Ojos de Mar
Lagoons in salt.
Bachelot Pierre J-P — CC BY-SA 3.0 · Bachelot Pierre J-P — CC BY-SA 3.0 · rodoluca — CC BY-SA 3.0 · rodoluca — CC BY-SA 3.0
Tolar Grande is a small, remote village in the heart of the Puna de Atacama, the high, arid plateau of western Salta province, about 380 kilometres from Salta city and 214 from San Antonio de los Cobres, beside the railway line to Chile. Few people live there, and its name comes from the tola, a desert shrub that grows thickly around it. Around it lie some of Argentina's strangest landscapes: the Desierto del Diablo with its vast red plains and carved hills, a «labyrinth» of fossil dunes, white salt flats, and the famous pyramid-shaped Cono de Arita rising from the Arizaro salt flat. About five kilometres before the village are the Ojos de Mar, three small lagoons in a white salt pan whose colour shifts between turquoise and green with the light. The climate is harsh: very dry, with day-to-night swings of up to thirty degrees. Roads are long gravel tracks, so go with an organised tour and an experienced driver in a 4x4, and spend a night in the village.
Lagoons in salt.
The Devil's Desert.
A pyramid in salt.
Provincial Route 27, Puna of Salta, about 380 km from Salta city
By long gravel roads from Salta or San Antonio de los Cobres; an organised 4x4 tour is advised.