26-days Trip Experience Bolivia actively
- Varied landscape: subtropical area, plateau, Andes mountains, desert, salt flats, volcanoes, lakes, valleys
- Hiking: in El Refugio Los Volcanes, in the Cordillera de los Frailes, the Condoriri Trekking, in N.P. Torotoro
- Cycling: downhill biking on the Most Dangerous Road in the World
- Jeep tour through the Salar de Uyuni
- Special cities: Sucre, La Paz
- National parks: N.P. Amboró, N.P. Avaroa, N.P. Torotoro
 | On this trip you will be actively engaged while you get a very complete picture of all the beauty that Bolivia has to offer. Finally, you travel from Cochabamba to the little visited but beautiful N.P. Torotoro where you visit a huge cave and the stone city, Ciudad Itas. You can see dinosaur foot prints and the endangered red-headed macaw before taking a bath under the waterfall El Vergel. You finish the journey in Sa. Cruz. |
During this trip you will travel at high altitude. To prevent as much as possible that you suffer from altitude sickness, the trip is composed in such a way that you travel step by step to higher altitude. That way your body can get used to the altitude. We advise you to read information about altitude sickness.
Compose your own Bolivia Trip.
This is an example trip; you can adjust this trip in consultation.
Route: Santa Cruz - N.P. Amboró, El Refugio Los Volcanes - Samaipata - Sucre - Cordillera de los Frailes - Uyuni - Salar de Uyuni/N.P. Avaroa - Uyuni - La Paz - Yolosa - La Paz - Cochabamba - N.P. Torotoro - Cochabamba - Sa. Cruz
Day 1: Arrival in Santa Cruz (450 m)
This day you can rest from your journey and get an impression of the city centre with its cosy Plaza. In the Manzana I you can view a temporary exhibition of art. Stay overnight in Sa. Cruz.
 | Day 2: Santa Cruz - El Refugio Los Volcanes, N.P. Amboró (900 m) Day 3: El Refugio Los Volcanes, N.P. Amboró (900 m) |
Day 4: El Refugio Los Volcanes - Samaipata (1,650 m)
In the morning you can go for another walk and after lunch you will be picked up at the exit of El Refugio and brought to Samaipata in 1½ hours. Today lunch is included. Stay overnight in Samaipata.
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| Day 5: Samaipata spotting condors (1,650 m) Day 6: Samaipata (1,650 m) |
Day 7: Sucre (2,750 m)
You arrive either in the morning with the night bus from Samaipata or with your flight from Sa. Cruz.
The rest of the day you have at leisure in the beautiful colonial capital Sucre. You can visit the largest local market of Sucre, the Mercado Campesino, or the ASUR textile museum in Sucre; the region is known for its weaving art. (The ASUR museum is closed on Sundays!)
 | If this day falls on Sunday you will undoubtedly want to make a trip to the famous traditional Sunday market of Tarabuco which is held in the morning. From surrounding villages people come here to buy and sell merchandise and you can find beautiful souvenirs. If you have the 1st morning flight from Sa. If you arrive at Cruz in Sucre around 8.00 am, you can travel straight to Tarabuco. If you arrive by bus from Samaipata in Sucre, the journey to Tarabuco takes about 1½ hours. Stay overnight in Sucre. Tip: Sucre has many large and small restaurants. A lot of peanuts are cultivated in Bolivia. Go try the specialty of Sucre: sopa de maní, peanut soup. It is mainly eaten on Sundays and, in addition to finely ground peanuts, it also contains chicken or beef and crispy fried thin fries floating on top of the soup, delicious! |
Day 8 to 11: Sucre, Cordillera de los Frailes (3,600 m)
Today you start your 4-day trek in the Cordillera de los Frailes, a large mountain range separating the Chuquisaca and Potosí departments. The area that is the habitat of the Jalq'a population offers a wide variety of beautiful nature, culture and archaeology.
You will be picked up at 8.30 hrs. at your hotel to drive the 1½ hour by car to the starting point of the trek at the Chapel of Chataquila. From the chapel, located on the ridge of the Cordillera de los Frailes, you will walk down the Inca path while enjoying the impressive views.
