Seeking the natural world in Bolivia
With the country opening itself up, a new place of wonder emerges.
The world is seeing the world. With travel more ubiquitous - than ever before in history - the very idea of travel has changed forever. Long forgotten are the slow journeys, like crossing Africa with Persian rugs, bronze objets and paintings in tow - today travel is a click of a button (and soon to be just a flick of perhaps just a finger).
Travelers today book journeys online, they watch videos of where they’re going to have a preview and they read endless reviews and assessments by a giant growing community of people stretching themselves to the edges of the planet and potentially off the edges of this world and into space. This need to see the world, to see all of it, is about the deep desire to find something beyond ourselves – and that is what travel still, and always will, offer.
According to the first UNWTO World Tourism Barometer of the year, international tourism ended 2023 at 88% of pre-pandemic levels, with an estimated 1.3 billion international arrivals - with a prediction of even a stronger growth for the rest of the year.
The usual suspects include cities like London, Paris and more and more prominently Bangkok (according to a Mastercard survey) and sites like the Las Vegas Strip and the Niagara Falls (according to Business Insider) are high on the list of places to see. But sophisticated and in-the-know travelers are now, more than ever, seeking out places that are not on these lists, are slightly more inaccessible and have some sustainability aspect to it – and therefore wondrous and special. Andreas Keller, a Cape Town based sustainability professional, calls these almost untouched wilderness areas teachers. He believes that nature, in her precious unspoiled beauty, speaks loudest: “Wildernesses are places where people can and should go to heal from the separation most of us feel from nature, often without knowing it.”
Some of these places are remarkable due to timing (only accessible at certain parts of the year like Northern Sweden) or just difficulty in accessing (remote Mongolia). And so, due to more and more demand from conservation and adventure minded travelers, parts of Africa are finally opening up with the assistance of conservation brands like Wilderness (with new camps in Botswana and Zimbabwe) and people are timing their visits to places like the Northern Lights, a natural phenomenon of particles colliding, more carefully - thanks Wildland in Scotland. The actual journey of getting there, the commitment of the trek adds that extra layer of adventure and of course thrill.
Enter Bolivia and its absolute privilege of access.
Although the landlocked country, the poorest in South America, has averaged a 3. something % growth in the last few years according to the World Bank, much of the country is largely undiscovered. The administrative capital, La Paz, peaks at roughly 3,650 m above sea level and has three metro areas that make up its 2.3 million residents. A city, in the sky, on the western side of Bolivia may seem like just another location on the world globe but its street food and public transportation (in the form of cable car gondolas) have the connoisseurs of must see cities agog.
“With 60% of Bolivians living below the poverty line, tourism has an important role for Bolivia, generating additional revenues and creating much needed jobs in the country,” says David Banitt, CEO/Founder, NewCO2Fuels. He believes that ecotourism largely contributes to the environmental, cultural and economic wellbeing of local communities and thus “provides an incentive to empowerment while maintaining original values.” Keller sees a bigger picture: “the gold standard of ecotourism looks at the ecological footprint of the tourist, not just at the destination, but from the origin as well: from home to hammock”. And one of the main attractions for the Bolivia visitor is the privilege of the natural salt flats.
And it is about a two hours flight from La Paz where the adventure begins - the Uyuni Salt Flats (“Salar de Tunupa”). Located in the southwest of the country near the crest of the Andes Mountains, the Salar is the world’s largest salt flat and is at an elevation of 3,656 m above mean sea level. And since the government has started to protect this area by limiting and controlling the extraction of lithium the flats are kept unspoiled. The salt flat is simply a natural wonder and the only place on earth where the sky and ground merge, making it one of the best places on earth for unique picture opportunities.
For most of the time on the Salt Flats the point is to have the ultimate in luxury, doing nothing. A black 4x4s comes to pick you up at the airport in the middle of nowhere. Driving around the whiteness brings a certain quiet and beauty with it. Formed as the result of transformations between prehistoric lakes in the area, the area is covered by meters (up to 10 m) of salt crust. During rainy seasons over the last 30,000 to 42,000 years Lake Titicaca overflowed and ran off into other lakes. Mud mixed with salt and saturated brine (lithium, magnesium chloride and sodium chloride) created this solid crust. And so it’s sky, white underneath and utter silence – all in a world of extraordinary flatness. So flat in fact altimeters of earth observation satellites are calibrated here.
There are a few things to explore like in the center of the Salar there are various “islands” which are the tops of remaining volcanoes that submerged thousands of years ago – offering up a lunar-like landscape with coral-like shapes and deposits made up of fossils and also algae. But for the most part it's solitary with no fauna or flora – although some species of pink flamingos (the color from eating pink algae) squawk around and once in a while a lama will appear in the distance as if lost in space. Driving around on the 4x4s is like driving on the sky with the reflections playing with your mind. And since very few people come out here and it often rains it’s easy to find a perfect quiet spot to meditate on the beauty of a small lake, with nobody around.
In fact there are very few accommodations available in the Salt Flat, making it a very exclusive opportunity. Some of the accommodation that is available are retro silver airstream trailers. And since these are often redesigned and renovated it’s in complete lushness that you can enjoy the great wilderness. The airstreams are kitted out with sleeping areas, lounging spaces, and spacious-enough bathrooms with of course hot water. They have everything you would possibly require out on the salt flats – just bring that camera along. A chef cooks local cuisine, which includes all kinds of interesting potatoes, and herby cocktails are served with the views holding court. Of course all of this with that smiley Bolivian hospitality.
Nights, which can be cold, are spent underneath forever skies clustered with stars around the fire or cruising on bicycles around what seems to be nowhere in the utter darkness. With a telescope the universe’s constellations can be perused in great detail and with guides around star chatter fills the skies. Fine whiskies and cigars then come out and the sheer joy of being so remote becomes the ultimate in pleasure.
And it is nothingness that is the exact appeal – away from the world seen. It is exactly here where the luxury of freedom and access is all yours.
Since you’re in Bolivia don’t miss: Gustu, from the mind that brought to the world Copenhagen’s Noma, has opened a casual fine dining restaurant in La Paz. Every single thing is sourced locally and their social project has students working in their kitchens. The experience cannot be matched. restaurantgustu.com
The Uyuni salt flats and the Bolivian desert bordering Chile are stunning places.
Some of the very few places on earth I've visited that still feel difficult to access!