Salar de Atacama

The Salar de Atacama covers around three thousand square kilometres between the Andes and the Cordillera de Domeyko, making it the largest salt flat in Chile, and its surface is not the smooth white of Uyuni but a rough grey crust of jagged salt that is unpleasant to walk on. Its brine holds one of the world's largest lithium reserves, and the evaporation ponds on the southern side are a substantial industrial operation. The water that supports the flamingo lagoons at Chaxa and the Atacameño villages around the edge comes from the same aquifer the mining draws on, and the argument about that balance is the salar's defining current issue.

What you actually see

• The largest salt flat in Chile - about three thousand square kilometres.
• A rough grey crust - not the smooth white of Uyuni.
• Lithium evaporation ponds - a major industry on the southern side.
• A live water argument - mining, lagoons and villages on one aquifer.

When to go

Year round; flamingo numbers are highest in the southern summer. Half a day.

Honest expectations

The mining areas are closed and not visitable. The salt crust cuts shoes and hands. There is no shade anywhere. Access is through the Los Flamencos reserve sectors, each ticketed separately.

Nearby

Laguna Chaxa is on the flat; Toconao is on the eastern edge.