El Uyuni Salt Flats It is an astonishing and vast salt desert located in southwestern Bolivia, in the Potosí region. This natural wonder is the largest salt flat in the world, covering approximately 10,000 square kilometers. It also contains the world's largest lithium reserve. Thousands of tourists travel to this salar during the year.
In this article we are going to tell you about the characteristics of the Salar de Uyuni, its importance and curiosities.
Key features
Located in the Bolivian altiplano, in the Andes. It is considered one of the 25 Natural Wonders of the Earth. It is the largest salt desert on earth with an area of 10.500 square kilometers. For those interested in deserts, you can read more about the Atacama Desert.
The salt flats are composed of various compounds, for example: they contain large amounts of potassium, boron and magnesium, and they also have large reserves of lithium. The salt flats contain more than 10.000 million tons of salt, of which 25.000 tons are available for internal and external consumption.
With such abundant salt reserves, residents began building parts of their communities with salt provided by Uyuni. It has also become one of the world's largest reserves of lithium, a fundamental resource for current technology and the energy transition. This aspect makes it a point of interest similar to the topic of salt mines in other regions.
The salt flats have a large number of prehistoric lakes. With an area of 60 square kilometers, Lake Colorado is formed by algae and has a distinctive reddish color.
This lagoon is home to flamingos, llamas, and foxes. Pumas and bald eagles are rarely seen. The waters are located within the Eduardo Avaroa Andean Fauna National Reserve and are a popular spot for nature lovers.
The vast salt flats are constantly breathing, forming perfectly shaped hexagonal stones, which are visible during the season from April to early December. Some believe that the countryside is constantly changing or drying up.
At the end of the rainy season (February-March), the salt pans are transformed into a mirror thanks to a mineral called Ulexite, the "television stone". It is transparent and has the ability to refract superficial images.
The salt becomes impermeable, causing water to collect on the surface, creating a unique mirror. Seeing the sunrise in the enormous reflections created by the salt flats is an indescribable experience that every traveler should have.
The decommissioned train graveyard has been floating in the middle of Uyuni since the 19th century. Rusty train cars and locomotives have been found scattered across the frozen soil of the Bolivian Altiplano, a nostalgic testament to the past.
Islands of the Salar de Uyuni
Incahuasi Island
An island located in the middle of the salt flats, the island is covered in cacti up to 10 meters high. Your name means: "House of the Incas" in Quechua languageThere is a path leading to the island, which is an excellent place to observe the sea and sky provided by the salt flats, as well as being an ideal place for flora and fauna observers.
island the fish
Located south of the salt flats, it is one of the best places to see the sunrise in the salt flats, surrounded by cacti. When residents view the island during the January and February season, they say that it takes the shape of a fish due to the optical effect created by the mirrors.
The Train Cemetery has become a place filled with stories and memories of the past, where visitors can see the remains of trains that were looted in the past, an attraction that intrigues history buffs.
Curiosities of the Salar de Uyuni
These are the main curiosities that thousands of tourists choose to visit every year:
- The Great Mirror: During the rainy season, the shallow water that covers the salt pan creates a mirror effect that perfectly reflects the sky and clouds. This optical phenomenon creates the illusion that the horizon is blurred, giving the sensation that you are walking on clouds.
- Calm in the distanceThe vastness of the salt flat and its flat surface make perspectives confusing. Distant objects can appear much closer than they actually are, playing with the perception of space and distance, which is fascinating for photographers.
- Salt Hotel: At the Salar de Uyuni, there is a hotel built primarily from salt blocks. This place offers a unique experience for visitors who want to sleep in rooms made of salt and enjoy the unique atmosphere of the place, a curious destination that attracts tourists.
- Salt crops: During the dry season, the locals work collecting salt from the salar. They use traditional methods to extract and accumulate piles of salt that will later be processed for industrial and domestic use.
- A strategic resource: As I mentioned before, the salt flat is an important source of lithium, a key component in lithium-ion batteries used in electronic devices and electric vehicles. The growing demand for lithium in modern industry has given this region even more importance, an important aspect in the context of the energy transition.
- Incahuasi Island: This rocky island in the middle of the salt flat, in addition to its giant cacti, contains fossils and archaeological remains. Its name comes from the Quechua words "Inca" and "huasi," which mean "house of the Inca."
- Visual effects: Travelers often take advantage of the optical illusions provided by the salt flat to create fun and creative photos. Due to the lack of reference points, it is possible to play with the perspective and the size of the objects in the images.
lithium reserves
The Salar de Uyuni has the largest lithium reserves in the world and it has the potential to produce 20% of the lithium available for commercialization.
This represents a huge economic advantage for Bolivia, lithium mining and production, and commercial projects worth millions of dollars. A recent report by SRK Mining Consulting suggests that the Salar de Uyuni alone contains 21 million tons of lithium, a staggering figure.
For experts, it is a raw material that can make the energy transition from oil possible, that is, lithium is a non-renewable natural resource with the potential to turn the economy "green". Lithium is used in electric motors, lithium batteries, laptop computers, smartphones, and rechargeable batteries.
However, its extraction is not so simple and has a high environmental cost. The miners extract the lithium by pumping the water that remains under the salt flats, and when the sun manages to evaporate it, the lithium carbonate is collected.
Now, when the process is complete, the brine from the pit dries up and mining companies must extract fresh water to clean machinery and pipes. The process also produces post-enzymes, a type of fertilizer.
It should be noted that fresh water is scarce in desert areas, which affects nearby populations, flora and fauna, and agriculture. In other words, if lithium reserves are over-exploited, drinking water for humans is at risk.
