I had seen pictures of the salt flats before my arrival, but nothing really prepared me for this.  Guys, every over-the-top comment you have heard about this place, or unbelievable picture you have seen or beautiful thing you have read IS TRUE! This place really is breath-taking.

I explored the Salt Flats as part of a three-day Intrepid tour that also covered, the Lagoons, the Siloli Desert, the Cemetery of the Trains (and everything in between!) and our amazing tour guide Vivel, gave us all the facts and tips we needed whilst on tour. As there were strikes happening at the time of our visit, we were unable to take the typical starting point through Uyuni so instead took a three hour detour to a town called San Juan where we were fortunate enough to stay the night on the shore of the salt flats and make friends with the locals!

By 7am the next morning our 4×4 was on the road and headed into the flats. We drove for what felt like hours, surrounded by nothing but a sheet of salt. It was indescribable and unfortunately for me I left my sunglasses in my main bag back in the city, but luckily was borrowed a pair by my fellow traveller who packed two! If it wasn’t for that I would have probably developed crow’s feet from all the squinting as the reflection of the sun off the salts is BRIGHT – remember to pack your sunnies!

We made our way to what felt like the middle of nowhere and stepped out onto the flats.  Of course, being the curious-minded, ballsy (and now looking back – slightly crazy!) young lady I am, I wanted to know exactly how the salt felt and smelt and tasted, so naturally I bent down, got my face right in there and had a lick.

I can confirm that the Bolivian salt flats taste just like salt.

It was an interesting feeling to have salt crunching beneath your feet with your every move and we wasted no time in getting right to the fun. That’s right, it was picture time!  Vivel had a number of creative ideas and even brought along some toys to recreate some cool effects. We did the typical jump shots, created tiny versions of ourselves, fought dinosaurs and even made our very own music video!

After this came lunch and Vivel and our driver laid out a traditional spread of meats and rice and watermelon. We picnicked on the flats, under the Bolivian rays, whilst blazing old school hits from the 80s and 90s from the car speakers. It was so surreal yet in that moment, I felt I was exactly where I was supposed to be in life

We then made our way to Incahusi Island, better known as Cactus island, which is a coral island (shaped as a fish!) slap bang in the middle of the flats. The island is covered with thousands of cacti that’s been growing for hundreds of years – some of which were up to 15 meters tall! We hiked to the top of the island and were stunned by the panorama.

We spent our first night at a salt hotel, where everything from the beds to the chairs to the tables to the ceiling were made of salt.

Another early start, and we were off to visit the three most famous lagoons in the high desert plains of the Andes; Laguna Blanca, Laguna Verde and Laguna Colorada – white, green and red. Each lagoon had something unique to offer but my favourite had to be the Laguna Colorada, the Red Lagoon.  Not only because it was so stunningly vibrant in colour, but because it was the lagoon where we got closest to the flamingos – and man, were they beautiful! I can’t emphasise enough just how surreal the colours were. I mean, have a look at the filter-less pictures below taken straight from my android, and let me know what you think. The place was pure perfection! And with the Andes mountain range as the perfect backdrop… well, I’ll let the pictures do the talking.

Three of the world’s six species of flamingo can be found in the Andes; the Andean, the Chilean and the extremely rare James flamingo which can only be found in the high Andean plateaus. These majestic creatures live on plankton which the lakes supply in abundance and (fun fact) it’s actually the plankton that give flamingos their pink feathers over time, who knew that flamingos are actually born with light grey feathers!  As we made our way through the Siloli Desert we were lucky enough to see other native wildlife like the Andean fox, vizcachas (Andean rabbits), Andean ostriches, vicuñas (relatives of the llama) and of course hundreds and hundreds of llamas!  We drove through the Valley of the Rocks which is a visually striking trail of volcanic rocks that have been weathered into cool shapes over thousands of years through erosion, and stopped for pictures at the iconic five-meter-tall ‘Arbol de Piedra’, ‘Stone Tree’.

Our final stop on the third day of our tour was the “Cemetery of the Trains” also known as the Train Graveyard which resides on the outskirts of the town of Uyuni. We arrived at this abandoned site in the late afternoon which meant there were literally no other tourists floating about so we had free reign to climb the trains, walk inside the empty carts and jump along the tracks as we pleased.  As there are no gates or fences or even guards there are absolutely no restrictions on climbing the trains. So, we stayed-and-played until sunset. Such a random and eery display, these trains were imported from Britain in the early 20^th century as Uyuni was originally set to become a major train destination that would connect multiple cities in, and around, South America.  Sadly, due to the collapse of the mining industry and tensions with neighbouring countries, this plan did not come to fruition and the disheartened people of Uyuni – instead of decommissioning and selling them on – left the trains in the desert to rot. There are over 100 abandoned train carts here, all of which have corroded over the decades due to the salt winds.

Quick tips on what NOT to forget–

1. Layers. It gets very windy on the flats, especially when the sun goes down so make sure you wrap up in your layers and wind proofs.
2. Sunglasses. I made the mistake of forgetting mine back at the hotel but luckily I was able to borrow a pair. If you have sensitive eyes like mine, you will certainly need them.
3. Top up your sun cream often. The Bolivian Salt Flats sit high above sea level so you’re pretty close to the sun, don’t make the mistake of forgetting to bring your sun cream as you will burn!
4. Bring some change. Toilet stops are few and far between but where they are available, they come at a cost. Each toilet break will cost you between 2 and 5 Bolivianos so bring some change, unless of course you are happy to find a bush and go Inca style!
5. Portable charger – make sure your phone stays juiced up. It’s a super busy, fun packed three days and you don’t want to miss the opportunity to get all those incredible once in a lifetime shots because your phone ran out of battery!

