Andean Plateau

In September 2024, a group of overlanders gathered in Bolivia for Nomadic Road's Andean Plateau expedition, a 12-day, 2,600-kilometre 4x4 journey across one of South America's most surreal high-altitude landscapes. The route climbed onto the altiplano, where the air thins above 3,500 metres and the horizon stretches further than the eye is built to read. Drivers worked their way across tarmac sections and long stretches of dirt roads, crossing the Salar de Uyuni, the world's largest salt flat at more than 10,000 square kilometres, and pushing south into the Siloli Desert with its scattered volcanic rock formations. Along the way, participants encountered the Laguna Colorada, a red-tinted lagoon dotted with flamingos that seem unfazed by the altitude, and the muted, otherworldly palette of the southern lagunas route. La Paz, the world's highest capital at 3,650 metres, marked the urban counterpoint, all energy and elevation. The Andean Plateau expedition is built around what Nomadic Road participants come for: remoteness, real driving, and landscapes that feel almost alien. Days were long, the cold at altitude bit hard after sundown, and the convoy moved at the pace the terrain allowed. Evenings were spent at private camps and small high-altitude lodges, sharing meals and recapping the day. By the end of the September 2024 edition, the group had crossed salt, sand, volcanic plateau and Andean tarmac, with a shared sense that Bolivia delivers something most travellers never see. For travellers chasing the highest, driest, most visually surreal corner of South America, the September 2024 edition remains one of the most photographically rewarding routes Nomadic Road has run in Bolivia.