If you’re watching your sodium intake, you might want to be careful visiting the Salar de Uyuni, which at 4,086 square miles is the largest salt flat in the world. Lying in the modern-day departments of Potosí and Oruro, the Salar de Uyuni was formed by the slow transformation of several prehistoric lakes, which created a thick crust of salt over a briny pool that happens to contain an estimated 50-70% of the world’s lithium preserves. Lithium, which is the key ingredient for all kinds of useful things like, let’s see—batteries!—is in understandably high demand, and the last few decades have seen a bevy of foreign corporations attempt to stake claims on the Salar de Uyuni, only to be refused by the Bolivian government, who’s planning on doing its own extracting this time around.

Luckily, foreigners can still visit. Exceptionally flat, the Salar de Uyuni serves as a major transport route across the Altiplano—but drive carefully! The salt flat is also the breeding ground for certain species of pink flamingo, which, at the right time of year, you can observe in all their one-legged glory.