scenarios Salar de Uyuni should be your next destination.
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