News from Latin America - April 2026

The Uyuni salt flats (or salar) are certainly a highlight for many of our team and clients so we’re very excited about a new hotel opening. Casa Gaston has just opened its doors, offering a truly unique experience as Bolivia’s first luxury ‘hotel museum’.

Designed by the late Bolivian visionary artist Gaston Ugalde, the property is constructed from volcanic stone and coral, blending seamlessly into the surrounding landscape. With just ten exclusive suites inspired by ancient Andean architecture, each room offers uninterrupted views across the salt flats. Guests enjoy an all-inclusive stay, with all meals, local drinks, and two daily excursions included. A minimum stay of two nights applies, allowing time to fully immerse in this extraordinary environment.

To reach the hotel guests must transfer across the salt flats to the foot of the sacred Tunupa volcano, around 1½ hours from Uyuni airport. During the rainy season (January - March), some areas of the salar become inaccessible so alternative routes are arranged to ensure a smooth arrival.

We arrived back safely yesterday morning from (a literally) breath-taking trip to Bolivia in so many ways – it is much more than the Uyuni Salt Flats; lots of diversity with great people! It challenges your senses in every way possible - I&LW (2024)

For those wanting something more low-key but a bit different, the Luna Salada hotel has recently opened two stylish glamping domes next to the hotel. Each dome accommodates up to two guests and shares a deck and fireplace, with meals served in the main hotel.

www.lastfrontiers.com/hotels/bolivia/salar-de-uyuni-and-the-southern-deserts/lunasalada

And in final Uyuni news, the airport is set for a major upgrade. Plans include a new terminal and enhanced infrastructure, with completion expected by early 2028. This will significantly increase capacity and open the door to new flight routes—something we’ll be watching closely.

I don't need to tell you that the Uyuni salt flats were unbelievable and the Hotel Luna Salada - what a great location! Another time we would have stayed another day just to relax in the hotel! - DH (June 2013)

Inkaterra in Peru have recently opened a new property in Cabo Blanco on Peru’s northern coastline. Once a small fishing village, Ernest Hemingway famously stayed here for a month in 1956 while filming portions of ‘The Old Man and the Sea’. The nearest airport is Talara, about an hour south, with convenient access via a two-hour flight from Lima.

True to Inkaterra’s philosophy, the property has been designed in harmony with its natural surroundings. Built entirely from local materials such as sand, bamboo, and driftwood, the hotel blends seamlessly into the region’s distinctive coastline of sand dunes and limestone.

Accommodation currently includes 11 spacious ‘Amura’ suites, each measuring 102 square metres and featuring a private deck, plunge pool, and firepit. Additional villas are available, with standard rooms planned for future development. From June stays will be all-inclusive. Activities are not included but the hotel team can help set up all sorts of water activities and whale watching is also possible in season (July - October).

For those wanting to see more of northern Peru, Talara is 5 hours north of Chiclayo, gateway to exploring the inland mountain kingdom of Chachapoyas.

www.lastfrontiers.com/itineraries/northern-peru

Inkaterra was founded in 1975 with the purpose of highlighting the country’s biodiversity and living cultures and they have a number of properties throughout the country. In and around Cusco they have La Casona, in the heart of the city itself, Hacienda Urubamba in the Sacred Valley of the Incas and the Machu Picchu Pueblo Hotel is in the small town of Aguas Calientes (below the site of Machu Picchu). They also have two lodges in the Peruvian Amazon - Reserva Amazonica and Hacienda Concepcion.

Reserva Amazonica - what an experience! The children loved it. I must say they have the most fabulous staff. We were assigned a guide who was brilliant and was the best guide we had all holiday. We did the canopy walk, a boat trip at night to look for caimans, and a jungle walk and canoe trip to the Sandoval Lake. - SI (August 2011)

In slightly less headline-grabbing news, two of South America’s biggest gateways are about to spend parts of 2026 down a runway. We have heard that Santiago International Airport will undergo runway maintenance from April to August 2026 meaning operations will run on a single runway. Then, just as things return to normal in Santiago, attention shifts to Buenos Aires, with Ezeiza International Airport set for its own runway modernization works between October and November 2026.