The Uyuni Salt Flats is one of the most singular places in the World, and one of the most unspoiled places on Earth. When first arriving to Uyuni one of the first questions you may come up with is: how was it formed?

Many years ago (approximately 40.000 years ago!) this enormous flat was covered in the waters of Lake Minchin. The lake later disappeared giving way to many others like the Tauca lake. But at some point a movement of the plate tectonics beneath made the water retract to the lower areas and formed the mount range we can see today. Coupled with the rise in temperatures and climatic change (it went from wet to dry), the water slowly evaporated leaving behind the salt and minerals forming the largest salt flat in the World.

What is remarkable here is the fact there is groundwater beneath which evapotranspirates leaving salt on the surface and it is always feeding on rainwater. The scale of the vaporization is 10 times more than precipitation, leaving the Salar as an endless source of salt. In other words, Uyuni is a giant dried-up desert lake.

Now you know the formation of Salar de Uyuni, we are sure you will see it from a new perspective. Learning about the geological formation of a place makes it always more interesting as you can imagine how the landscape has changed over the years. Are you prepared to appreciate it yourself in a tour to Salar de Uyuni?