Overview
This natural wonder absolutely must be visited during the wet season. Our South America tour fell during the dry season, so that's when we went. It was still impressive, but there's no comparison to the flooded mirror effect. They'd actually tried to wet a section artificially, bringing in machinery to scrape and flood a small area, but it honestly felt like they were trying to fool us. The setting was still beautiful, but "still nice" versus "the best thing I've ever seen" is no real contest. Late November should normally bring some rainfall, but thanks to climate change, it hadn't arrived in time.
Getting There
The sleeper buses we took to get here were possibly the most comfortable transportation of our entire tour. The 9-10 hour journey from La Paz flew by. Why aren't these used more widely around the world? They were perfect.
What to See
The entry into Uyuni from the middle of nowhere is sudden. Everything turns pure white at once. Even without the wet season, the landscape is fantastical. There's a faint salty smell. The salt makes vehicles slide; even our 4x4 was noticeably affected.
Uyuni is reportedly 1.5 times the size of the Sea of Marmara. It's also a massive lithium deposit operated by the Chinese. Some say this was one of the key reasons the US supported the overthrow of Evo Morales (though this remains a contested political claim, not established fact).
We stayed at a place called Cielo & Sal, a hotel built entirely from salt blocks. Don't set your expectations too high though. It's basically a standard hotel that happens to be made of salt, without any real added experience from the salt concept itself.
Tour groups stop for lunch in the dead center, setting up tents and preparing food next to the jeeps. There are obviously no restaurants.
The surface resembles a honeycomb pattern of pentagons and hexagons. There's a tourist photo area with dinosaur and monster props, silly but entertaining.
In the middle of the salt flat sits Isla Incahuasi, a large island covered entirely in cacti. How this kind of ecosystem survived in such a saline environment is genuinely astonishing. There's even a small facility on the island. If you visit, try the Uyuni beers. They genuinely taste slightly salty. The cactus seeds were originally brought by flamingos, after which they grew prolifically.
Tips & Advice
If you're continuing toward the Chilean border from here, an adventurous road with stunning scenery awaits. The road starts paved but turns to dirt track for 1-2 hours. 4x4 is essentially required. Plenty of road construction, some stretches with no road at all. The Parque del Desierto de Piedra section features a half-desert, half-volcanic-rock landscape. Llama-like animals are abundant along the roads. Volcan Ollagque in particular looked like a seriously active volcano.
Beautiful scenery throughout, but definitely visit during wet season.