Salar Conditions?
 

I am currently in La Paz, Bolivia and was just wondering if anyone has any updated information on the condition of the Salar de Coipasa and/or Salar de Uyuni? Also, any GPS tracks or way points?

Thanks,



Kevin
A hound and his family travel through Latin America

A facebook friend living in Argentina was just on the S de Uyuni - 4 inches of water last week. So if you want to screw up your bike/car with salt water, now's the time!

There's been a number of threads/messages with waypoints in the past couple years (you'll have to do the searching yourself).

OK, here's one:
http://www.horizonsunlimited.com/hub...ighlight=Uyuni

Viajeros gps map
 

Hi kevin,

There is Viajeros gps map:
ViajerosMapas - Mapas gratis para GPS

Don't forget to create a folder before unzip it!

Have a nice ride,
Reginaldo.

Hi,

I just went in some three weeks ago. there's something like 30 cm of water when you go in. I went in at night and still no problems. There's just to many people missing out on the wonderful salar (like our friend above) because of a little water. I fumigated (spray with diesel or oil, the carwashers in Uyuni are experts) the lower end of the bike before going in and covered it with nylon bags. There was salt al over the rear end of the bike anyway. I'm taking apart the linkage now but expect no major corrosion in there. And of course you wash it thorouhgly after you go out.
I camped at the shores of the Isla de pescado, it's something special I tell you. PM me and I'll send you waypoints and a track.

Gert
KLR 650

Hi Kevin,

Just met you a few days ago @ Oberland.... Great trip, keep it up and the rubber side down..

Adventurous greetings,
Coen

I have GPS data for crossing the Salar to Chile
 

If you're looking for GPS tracks to follow to Chile I have some that I can email to you. THey follow the classic 4x4 route to San Pedro de Atacama via Laguna Colorada/Laguna Verde etc.

I crossed at the end of September 2009 when it was dry but if want any other advice drop me an email:

grahamstyles at gmail dot com

I covered this route at the beginning of March.
Because there was still plenty of water on the salar the uyuni, we went only to the Hotel de Sal, 8km within salar.
Then, after washing the bike and fixing carburator in Uyuni, we went for San Cristobal, Alota, close to Volcan Ollague, then along Lagunas to Laguna Colorada, then side trip to Laguna Celeste around Volcan Uturunku, then to Salar de Calchivi, Sol de Manana and south to Laguna Verde.
I have a GPS track and waypoints.

michal.mochon@gmail.com

Cheers

Michal

Has anyone been to the Salar de Uyuni in the last week / few days?
Weather report is looking much drier than 2 weeks ago. How long does it take for the Salar to get dry?

I was about to skip Uyuni because of the same worries, I finally went there less than a week ago with another hubber and we enjoyed the Salar of Uyuni very much. It was a bit wet for about two hundred metres but we went around the wet part and then we had the whole dry Salar to ourselves. Don´t miss it, it´s really worth it going there.

Marco

Sounds good. Did you have to ride through the wet bits, or was it accessible through the dry at some point?
A friend of mine rode through the wet Salar 2 years ago, and of course cleaned the bike afterwards. Still, a few months later he had trouble with bad corrosion around the hard-to-clean parts of the bike (which was definitely due to the Salar, he said).

I was there in mid-march, and there was way too much water on it. Even professional guides were not going further than the hotel. Went there with my truck, still having problems with the electrical par since that:
Beautiful roads of Bolivia | Trans World Expedition

I was in the Salar during the very last days of March, I saw 4x4s getting into wet parts and I thought I couldn´t make it because it looked a bit deep, as I said, we took a very very small detour and we didn´t have to struggle with any bad wet parts. Obviously, after a moment riding on the Salar you will see rust appearing on some parts of the bike and salt sticking everywhere but you have to take the bike for a wash straight afterwards. I thought maybe spraying most of your bike with some wd40 would help.