The walk takes about 3 hours and is mainly downhill and easy. You will have lunch in Chaunaca. Then the car takes you to the highest point of the canyon where you will again have a spectacular view.
You will have the choice to walk the remaining distance to Potolo walking or in the car. In Potolo you will have time to visit the town and to visit a local Jalq'a family to see how they live and view their typical weaving art. Around 7 pm dinner is ready and then you spend the night in a comfortable cabaña.
 | The 2nd day will be a long day; today you will walk for about seven hours. From Potolo you will make a wonderful walk to Maragua, located in the crater. The views are fantastic. You will pass by the small village of Chullpa's on the way. The 3rd day is an easier day so you can spend some time in Maragua in the morning. Then the 3 to 4-hours walk from Maragua starts to Marca Rumi and then to Quila Quila, with its colonial church. You will spend the night here in Quila Quila with a local family. The 4th and last day starts with a 30-minute ride by Jeep from Quila Quila to the foot of Mount Obispo, the summit of which lies at 3,453 m. You can climb this mountain, this takes two hours; this climb is not suitable for people with vertigo. |
Day 12: Sucre - Potosí - Uyuni (3,600 m)
In the morning you will take the bus from Sucre via Potosí to Uyuni around 9.30 hrs., where you arrive around 16.00 hrs. Stay overnight in Uyuni.
Day 13 to 15: Uyuni - San Juan, P. Chuvica, or Aguaquiza
You will leave around ten o'clock (private tour) or half past ten (group tour) on this fantastic tour through the Salar de Uyuni.
First you will visit the train cemetery for discarded trains just outside Uyuni. Then you will go to Colchani where you can see artworks made of salt, as well as the process of making kitchen salt and the Salt Museum.
Then you go up the salt flats and you will see the Ojos del Salar, where gases bubble up from beneath the salt flats, and Montones de Sal (salt piles). Then you will visit the Salt Hotel and the island of Incahuasi, where you can take a short walk on the volcanic rocks between the gigantic cacti.
On the way to San Juan, Puerto Chuvica or Aguaquiza where you will spend the night in a basic accommodation, you will visit the Devil's Cave and Galaxia Cristal when time permits.
 | On the second day you drive through the Salar de Chiguana to a lookout point from where you can see the semi-active Ollagüe Volcano. The journey continues through the Silolí Desert and you will see Laguna Cañapa, Laguna Hedionda and Laguna Chiarkota. The next stop is at the Árbol de Piedra (Stone Tree), a rock formation of more than eight meters high. After a visit to Laguna Colorada the day will end close to this lagoon, where you will spend the night in a basic accommodation. The departure on the third day will be very early. First you will visit the geyser Sol de Mañana and afterwards you will have the opportunity to warm up in the natural hot springs of the hot springs (Polques). You will drive through the Salvador Dalí desert and reach Laguna Verde with the nearby Licancabur Volcano and Laguna Blanca. On the way back to Uyuni you will pass Villa Mar, Valle de las Rocas and San Cristóbal. In the evening you take the tourist night bus to La Paz. |
Day 16: La Paz (3,600 m)
If you are awake during the last part of the bus trip from El Alto (4,100 m) to La Paz (3,600 m), you will enjoy the descent! You arrive at the bus station of La Paz around 6.30 hrs. The rest of the day you can explore this fascinating city full of contrasts: rich, poor, modern, traditional, old, new, high, low, all mixed up. You can take a look at some small museums on the Calle Jaén, take the cable car to El Alto (if you did not wake up in the morning, or just want to see it again), go see the articles that are on the witch market be offered or visit the Coca Museum. Stay overnight in La Paz.
Tip: Try to reserve a table at Restaurant Gustu, the best restaurant in the city where only Bolivian products are used for meals. This restaurant gives a lot of disadvantaged young people a job and trains them in the restaurant. A wonderful initiative that deserves support!
