A mirror in the wet season. A field of white geometry in the dry. No wrong month to come.
Most people think visiting the Salar de Uyuni is only good during the rainy three-month window. They are missing out...
The wet season — the mirror.
A shallow sheet of water turns the whole flat into a reflection the size of a small country. No ripple, no current. At sunrise and sunset the color pours in and the water hands the whole sky back to you, doubled. At night, the stars land in the mirror too — the Milky Way overhead and underfoot at once.
The dry season — the white.
No water, and a different kind of beauty. Endless hexagon tiles, the blinding white that makes a single figure look like the last person on earth. Isla Incahuasi rising out of it, covered in giant centuries-old cactus. Long, clear nights for astrophotography under skies with almost no light pollution. And because the surface is hard and dry, we drive further and shoot corners the crowds never reach.
You don't collect the Salar. You feel it.
Why go with me to Salar de Uyuni?
1. We drive our own 4x4s, so the light decides the day, not a schedule. When the water goes still or the sky starts to turn, we go there.
2. We shoot the edges of the day. Dawn and dusk are the whole point. That is when we work. I put you in position before the light arrives, and we stay out past when most tours have left.
3. Small groups, on purpose. A mirror does not need a crowd standing in it. No people means you get the frame, the room, and your photo.
4. Year-round, not a three-month window for the flooded rainy period. I know where to be in the flood for the mirror, and also know where to be in the dry for the white and the cleanest stars.
5. I handle everything but the shutter: timing, vehicles, lodging, food, permits, and acclimatization. You carry your camera and your imagination.
6. No canned routes. This is custom designed. Tell me what you want to shoot, and I build the days around it. I also have back-up locations. Always.
Small Groups
a mirror needs no crowd
12,000 ft / 3,660 m
altitude is the real gear check
All Handled
you just carry your camera
Why travel with Sergio...
1. You shoot the corners most people drive past. I got to a lot of these places before the crowds, some before the roads, so I know where the quiet still is.
2. It took decades to explore and come to know my favorite regions. That led to self-publishing two books on Bolivia...The Altiplano and Madidi regions.
3. You are leaning on the real thing, not a brochure. Forty years photographing the Andes and the Amazon, thirty years guiding people here from across the planet.
4. You only go where I have already stood. If I have not photographed a place myself, I will not hand you to a stranger to figure it out.
5. You are never guessing at the light or the season. I have run the Salar in the summer flood and the winter dry, at new moon and under full light, for years. We go to the right places.
"I have been to a few salt flats in my years, Australia, Africa, Argentina, Utah....but the Salar de Uyuni...is another planet altogether. I almost ran out of card space, but deleted some backups and managed to get home with the most amazing reflections and abstracts of my life. My sincere thanks to you and your team. My dreams did come true!"
Brian S.
Phoenix, AZ
"Can you say magic in Spanish? That would be the one word to describe my experience last February. The light, clouds and reflections...the stars at night! I was pampered at the hotel and loved the delicious Bolivian food. Patricio was a great photo guide and he knew all the incredible locations. I will pass your name along to my photo club. They're going to be jealous..."
Sarah B.,
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
"At first I was skeptical, then I was surprised, after a week I was a believer. You kept your promises and delivered on time, every time. I know Bolivia is the wild wild west of South America, but you made it seem like a walk in the park. Thank you for such a wonderful time, and for taking care of me and my wife. She was thrilled with her photos. Use me as a referral anytime."
Rigo W. Calero
Madrid, Spain
Let's Pick Your Season…
