Bolivian Salt Flats

 

 

The salt flats of Bolivia are situated in the Andes mountains, in the Daniel Campos Province of the Altipiano region, in the southwest of the country, near the crest of the Andes.   The flats comprise Salar de Coipasa and Salar de Uyani.  

Salar de Uyani is the largest and highest salt flat in the world, over 3000 metres above sea level and stretching for over 11000 square kilometres. The flats can be seen from space (unlike Hadrian’s wall – that’s a myth).

Speculation on how the flat was formed suggests a transformation of several prehistoric lakes, including Lake Minchin, which was around 120 metres deep, and dried up over 4000 years ago. At that time the lake would have covered most of southwest Bolivia.  

Today the salt flat holds 10 million tonnes of salt formed into a crust, which covers a layer of lacustrine mud interbedded with salt and saturated with brine.   Following rain, during the wet season from November to March, a thin layer of dead calm water forms, and when this happens the flat transforms into the world’s largest mirror – 129km across. As the water evaporates, the crust forms hexagonal formations. The landscape includes the salt, rock formations and cactus studded islands. The islands are remains of the tops of ancient volcanoes which were submerged by Lake Minchin. 

Although animal life is scarce, the flat is a breeding ground for flamingos – drawn to the abundant supply of plankton. The flamingo population includes three of the world’s six species, and is estimated to be around 34000 Andean Flamingos, 100000 James’s Flamingos and 200000 Chilean Flamingos.  

Mining is a crucial source of employment for Bolivian men. Gold and coal mining are notoriously corrupt and exploitive. However, that is not the case for the Colchani co-operative which mines and exports table salt to Brazil. The co-operative manages production and sales and is one of the few food co-operatives in Bolivia that pays fair wages. The process of mining is manual. The crust is cracked until it breaks through to water, the salt is then moulded into piles and dried. When it’s dry, the salt is loaded onto trucks and milled with a hand-operated device. 

Bolivian salt can be bought and consumed domestically in the UK. It doesn’t seem to be expensive and one shopping site reviewer suggests ‘it’s not overly salty, almost mild’. Conversely US food critic Mimi Sheraton described Uyani salt as having an intense deep-sea salty flavour with a slight flush of bitterness. Although not overly salty seems an odd thing to note about salt, I think that Dorset salt, from sea water collected at Chesil beach on Portland is too salty. It is not recommended to eat the salt directly from the Bolivian salt flat. 

Salar de Uyani is the largest lithium reserve in the world – with 70% of the world’s reserve. As such, and because of its popularity as a tourist destination – it provides a significant contribution to the Bolivian economy. This isn’t about lithium, so I'll say no more about that.