Andes Salt Expeditions

Hi, I just want to let you know what I have to critisize on the trip from Uyuni to the salt lake and the south from 14th to 16th November 2009. - just before we started the tour (we had been 6 tourists), the operator told us, that we do not get a guide, because the guide is on another tour. so the driver and cook was in one person, but we have been on the trip without any guide! - the operator is telling on the internetsite (http://www.triptiv.com/uyunisaltflats/andessaltexpeditions/) that the staff, especialist guides can help in either spanish, english, french..... thats not true: the driver could only speak spanish and I did not see any especialist guide. - the only explanation belonging the isla incahuasi was: "mucho kaktus" - nothing more. and this is only an example for how it worked in many things we reached and saw. mostly the informations had been one sentence - nothing more. - mostly the driver told us: 10 minutes for pictures - then we had to come back to the car and went further. - even for so interesting things like the fumeroles (a phenomen which you do not find so often in the world) we had only 10 minutes to watch and making pictures without any explanation about the fumeroles. - another example: talking to a biologist after the tour, I realised, that the driver told us not the truth: he told us, that the red colour of laguna colorado comes from jodine, but for real it comes from the algae and the plankton..... - we even did not get any information about plants, animales or the geological background of the mountains, the lagunas ....... - as I experienced with other organised tours in Bolivia or other countries: the guide (but we did not have one....) is having the meals with the tourists and is with the group even in the evenings..... but in our case, the driver served us the meals, did not eat with us and was never seen again until the trip went further the next morning. I left this place with much more questions, then I came with and for me it was nothing more then a photo-shooting-tour! (the nature is really great there - but without any informations.......) At least I felt like the operator is kidding the tourists! I really can not recommend the tour-operator "Andes Salt Expeditions"!!! Cu Jens.

I really enjoyed this trip with Estrella. We had a great driver, car didn't break down. Estrella provided us with everything they said they would. The food was ok - the hostels we stayed at cooked for all the tour groups, so everyone got the same food. on the last day our food was arranged by our driver, and we had the best alpaca steaks and quinoa. Accomodation was awful, and the first night was FREEZING, but that said, we were told by the lady at Estrella it would be very basic. Totally worth it for the scenery that you see along the way. Other tours got 5L of water per person included, but we had to bring our own. Also met up with people on the last night travelling with Colque and they stayed at better accomodation for the first night and most got double rooms instead of having to share 6 room dorms like our group did.

I had an excellent time on the tour. I don't think I could have asked for much more. All my expectations were met and I thought it was very professionally run. The driver was very social and friendly and he drove very safely. And there was plenty of food to eat. The only thing I was little concerned about was the lack of advice regarding the altitude and the rapid accent to it. I trekked through the Himalayas a few years ago and there altitude is taken a lot more seriously. I did feel a little unwell as a result of the altitude, but I don't think this company lacked anything that I imagine other companies would have had. This just seems to be how things are in the region. But our driver did offer us loads of coca to chew on to help with the altitude. I am very happy with my experiences with Estrellas del Sur and would highly recommend them to anyone desiring to do a similar journey.

If you are starting from Uyuni I would only pay for the tour just before leaving and after you have seen the state of the car and how many people are actually joining. We were promised a new and safe car with a max of 6 people. We ended up in a real old and unsafe car that broke down three times with 8 people in the car (very unconftable) and a driver that couldn't care less. Because of the breakdowns we didn't see all we were promised and were always in a hurry looking at a sight. We learned from the Estrella del Sur office in San Pedro the Atacama that the office in Uyuni is not always telling the truth :-( and they weren't sympathetic either. Would never chose this company again as they can't be trusted!

I've heard nightmare stories of many of the companies, and I don't think any one has 100% positive reviews. We had originally planned to go with Cordillera Traveller and even emailed them in advance to check availability but when we eventually go to San Pedro we were a day behind our planned schedule and when we tried to change the date with the woman in the office she called us very bad people! So we walked out of there and went to the Toursit Info office to read the book of comments on tour agencies. The best reviews seemed to be with Estrella del Sur and although it had a couple of scathing reviews on The Thorn Tree we plumped for them and booked on the next day's trip. It was a good decision. The guy in their office speaks English and is generally helpful. Details of our trip below: Departure: They picked us up from the office on time. Accommodation: The accommodation is VERY basic, but I think all the companies offer pretty much the same thing anyway. Also Estrella DON'T stop in the Salt Hotel which we were glad about because they are apparently illegal structures and their waste isn't properly disposed of. Day one: Hostel (dorm of six beds) in the desert, basic but no showers. Day two: Double room in a hospedaje in a local quaint village. Shared bathroom had two hot showers. We were lucky to get the double room - I think because our driver tried to get to the accommodation first. The people in the following vehicles had to share a dorm room. Driver and Vehicles: Our driver and guide was Edgar and he was very friendly (although spoke no English - but I don't think any of the guides do). He had an ipod connection in his Landcruiser which the group of six took in turns to supply music. He had his own Village People collection and seemed to enjoy Britney Spears too! Our trip consisted of 24 people across four Toyota landcruisers and I don't think any of them broke down over the three days. There is no air conditioning in the vehicles and you can't really open the windows because of the dust so bear that in mind! Itinerary: Laguna Verde, Laguna Colorado, Hot Springs, Geysers, view of Volcan Lincancabur, Dali Desert (stone sculptures in the desert), Salar de Uyuni (salt lake), Incahuasi (fish island), Uyuni Train Cemetary Stuff to take: Lots of water - the vehicles can accommodate the five litre bottles you can buy in San Pedro. Food: Day One - Lunch - was sausages and mash with salad, banana, coke and water. Dinner - Vegetable Soup and bread, spaghetti and tomato sauce Day Two - Breakfast - Cake and Toffee and marmalade, tea/coffe/hot chocolate Lunch - Potatoes, pasta, steak, vegetables, salad. Water, fruit and juice. Dinner - Chicken, chips and quinoa, or veg tortilla for veggie Day Three - Breakfast - Pancake and cereal Lunch - Potatoes, salad, rice and chicken, fruit and cakes. Dropped off at Estrella office in Uyuni.

The food they provided was a couple of cuts above what I was expecting ... I could definitely recommend them overall

The tour was a big dissapointment, many promises were never actuallized

Great salt flats tour with Tupiza Tours, our driver Juvenal (apologies if spelling incorrect) was brilliant, always cheerful and told us loads about everything we saw, and also chose his words carefully so even those of us with limited spanish skills could understand. I think their tours are slightly more expensive than the Uyuni ones, but they do tend to have only 4 people per vehicle which is nice and comfortable.

We did not stick with our instincts and booked our tour in advance. There really is no need to book your tour in advance, you can book it the night before you are wishing to depart in Uyuni.