Uyuni, Bolivia
Trip Perspective(s)
Tell us a little about yourself and how you balance traveling in comfort with your quest for spiritual adventure?
I am a world-traveling author, international motivational speaker, a way-shower, and the founder of Embolden Adventures an award-winning travel blog-turned-encouragement platform that inspires personal, professional, and spiritual transformation., I have explored over 43 countries and more than half of the United States. What makes my story truly remarkable is my deep, two-decade spiritual awakening and quest for self-discovery achieved by working with wisdom keepers, connecting with the natural world, and answering the call for adventure. Not only have I collected passport stamps from my adventures, but I have powerful stories to share that broaden horizons and interconnect us all.
My travel style focuses on adventure and discovery traveling from the depths of the oceans to heights of the mountains, to the ancient megalithic and everywhere else in between. Originally, my travels took me to scuba diving places around the world where I would stay on comfortable live-aboard dive boats for the duration of the adventure. Additionally, now my travels take me to journey circles, malocas, temples, tepees, places in nature such as the Amazon Rainforest, and so much more. I am comfortable when I connect with nature whether it is on the boat, gently rocking to the ocean waves and waking up to a sunrise over the water, or snuggling under plush blankets and atop cushioned mattresses in dwellings intertwined with the landscapes. Spiritual adventure does not need to be uncomfortable unless shadow work is part of the healing protocol or if non-reputable wisdom keepers in locations not well protected, energetically are involved.
What made you visit Uyuni? Was there a specific energy or landscape that first piqued your interest?
Uyuni is an isolated, high-altitude desert area located in southern Bolivia in South America, sandwiched by the Atacama Desert, the Andes Mountains, and the Amazon Rainforest and sitting atop a flat altiplano. The Great Salt Flat of Uyuni, also known as Salar de Uyuni, had been on my bucket list as a must-see destination for me.
I traveled to Salar de Uyuni in February 2020 while on a 5-week adventure starting from my former home in New York City to Morocco, then to the Amazon Rainforest in Peru, and onward to Lake Titicaca to visit the ancient megalithic sites of Tiwanku and Puma Punku as featured on the television show, Ancient Aliens. From there, I visited this area of Uyuni and then onward to the Nazca lines in Peru before heading home. This full story will be featured in my upcoming true-story, mystical, psychedelic travel adventure memoir entitled Stone Temple Passport: Awake and Radiate with Mama Ayahuasca, out in stores in 2026. My book describes my unexpected spiritual and divine discoveries and reveals an incredible peek behind the material veil into the multi-dimensional realms through working with the sacred plant medicine, ayahuasca. Some of this write up on Uyuni here is inspired from Chapter 24 of my book.
I traveled to Salar de Uyuni in February 2020 while on a 5-week adventure starting from my former home in New York City to Morocco, then to the Amazon Rainforest in Peru, and onward to Lake Titicaca to visit the ancient megalithic sites of Tiwanku and Puma Punku as featured on the television show, Ancient Aliens. From there, I visited this area of Uyuni and then onward to the Nazca lines in Peru before heading home.
This full story will be featured in my upcoming true-story, mystical, psychedelic travel adventure memoir entitled Stone Temple Passport: Awake and Radiate with Mama Ayahuasca, out in stores in 2026. My book describes my unexpected spiritual and divine discoveries and reveals an incredible peek behind the material veil into the multi-dimensional realms through working with the sacred plant medicine, ayahuasca. Some of this write up on Uyuni here is inspired from Chapter 24 of my book.
Salar de Uyuni is the largest of all salt flats found in the world, spanning 4,000 square miles in size. It was once prehistoric lake that dried up and left behind salt. Every year, the salt levels continue to grow because of chemical reactions with rainwater. Its 360-degree views of white salt, white clouds, and the bluest sky seem to resemble like what heaven could be.
This area is completely flat and covered by shallow water during the rainy season that enables a jaw-dropping, super quiet landscape where the sky mirrors perfectly on the flat surface of the water below it with the horizon melded into invisibility. The landscape creates optical illusions because of the lack of reference points and unobstructive views on the salt flats. For example, photography subjects closer to the camera appear to be giant-sized while subjects further away from the camera appeared to be tiny. Salar de Uyuni is a place unlike anything on Earth and a must-experience destination of your lifetime.
Is this remote trip strictly for the rugged backpacker, or can people who are looking for a little comfort find their place here?
The easiest way to get to Uyuni is to fly from La Paz, the capital of Bolivia instead of the other option of driving multiple hours through the rural country. This larger area requires traveling with a guide and a 4×4 vehicle fitted with a GPS monitoring device and satellite phone so to navigate the rugged terrain of this extremely remote location. While tourists do come here, mainly from Japan and Korea, it is a place that could be all to yourself for the time you are exploring this vast landscape.
