Panoramic view of the Uyuni Salt Flat from atop Incahuasi (or Inka Wasi which is ‘Inca house’ in Quechua, the language of the Incans). The island is covered in columnar cacti (Echinopsis atacamensis ssp. pasacana, formerly Trichocereus pasacana). The dark lines on the salt flat are two sets of vehicle tracks.

The Uyuni Salt Flat is the world’s largest salt flat covering 10,582 sq km/4,086 sq mi (100 times the size of the Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah in the United States). Part of the Bolivian Altiplano (high plateau), the Uyuni Salt Flat sits at an elevation of 3,656m/11,995ft surrounded by the Andes mountains. It is the bed of a series of vast lakes that once covered the area starting around 40,000 years ago, the last of which was radiocarbon dated to 11,500 to 13,400 years ago. In November, three species of South American flamingos breed here. The crust, which varies in thickness from tens of centimeters to a few meters, is a source of salt. Underneath is a pool of brine rich in lithium which Bolivia is just starting to extract. (Bolivia is the holder of the world’s largest known lithium reserves.)

On Google Earth: