When most people think of South America, most think of infamous Colombia or the tropical Brazil. More experienced travelers who have been to the continent don’t miss the southern Andes in Chile and Argentina or the now well-known Machu Picchu ruins in Peru.

However, the more adventurous of travelers are now discovering a totally new destination blessed with a totally different tourist attraction. Bolivia, located in the heart of the continent, is now getting on the radar of more and more people from all over the world, thanks to the massive, otherworldly and surreal Uyuni Salt Flats.

The salt flats, locally known as ‘Salar de Uyuni’, is, in fact, a vast, white desert made up of 12.000 square kilometers of salt making it the largest dry salt lake on the planet. More and more people today join organized Salar de Uyuni tours which are carried out on a 3-day, 4WD adventure trip across a high (literally at 4.000m of elevation) plateau known as Altiplano, nestled in the Andes mountains.

These 4WD tours take people into the salt flats and onto the southwestern region of Bolivia which is an extension of the Atacama Desert. People enjoy viewing dramatic landscapes such as deserts, volcanoes, colored lagoons and native Andean wildlife such as llamas, alpacas, vicuñas, pink flamingo and more.

There are many tour companies offering such trips known as Uyuni Salt Flats tours and Reserva Eduardo Avaroa. One of such companies is Banjo Tours, based in La Paz, Bolivia. Banjo offers multi day trips on private 4WD vehicles that cover this extensive region. Most people begin this adventure in the town of Uyuni itself, but some choose to start in the capital city of La Paz from where these trips can also depart, visiting protected areas and other unique natural features along the way. To have these trips arranged for you, you can contact them directly by visiting their website at www.banjotours.com