Bolivia and Chile Photography Tour: Uyuni Salt Flats to the Atacama Desert

Having landed at El Alto International Airport, you’ll be transferred to our hotel in the heart of La Paz, La Casona Boutique.

This first day is spent at leisure, acclimatizing to the altitude. We stress that the majority of this tour takes over 12,000 feet, and getting used to this altitude can be taxing. In fact, we recommend flying into La Paz a day early to make sure you’re ready to make the most of your expedition.

Today, you’ll take a tour of La Paz, The highest city in the world, nestled in the glacial peaks of the Cordillera Real at 12,000 feet.

In the morning you’ll visit the famous witch markets, and soak in the city’s unique architecture and vibrant cultures. For lunch, you’ll stop at a local restaurant before visiting some of the elevated viewpoints of the city and surrounding mountains. Dinner will be held at Gusto, considered among the top 50 restaurants in all of Latin America.

A short flight to Uyuni, before your first foray onto the salt flats. Once landed, you’ll begin with a short tour of a famed train cemetery and hear the history of the mining industries of the region, before heading to a salt-ming village, Colchani, to see how salt is produced by locals today.

You’ll finish the day driving out into the great Uyuni Salt Flats for the surreal Icahuasi Island, a mound of ancient coral. The bizarre vantage point offers an incredible view of the flats.

After a short drive, you’ll watch sunset in the middle of the unending expanse of the salt flats, then return to Colchani for dinner at your accommodation for the night, a hotel made from salt bricks.

Finally, you’ll have one more excursion to the salt flats and see your first opportunity for astrophotography. Perhaps the most enticing aspect of Bolivia photography tours is the opportunities for astrophotography.  From the Uyuni Salt Flats you’ll enjoy a crystalline view of the stars and with any luck, the Milky Way.

An early morning pick-up will have you on the flats to capture shots at dawn. A quick breakfast back at the hotel, then you’ll visit a Coquesa community at the foot of the Tunupa volcano.

Magnificent views of the volcanic cone and the immensity of the salt flats are framed by fields of quinoa and herds of alpacas and llamas. You’ll hike the volcanic hills to a burial cave where you’ll find catacombs filled with mummies perfectly preserved by the dry environment and high altitude.

From there you’ll travel to a number of vantage point where you can really appreciate the vivid colors of the terrain and their contrast against the vast whiteness of the flats. You’ll have lunch out on the flats before returning to the hotel for some free time.

This will be your last chance to capture any last shots of the Uyuni Salt Flats. The flats are truly a one of a kind destination for Bolivia Photography tours, and there are very few places on the planet that allow photographers to experiment with perspective and scale in the same way. The schedule will be flexible, allowing you to choose what you’d like to visit the most and the shots you’d like to take.There will also be an optional night tour to the flats available for those keen for one last visit.

Today, you’ll move on from the Flats and Colchani to the Eduardo Avaroa Andean Fauna National Reserve. This epic landscape of the area contains volcanoes, deserts, lagoons, and unique Andean wildlife.

By the side of one of the reserve’s multicolored lagoons, with flamingos flocking overhead, you’ll picnic for lunch, then continue your journey to Siloli Desert. There, you’ll photograph the distinct rock formations carved by milenia of wind erosion.

You’ll end your day visiting the Laguna Colorada with its rich red waters. Your accommodation for the night is a remote eco-lodge nestled in Southern Bolivia’s staggering mountains-capes.

Another day spent on the road, as your journey continues to the southern borders of Bolivia and you explore the Lipez region. There’s plenty of incredible viewpoints to stop at along the way and you’ll also have a chance to photograph Sol de manaña.

Then, on to the thermal springs of Polques where you can enjoy a soak in the hot pools. After, you’ll head to your accommodation for the night in Vilamar, a hotel built in a system of caves.

So begins the second half of your Bolivia and Chile Photography tour! Early in the morning you’ll travel through the Dali Desert, of course taking ample photo stops, as you travel to the Green Lagoon at the foot of the Licancabur Volcano. Having taken in the views, and the chance to relax by the turquoise waters of the lagoon, the group will move on to the border crossing of Hito Cajon.

Having completed your journey, you’ll take lunch at your lodging in the town of San Pedro. In the afternoon you’ll visit the out of this world rock formations of the Valley of the Moon and woitness your first Chilean sunset.

On your final full day together, you’ll take breakfast to go this morning, driving to the Laguna Chaxa for a sunrise shoot. You’ll continue your exploration of the Chilean Altiplano with a tour of the highland lagoons Meniques and Miscanti, each with their own beautiful views of the volcanoes above and the atacama regions below.

Your tour of the lagoons will end with sunset photos of the mountains over the desert, then you’ll return to town for dinner. At night you’ll have a final excursion to take astrophotography of the Atacama’s dark skies and a triip to the world-famous high altitude ALMA observatory. This has to be one of the highlights of any Chile Photography tour.

The final day of your Bolivia and Chile Photography tours is here. For your final morning there will be the option to join for a sunrise photo shoot in the Cordillera de Sal. After which you’ll return to your hotel for breakfast and take your pre-arranged transfer to Calama airport for your flight home.