Salinas Grandes
A High Altitude Salt Flat Of The Puna At About 3,450 Metres, Straddling The Jujuy Salta Border And Worked By Local Kolla Communities · Purmamarca, Jujuy
The Salinas Grandes is a white salt flat lying on the high Puna plateau at around 3,450 metres, crossed by the highway from Purmamarca to the Chilean border. It is smaller than Bolivia's Uyuni but far easier to reach: a spectacular drive from Purmamarca climbs the Cuesta de Lipan in switchbacks to over 4,100 metres, then drops onto a plain where the white surface stretches to the mountains under an enormous sky. The flat is worked by Kolla communities who cut blocks of salt from rectangular pools, and visits are organised by them from the roadside: a short guided walk onto the salt to see the pools of blue water, and the chance to take the classic perspective photographs. Salt carvings are sold in a small market. In the rainy season a sheet of water can turn the flat into a mirror. The altitude is high enough to cause sickness in people who drove straight up from the valley, the sun is fierce off the white surface, and the wind is cold. The lithium mining boom in the surrounding Puna is a real local controversy, and the communities say so.
Ruta Nacional 52, Salinas Grandes, Jujuy, Purmamarca, Jujuy, Y4618, Argentina
The flat is beside a public highway and can be visited at any time in daylight; community guides meet visitors at the roadside. In the rainy season, roughly January to March, water can cover the surface.