Uyuni Bolivia ( No ride day )
Holding over seventy percent of the worlds supply of lithium, Bolivia holds the key to an environmentally sustainable future. With deposits of over 5.4 million tons, a mineral essential for hybrid and electric vehicles is found under the salt flats of Uyuni. Under the current government of Evo Morales, Bolivia's natural bounty will not be subject to foreign exploitation. Faithful to his anti-capitalist rhetoric, he has continuously rejected bids from international mining companies.
Today starts with a visit to the salt flats where we witness salt farmers hacking out small piles of salt with picks and shovels. The piles are moisture laden and the conical stacks allow this moisture to drain away. Most of the salt is sold to refiners with a small portion being refined locally by small operators and distributed mostly to Bolivians. Our journey continued by four wheel drive land cruisers across the salt flats to Fish Island where we stopped for lunch and explored the ecological uniqueness of this isolated island. Late this afternoon we returned to Uyuni and visited the nearby train cemetery where Bolivia's retired steam trains were sent and abandoned in the early nineteen hundreds.
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| I feel so tiny |
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| Flags on the Salt Flats |
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| Driving across the Salt Flats. Below is vast amounts of lithium. |
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| Standing on the Rim |
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| Four fat guys at the top of Fish Island Left to right is Tony, Jim, Andrew and Paul. Sunglasses and hats are mandatory as exposure to the sun at this high elevation is dangerous. |
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| View of the salt flats from Fish Island. In the foreground is trichoreus cactus. |
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| Train Cemetery |
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| Silvana and I explore the iron remains |
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| Most of the internal machinery has been removed over the past decade. |
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| Night Market in Uyuni |
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