18 day trip: EXPLORE BOLIVIA

You will take a flight from Santa Cruz to Sucre and then you will be transported to your accommodation in Sucre (takes almost 1 hour to get to the central part of the city).

After breakfast, we will travel to Potosí (it takes around 3 hours), we will have our lunch there and during the afternoon we will go to Casa de la Moneda, after that, you will have free time to walk around this colonial city.

After breakfast , we will visit the surroundings of this nice town, surrounded of colored mountains. At the south part of the city, we can find Puerta del Diablo, Valle de los machos and Cañón del Inca, which are rocks formations which are called the Bolivian old-west because of the color of the rocks and the peculiar formations that can be observed. A nice way to visit this attractions is by horse, it is an incredible experience, but if you prefer to do it by car, we can do it too.

Then we will do a nice trekking to Cañón del Duende,  where you will see many rocks formations, but specially the enter of this canyon which looks as a natural Arc de Triomphe. 

Then we will go to visit Toroyoj, La Torre and Entre Rios, where you will see many rocks formations, rivers and nice scenarios to walk and take photos. 

Finally, we will go back to Tupiza at the end of the day, to spend the night.

At 7:30 after the breakfast, we will go to the viewpoint of Coipasa (Coipasa the second salt of Bolivia with approximately 2500 km2 of the same period of Salar de Uyuni).

Continuing the journey we go to the ancient town of Chipayas, the arrival to this place will take us an hour and 20 minutes approximately, in the place we will appreciate the houses of this culture which has a similarity of ovens. Here we will make a 30 minute stop to take pictures.

After this we will drive around two hours and 30 minutes to Rio Lauca where we will appreciate the Sakewa lagoon.

As second stop in Rio Lauca will be the Chullpares of millenary cultures, it will take us 20 minutes to reach this place where we will have 15 minutes of photography, continuing towards the north we will see the second lagoon called Macaya of the same characteristics of the first but with an area of 6km2.

Finally will take us about 2.5 hours to arrive to Sajama Town.

After the breakfast, we will explore the wonders of the Sajama National Park and its surroundings, where the snow-covered volcano Sajama extends, (the highest mountain in Bolivia located at 6542 meters above sea level).

It will take us 30 minutes to get to see the Huayna Kota lagoon where we will stop for 15 minutes to observe the flamingos feeding in the Andean lagoon and vicuñas. Here we can take some pictures of this beautiful landscape.

Continuing our journey to hot springs that are 40 minutes away, we will stop here for about an hour, so you will have time for a swim and have your lunch. 

After lunch, we will drive approximately one hour to the geysers, on our way we can see the Andean camelids such as alpacas and llamas and also the snowy twins “Parinacota” and “Pomerape”. Arriving to the geysers, we will see the vaporization of the fumaroles, then we will have a walk up to the viewpoint of Huallaqueri (4410m) from where we will have a wonderful panorama of the park and the Sajama Volcano, where we will have a time of 30 minutes for photographs.

Continuing the journey we go to the Bosque de las Queñuas (the queñua forest), the arrival to this place will take us 30 minutes approximately, a endemic sub specie of the region, which is the stem that grows at highest altitude in the world, and we will enjoy camelid wildlife observing (vicuñas, llamas, alpacas). Here we will have a small walk appreciating the beautiful landscape. Finally we will return to our accommodation.

After the breakfast, at 8:00 we will continue our journey and travel to La Paz city, on our way we will visit the colonial church of Curahuara de Carangas, (it will take us two hours to arrive) considered as the “Sistine Chapel of the Altiplano” due to the quality of works of art that are in the interior as the paintings that fill the walls and in several of the frescoes are depicted biblical scenes. We will stop for 30 minutes and take some pictures.

Then we will drive around 40 minutes to Rocas Volcánicas, these rocks have a type of silica lava and red oxidation, their shape is due to the erosion of the wind. Here we will make a break for a picnic lunch.

Continuing on the Patacamaya-Tambo Quemado international road we can observe rectangular adobe constructions called Chullpares de Pataj Chullpa, where you will find bony remains of mummies; At the same time vestiges of the clothes with which the inhabitants buried their dead are appreciated.

Finally, we will arrive to La Paz around 16:00 to stay there.

Today, we will do a city tour around La Paz, during the tour you will visit the Mirador Killi Killi, from where you can appreciate extraordinary views of La Paz city. 

Then, we will make a stop at the Plaza Murillo that is located in the center of La Paz city, it holds the Presidential Palace also known as Palacio Quemado (burned palace), due the number of times it was burned. Then we will continue visiting Plaza Mayor de San Francisco is located in the center of the city of La Paz. It is an urban atrium that unfolds in front of the Basilica of San Francisco and the San Francisco Museum Cultural Center.

After that, we will go to Mercado de las Brujas is a street market located on Linares Street in the center of the city, in the vicinity of the Basilica of San Francisco. Among the main merchandise sold in the Market of the Witches, directed by local sorcerers known as yatiris, potions, dried frogs, medicinal plants such as broom and armadillos used in the rituals of the Andes are included.

During the afternoon, we will do a round trip to El Alto by Teleférico (cable-car), where you will have nice views of the city from a different view. 

After the breakfast, we will travel to the archaeological center of Tiahuanaco-Tiwanaku. The travel time from La Paz to Tiahuanaco – Tiwanaku is 2 hours approximately.

With the entrance to Tiwanaku, you can visit two museums within the enclosure. Photos inside the museums are not allowed.

Inside the Museo Lítico, we can admire the monumental Monolito Bennett, erroneously called «de la Pachamama». Pyramid of Akapana was a pyramid of 800 m. of perimeter and 18 m. of height formed by 7 terraced terraces. Puerta del Sol is the most important attraction of Tiahuanaco, it has an image of the Sun God holding a scepter with bird figures in each hand. Kalasasaya or Temple of the Stone Stops, has an exact design linked to astrology, from this site they were verified with the duration of the solar year and the change of each season. Monolito Ponce is named after the Bolivian archaeologist (Carlos Ponce) who discovered it in 1957. It is one of the best achieved and conserved figures of all Tiahuanaco.

At the end of our visit to the archaeological center, we can enjoy a lunch. We will continue our journey towards Copacabana, that will take us approximately 3 hours of travel. Once there, we will visit the Copacabana Cathedral and The calvary that is located on the top of a hill 900 meters from the center of Copacabana, the ascent is a tradition that pilgrims have especially for Easter or the day of the Virgin.

Lake Titicaca is the highest navigable lake in the world, located in the Andean high plateau in the central Andes, with an average altitude of 3812 MASL. between the territories of Peru and Bolivia. Its maximum depth is estimated at 281 m and its average depth is calculated at 107 m. Its level is irregular and increases during the austral summer.

After breakfast, we start our tour to the Isla del Sol, crossing the lake for about an hour and a half until we reach the southern part of the Isla del Sol, where we visit the Archaeological Remains of Pilkokaina -Temple of the Inca, it is a center religious. Then a short walk along the stairs of Yumani built by our ancestors until we reach the fountain of Youth, there, one can purify themselves by taking a bit of sacred water, it is believed that this fountain is the source of eternal youth, and also we will enjoy the beauty of that beautiful Inca garden, and stay in Isla del Sol.

After breakfast, we will return to Copacabana and then return to La Paz or in case you want to continue to Perú, we can arrange transport to Puno.