A5220FJmarcelop
11 Oct 2022
Excelente empresa!! Todo funcionó muy bien, grandes conductores, puntuales y atentos.
Autos 4x4 cómodos en excelentes condiciones lo que brinda seguridad al grupo.
Toda la comida servida durante los Tours fue de gran calidad.
¡Recomiendo encarecidamente esta empresa!
Son profesionales que se preocupan por nuestra comodidad y seguridad.
We had such an amazing and unforgettable experience, with 2 days 1 night visit to the Salar de Uyuni and then heading south towards the border with Chile. If we could go back, we'd probably choose the 3 days 2 nights trip, totally worth it.
Shout out to our guide, Eric, he's been the cherry on the cake. It made us feel safe and enjoy the trip 100%, turning into driver, chef and photographer at will!
We had a nice car, clean and safe.
The desert is incredibile and worth any long trip you might need to reach Uyuni.
Don't let the lack of reviews fool you, Mundicontact Expeditions have over 15 years of experience in the business and it shows. (They're a service provider for another agency with hundreds of excellent reviews here on TA.) As a solo traveler, most agencies will simply quote a shared tour with up to 5-6 passengers in a vehicle or I would have to pay 5-6x the per person cost to do a private tour.
Doris Rojas at Mundicontact was the only agent that gave me reasonable options: a) letting me join just a few other travelers (another plus: they will run a tour with just 3 passengers for the price/person that's competitive with other agencies shared tour costs) on a tour starting in Uyuni or b) I could do a private tour staying in hostels or hotels (both options with private bathrooms) starting in either Uyuni or San Pedro de Atacama.
Of all the agencies I contacted, the offers Doris proposed for all the options mentioned above were the most competitive, price-wise and also in terms of quality/price ratio. (Well equipped vehicle with satellite tracking, oxygen, sat phone, all entrance fees, food and beverages during the tour included.)
After some research, I realized that depending on your interests, your itinerary options depend heavily on your accommodation choices. For instance, to visit or stay in the Ojo de Perdiz desert above 4000m, your only options there or nearby are either the Tayka de Desierto Hotel or the Hotel los Flamencos. For the Uyuni Salt Flat part of the tour, if you want to stay further away from Uyuni in smaller villages like Coquesa or Tahua instead of the more touristy Colchani, your accommodation options are limited by what's available there. Many agencies do not even guarantee a stay or a visit at these smaller villages on the other side of the sal flat in the standard package tour. (Note: this option will not be possible if doing the tour when the Salar is flooded, unless you specifically want to go to the Tunupa volcano. In which case, it would be logistically more sensible to arrange to start/end your trip in Oruro)
In the end, I ended up booking a private excursion for 3 days/2 nights from San Pedro de Atacama ending in Uyuni with stays at Tayka de Desierto and Tayka de Sal Hotels. Mundicontact has a counterpart in San Pedro de Atacama to coordinate the Chile-Bolivia transfer portion as well. To make the cost of the private tour for a single person within my budget, Doris let me choose a shared transfer from SPdA to the border (a short 40-min ride) and options to transfer back to Chile (a bus from Uyuni-Calama or Uyuni-SPdA via a shared service) the day after the tour. The tour included a sunset picnic over the Salar near the Tunupa Volcano.
I chose to take the bus to Calama as I had a rental car to pick up there and wanted to overnight in Uyuni to rest up. All in all, Mundicontact tailored the trip to my wants in terms of itinerary and gave me recommendations that I was grateful for during my trip while staying within the constraints of my budget.
My guide/driver/travel companion was Apolinar Flores (Poli) who has been driving for Mundicontact for many years. He was courteous, knowledgeable, and careful as an off-road driver. I'm accustomed to driving 4x4 tracks myself and was very happy with how Poli navigated the terrains. As a guide, he explained various topics from the geologic history of the visited areas, various indigenous communities, and the flaura/fauna. At the same time, he demonstrated intellectual humility when asked about things he did not know. He was also experienced in helping guests with altitude sickness, something I was grateful for as I experienced some mild symptoms during my first night staying at 4500m.
The booking and payment process was via bank transfer in either USD or Bolivinos (price-wise it was better in USD at the current exchange rate). I was nervous at first, but within 24-48 hrs of paying the deposit (10-40%), I was forwarded direct confirmation emails from the hotels where I'd be staying. This was also helpful as I needed these documents to upload to the Bolivia's visa application portal. The final payment was only required by the end of the tour. For those wishing to pay with a cc, I used Wise for the transfer, which allows cc/apple pay funding options.
This is a boutique family-run travel agency with an extensive knowledge in the region as well as many years of experience operating high-quality customized tours.
I highly recommend Mundicontact and would consider them for my future trips to the area. Although I did the tour in Spanish, Mundicontact has also operated excursions with interpreters for international guests from a variety of backgrounds.