What did you do in Uyuni and what are the absolute "must-see" sites?
In addition to seeing the Salt Flats, that may take a full day and an optional evening experience under the blanket of stars, other just as extraordinary destinations are in the Uyuni area. They are:
The Trains Cemetery featuring scores of old-fashioned, rusted train cars from the nineteenth century laying in their final resting spots.
The Valley of the Rocks, a deserted stretch of land prominently featuring a mass outcropping of weathered rocks resembling what I would suspect another planet could look like.
Eduardo Avaroa Andean Fauna National Reserve, a surreal world of the purest visual magnificence, where the Laguna De Colorado – featuring scores of pink flamingoes wading through its shallow waters, bubbling hot springs, the Stone Tree rock formation, and the Siloli Desert – part of the Atacama Desert are located. This area stretches over 2,700 square miles and stands between approximately 14,000 and 18,000 feet in elevation. Including Salar de Uyuni, this Reserve generally, and the Laguna De Colorado specifically, are some of the top, most beautiful places I have ever seen.
How was the food and what was your most memorable meal in Uyuni?
Since most of this experience is a rugged, travel adventure, meals are packed by the tour guide and eaten on the go. Uyuni has a small town with decent restaurants serving local, fresh food including quinoa that is grown here. The hotels offer home cooked, local meals as well.
However, my most favorite meal was the picnic we had on the salt flat. Our guide prepared tender chunks of surprisingly delicious llama meat, large local pale-yellow corn kernels, and sautéed vegetables, making it, by far, the best picnic I had ever experienced while marveling at the breathtaking landscape.
What does the Uyuni "nightlife" look like? Did you find spots to socialize, or was the evening more about stargazing and connecting with nature?
There is no night life. Either the evening is enjoyed at the hotel or exploring the tiny stretch of downtown or peering at the stars. One hotel we stayed in was located at the edge of the Salar de Uyuni. It was constructed in cubes of white salt, looking like they were larger versions of sugar cubes into tea.
Another hotel we stayed in was near the Valley of the Rocks. This desolate hotel was squeezed into the side of a large stone outcropping. Part of the boulder from outside replaced some of the walls inside, including those in our bedrooms. The hotel had the essence of a ski lodge crossed with a log cabin crossed with rustic, South American cowboy flair, but sometimes, it was cloaked in moments of darkness due to the spotty electricity coming from the generator powering the hotel.
Did you feel safe exploring these remote areas, and were there any specific things visitors should be on the lookout for regarding safety or comfort?
Yes. The important thing is to have a reliable 4×4 with a GPS device, a satellite phone, and full canisters of gasoline, and perhaps water to wash the windshield of mud from the drive. Otherwise, this area is very safe, save for the UFO suspected to have abducted two Italian hikers at the Valley of the Rocks, never to be heard of again.
How budget-friendly was your trip to Uyuni, and what is the one thing you're glad you didn't skimp on?
This trip is affordable for Western standards. Book the tour guide. Everything was paid for by the tour company including round trip airfare to Uyuni – that is usually a cheap ticket compared to international flights, our meals, our transportation, and entry to the Reserve. The tour was reasonably priced compared to tours in Europe or luxury tours for example. I am not sure how a tourist could experience what we did unless they booked the tour with a tour company – especially when driving to and through the Reserve
Overall, what is your lasting impression of Uyuni, and what was the one big takeaway from your trip?
The Uyuni area was one of the most beautiful places I have even seen, located in one of my newest favorite countries in the world, Bolivia. The variety of untouched, pristine terrains, from rock outcroppings to treeless plains, lakes to snowcapped peaks, volcanoes to deserts, and hot springs to salt flats made this travel experience for me in Uyuni top notch.
EmboldenAdventures
Embolden Adventures, LLC is an encouragement platform that inspires personal, professional, and spiritual development. Founded by Sara Roccisano, a former Wall Street and Corporate America professional turned world traveler, motivational speaker, author, and wayshower, Embolden Adventures sparks curiosity for living life courageously and in being emboldened for having unique adventures aimed at freeing the confines of the mind and the unsatisfying limitations of the everyday. Through Sara’s adventures, from depths of the oceans to heights of the mountains, to the ancient megalithic and the wisdom keepers, and beyond, Sara aims for those to Be Emboldened! by accepting the call to adventure throughout the world or within oneself with the goal of achieving personal transformation. The three components to the Embolden Adventures platform are Embolden Adventures Be Emboldened! The Program, Embolden Adventures Publishing, and Sara Roccisano motivational speaking. Sara’s first book, Stone Temple Passport Awake and Radiate with Mama Ayahuasca, out in bookstores 2026, is part of the upcoming Embolden Adventure Transformational Series, a series of Sara’s true-story travel adventure memoirs.
Have you visited this city?
Log in to add an extended review and see personalized scoring.