Eduardo Avaroa Reserve

South of the salt flat, the altiplano rises into a volcanic desert where the standard Uyuni tour spends its second and third days. Laguna Colorada is a shallow red lake, coloured by algae and sediment, with borax islands and thousands of flamingos of three species feeding in it. Sol de Mañana is a geyser field at nearly five thousand metres where mud pools boil and fumaroles roar in the dark before dawn. Laguna Verde sits beneath the cone of Licancabur, turning a vivid green when the wind stirs the minerals in it. In between are the Árbol de Piedra rock formation, the Salvador Dalí desert and hot springs where tours stop to soak at sunrise.

What you actually see

• Laguna Colorada - the red lake with borax islands and three flamingo species.
• Sol de Mañana geysers - boiling mud and fumaroles at nearly 5,000 metres.
• Laguna Verde - the green lake below the Licancabur volcano.
• Termas de Polques - hot springs on the shore of a lagoon, a standard dawn stop.

When to go

April to November is the dry season for the tours. The wet season floods some routes but produces the mirror effect on the salt flat itself. Nights here drop far below freezing in any season, and June to August is brutally cold.

Honest expectations

This is high, cold and hard: sleeping at over four thousand metres in basic refuges, dawn starts, long hours in a crowded four-wheel drive and a real risk of altitude sickness for anyone who came up quickly. Tour quality varies enormously and cheap operators have a poor safety record on driving and vehicle condition; choose on reputation. Laguna Verde only turns green when the wind blows.

Nearby

Salar de Uyuni is to the north; San Pedro de Atacama in Chile lies across the border south.