Salar de Surire Natural Monument is the most southerly section of the Lauca Biosphere. The name translates into salt flat of the Suri, where Suri refers to the Rhea, a flightless bird that also goes by the local name Nandu.

The area is part of the high Andean steppe and features a large salt pan, dotted with small salt lakes where three species of flamingos gorge on saline critters in the shallow waters.

The salt pan is actively mined for borax but only a small section at the time, which leaves the rest of the Salar to the abundant wildlife.

The best place to see the flamingos is to drive up the A253 dirt road to the lakes on the northern shore. Here you may also spot andean goose and crested duck.

Vicunas, llamas, alpacas and viscachas are pretty common and with some luck you may encounter Nandu or Andean fox.

The Termas de Polloquere are located way down south in the salar. You may take a dip here but there are no facilities whatsoever.

We visited Salar de Surire in July 2011.