At 8:00am on the dot we set off. Our tour guide, Andrew, took his place at the front, I followed closely behind, and the three other men fell in line behind me. The first quarter of the hike was the flattest and the muddiest. We made our way through the National Park, engulfed by the lush density of the forest, as we pushed along the half-covered trail. I used the walking stick I was given by Andrew to push the grass out the way best I could, but he paced ahead so quickly that it caused the plants between us to backlash into my bruised legs causing me immense pain. As much as I wanted to ask for our first break, I decided I didn’t want to be the one to slow the momentum – especially as we were only ten minutes in lol – so I kept it moving. The soil was soggy and thick and many times we had to step off the path and into the bushes in order to not get our feet stuck in the mud -though for some reason I kept missing my step and kept falling into the mud! I took the opportunity to get to know the guys I was hiking with and found out that the guy immediately behind me, Sammy, was also from London and here on a two-week trip to the Caribbean. The two men behind him, Leonard and Del, lived in Antigua and were here on a family trip. They were all very encouraging and cheered me on the whole way, which really added to my strength.

About twenty minutes into the first quarter, we began the incline. This is where things really started to heat up. If there is one thing that really tests me on a hike (and if I’m honest, life) it’s steps – and there were loads of them. And no, no, I’m not talking about ordered steps that are equal in height and size, I mean uneven, sometimes missing, and at times wobbly wooden blocks or tree stumps that’d been squished into the mud as part of the trail. Some of the steps were so steep that I had to be lifted up onto them by Andrew. The incline really took the wind out of me and after about five minutes of climbing, I was begging for a rest. Andrew informed us that we were still only into the first quarter and it was at this point that I knew I was in for a serious ride. At times the trail narrowed so much that we literally had to shimmy our way across the edge of a cliff, conscious that simply placing a foot in the wrong place could cause us to fall to the bottom of the mountain. And at other times we had to climb rocks and boulders, swing on ropes and cross open streams.

About an hour and a half in, we made it to the highest point (3,168ft) and what a breath-taking view it was. The top of the mountain gave us a 360 birds-eye view of the whole Island. To the East we could see Roseau, Dominica’s capital and town I was staying in, and right ahead of us was the three peaks and other surrounding mountains. The air was chilled and fresh, I inhaled and took it all in before one of the guys made the call to wrap it up and keep moving as we were doing well for time and so didn’t want to slow down too much.

On the way down the forest became denser, the trail became steeper and the hike got even harder. It rained as we made our way into the Valley of Desolation which made the sulphuric fumes smell even worse. The rotten egg stench filled our noses as we crossed through the open space. Though it stunk, the backdrop was so spectacular that my eyes could barely take it all in with my eyeballs let alone let alone my camera lens. A picture just couldn’t capture it well enough to do it any justice. So I just marvelled.

It rained then blazed with heat then rained some more.

A little further and we were at the boiling Lake. It was not what I expected at all – it was so much better. We climbed through the rocks and came face to face with the 200 by 250ft bubbling cauldron. As if we were even allowed to be this close!! We stood about 10 meters from the drop and I could already feel the hairs on my arms shrivel up. They really don’t call this the boiling lake for nothing. The 197° Fahrenheit cauldron was in constant bubble-ation! Apparently, if the bubbles were to ever stop then it’s time to leave town as it’s an indication that the volcano is about to go off.

Our tour guide was clearly nervous as to how close I was standing, so after telling me for the third time to move back, he began recalling stories he had heard of people falling in and being cooked alive. I backed it right up. We marvelled, took pictures, ate our lunch and then readied ourselves to head back.

In my ignorance, I assumed the way back down would be much easier than the way up as that tends to be the case with many journeys. It wasn’t, though we did make it down a lot quicker. I struggled with coming down particularly because my knees felt quite strained going down the steps, and the steps were so steep that having to bend that far down to climb them certainly wasn’t doing anything for my speed. It got very tricky and it felt like my lungs were struggling to find balance. At certain points I was so out of breath that the tour guide made the call to pause a few times on my behalf in order to help me regulate my breathing again. I managed to pull it together, but only for about 10 minutes at a time before needing to stop again. Like, I said, I was really feeling the pressure now. But the show had to go on. Over the rocks, back across the narrow cliff and through the streams we went, back along the trail which we initially came. Eventually we made it.

As I mentioned, the average time for this hike is 6 hours – 3 hours up and 3 hours down. My group and I completed the hike in 4 hours and 41 minutes; 3 hours and 15 up and 1 hour 26 down. We were definitely pleased with ourselves to say the least.

If you are big on hiking, I would definitely throw this on your bucket list as the sense of satisfaction as well as the incredible views along the way really do make it worthwhile. Not to mention of course, the bubbling reward at the end! Definitely a highlight of Dominica, the Boiling Lake is not something to be taken lightly.

I’d rate this hike a solid 8/10 for difficulty and 10/10 for overall experience.