Day 17: La Paz - downhill biking to Yolosa - La Paz (3,600 m)
You will be picked up at your hotel to make the downhill bike tour from La Paz to Yolosa. By bus you will be brought to the highest point, La Cumbre (the summit) at 4,700 m. Here you get on your mountain bike, and you cycle down over the Most Dangerous Road in the World to Yolosa, just before Coroico. The distance to be covered is 64 km and you descend more than 3,600 vertical meters (!) A fantastic experience, from the dry Altiplano you descend, through different vegetation zones, to the humid and tropical Yungas. In Yolosa you will receive a lunch and you can use the pool. Then you travel back to La Paz for your overnight stay.
 | Day 18 to 20: La Paz - 3 day Condoriri Trekking with 2x overnight stay in tent Above the mountain village Tuni you will pass scenic lakes and head towards the base of the ice covered Condoriri mountain range, one of the most beautiful and immense mountain ranges of Bolivia. You will start early from La Paz, first on the main road to Copacabana, then turn right into a valley, at the end of which there is a beautiful village named Tuni. It is located directly next to the Tuni Lake, which is used as water reservoir for La Paz. From here you start the trekking with help of mules or donkeys through a scenic valley towards high camp. The trek takes about 3 hours and is not so demanding; the terrain is more or less flat. At Lake Khiar Khota you make camp, excitingly near to the numerous icy giants of the Condoriri mountain range. |
On the 2nd day you have to overcome a 5,000 m high pass, eventually there is some time left to include the 5,250 m high Mirador. As you are already on 4,600 m, the ascend should be managed easily. You carry on towards high camp through wonderful green mountain meadows, next to the wild rocky and icy summits of the Condoriri mountain range. The camp is located underneath the mountain Maria Lloco, which is characterized by a small but very steep ice wall.
On the 3rd day you will see a very special mountain. The Huayna Potosí with its perfectly symmetric summit pyramid is part of the most popular mountains of the country. From every perspective it draws special attention. Unfortunately, it is not that easy ascendable. Today's tour leads us around the mountain, to the starting point for the climb to the Zongo pass. Our taxi is waiting for us at this place and about three hours later we will be back in La Paz. Stay overnight in La Paz.
Day 21: La Paz - Cochabamba (2,570 m)
Today you fly to Cochabamba. The rest of the day you have the opportunity to explore the city. You can go to the huge statue of Christ (el Cristo de la Concordia), from where you can see the whole city. The market La Cancha is so big that it consists of 4 parts and here is really sold everything you can think of.
In the evening you can stroll around the Prado and have dinner in one of the restaurants. There are also nice restaurants in the centre. Stay overnight in Cochabamba.
Tip: A specialty of Cochabamba is Pique a lo Macho, a dish that can be shared with several people and consists of fries with strips of beef, sausages, gravy, onion, tomato, hard-boiled egg, chunks of cheese, often olives and (sharp!) peppers.
 | Day 22 to 24: Cochabamba - N.P. Torotoro (2,713 m) On the 2nd day you drive in about 1½ hours to the starting point for your walk to the stone city, Ciudad Itas at about 3,780 m altitude. |
You will see interesting rock formations and caves, including some with rock paintings, formed millions of years ago by the water (erosion) that flowed through the area. You will make a considerable physical effort, which will certainly be rewarded with an excellent view of the entire park with its valley, canyons and mountain ridges.
In the afternoon you will visit the area that is exposed to the natural elements called Carreras Pampa. The short walk here is easy. You will be able to admire foot prints of various types of dinosaurs. The local guide will alert you to the best-preserved specimens and will explain which dinosaur species they are from. Lunch and dinner are included today. Stay overnight in Torotoro in a basic cabaña.
Also on the 3rd day you will find special experiences. Just outside the village you can see a large number of huge footprints of carnivorous and herbivorous dinosaur species. Then you walk to and through the canyon of Torotoro, over stones and rocks flattened by erosion. From a viewpoint above the canyon you have a fantastic view and hopefully you can see the endangered red-headed macaw, which has its habitat here.
You descend a staircase to the bottom of the canyon to take a refreshing bath in the crystal-clear water from underground caves. Then you start the last part of your walk and you end the adventure with a typical local dish for lunch. Then the journey back to Cochabamba begins. Stay overnight in Cochabamba.
 | Day 25: Cochabamba - Sa. Cruz de la Sierra Day 26: End of journey - return flight |