What covers parts of the island's rock?

Coral-like deposits from an ancient lake

Why do travelers take trick photos there?

The flat white horizon removes depth cues

Isla Incahuasi Quiz: Cactus Island in the Uyuni Salt Flat

This Isla Incahuasi quiz crosses the white salt of the Salar de Uyuni to its cactus-covered island in Bolivia. Play an interactive set of 10 questions on the island's name meaning house of the Inca, coral-like rock from an ancient lake, giant cacti hundreds of years old, the world's largest salt flat, its altitude, the rainy-season mirror and lithium beneath the crust.

Start Isla Incahuasi Quiz

🎯 Daily Trivia Challenge • 🧠 10 Questions • ⏱️ 150 Seconds

Question 1 / 10 Time: 150s

Country
Which country is Isla Incahuasi in?
Salt
Which salt flat surrounds the island?
Name
What does Incahuasi mean in Quechua?
Plants
What grows on the island?
Growth
How fast do the cacti grow?
Rock
What covers parts of the island's rock?
Altitude
About how high is the salt flat?
Mirror
What happens when rain covers the flat?
Lithium
Which metal lies in the brine beneath the crust?
Photos
Why do travelers take trick photos there?

Explanations: answer key for all 10 questions

Q1: Which country is Isla Incahuasi in?
Answer: Bolivia
It lies in the southwest highlands.
Q2: Which salt flat surrounds the island?
Answer: Salar de Uyuni
It is the world's largest salt flat.
Q3: What does Incahuasi mean in Quechua?
Answer: House of the Inca
It reflects old routes.
Q4: What grows on the island?
Answer: Giant cacti
Some are many meters tall.
Q5: How fast do the cacti grow?
Answer: About a centimeter a year
Tall ones are very old.
Q6: What covers parts of the island's rock?
Answer: Coral-like deposits from an ancient lake
A prehistoric lake once filled the basin.
Q7: About how high is the salt flat?
Answer: About 3,650 meters
Visitors may feel the thin air.
Q8: What happens when rain covers the flat?
Answer: It becomes a giant mirror
The sky reflects perfectly.
Q9: Which metal lies in the brine beneath the crust?
Answer: Lithium
It is used in batteries.
Q10: Why do travelers take trick photos there?
Answer: The flat white horizon removes depth cues
Toys can look giant.

Giant Cacti on an Island in a Sea of Salt

Isla Incahuasi rises from the middle of the Salar de Uyuni in southwest Bolivia, the largest salt flat in the world, at about 3,650 meters above sea level. Its name means house of the Inca in Quechua. The island is the rocky top of an old volcano, partly covered in coral-like deposits from a prehistoric lake that once filled the basin.

Giant cacti cover the island, some many meters tall. They grow only about a centimeter a year, so the tallest are very old. A trail climbs to the top, where visitors see the white salt stretching in every direction to distant volcanoes.

In the rainy season, a thin layer of water turns the salt flat into a giant mirror reflecting the sky. The flat white horizon also removes depth cues, letting travelers take playful trick photos. Beneath the crust lies brine rich in lithium, a metal used in batteries.

What This Quiz Teaches

Travel fans will enjoy these questions.

Where the island is
What its name means
What grows there
How the salt flat changes
What lies beneath the salt

Did You Know?

Hotels near the salt flat are built from salt blocks.
A train cemetery lies near the town of Uyuni.
Flamingos feed in lagoons farther south.
Nights on the salt flat are very cold.
Tours often last three days across the region.