We hope you rested well and enjoyed a hearty breakfast at the hotel. Today we depart to the highland valleys that surround La Paz to the south.  Our aim is to take you to see Bolivia from generations past, where few if any tourists go.  We head to the rugged canyons and valleys close to the city of La Paz with magnificent views of the Cordillera Real rising above the badlands and agricultural valleys below.  En-route we visit small hamlets and villages and seeing the campesinos work their agricultural lands fed by the melting waters of Mt. Illimani, as they have for generations. Our lunch spot will be decided once we return to La Paz and see how you are feeling and dealing with the altitude. For sunset, we will head to another location where we will get the best view for the sunset illuminating Mt. Illimani and the rest of the Cordillera Real.  At an appropriate time, we return to La Paz for dinner and rest.

Hotel: Mitru Sur (5*)

Meals Included: B, L, D

After breakfast we head down valley from La Paz and exit through the high desert and badlands that lead us to the ramparts of Mt. Illimani.  After we circle along the base of this massive Andean giant we drop into the valley where the La Paz River cuts a deep gorge between the Royal Mountain Range and the Quimsa Cruz Mountain Range. Once across to the other side we begin a slow and steady climb through multi-colored canyons and mesas where every turn opens into another impressive landscape.  Lunch en route.  Rich agricultural fields are surround by narrow canyons and gorges as we work our way to the remote town of Araca and a family-owned ranch.  We should arrive in Teneria in the late afternoon, just in time for the sun to set on Mt. Illimani’s west face.  Dinner and overnight in Teneria.

Hotel: Hacienda Teneria (2*)

Meals Included: B, L, D

The Quimsa Cruz Range means the Three Crosses Range (quimsa is the # 3 in the Aymara language) and as we begin to crest it, we pass by hidden silver mines, glaciers and continue following a narrow ribbon of road that snakes its way southeast towards the eucalyptus forests further east.  These deep Andean valleys were transformed from having native Queñua trees to being planted extensively with Eucalyptus trees which were introduced to South America by the Australians.  These fast-growing straight trees are used for mine shaft timber and building construction.  Picnic lunch en-route.  Lakes, rivers and glaciers dripping from this range accompany us as we drop quickly into the temperate climate of Quime.  Dinner and overnight in this colonial-era mining town.

Hotel:  Private cabin in Quime (3*)

Meals Included: B, L, D

We need to depart early today as our most imposing challenge today will be crossing the Sacambaya River that cuts the border between the Departments of La Paz and Cochabamba. We drop into the narrow valleys once again and follow the road into the semi-tropical valleys where citrus, bananas, corn and other legumes are planted. The scenery turns from brown and grey to green on green. We need to find the lowest sector for crossing the river onto the other side. The river is wide and broken into channels with tropical forest all around. Once across we begin a lengthy climb from the low river valley to the high rolling hills of the Cochabamba department. We wind our way over the tops of these massive Andean hills and begin the gradual descent into the town of Independencia and onwards to the city of Cochabamba. The views en-route are nothing short of breath-taking and will provide plenty of photo ops along the way. This is a long day, full of adventure and stunning scenery. We arrive in Cochabamba in the late afternoon. Dinner at a local restaurant and rest.

Hotel: Hotel Cochabamba (4*)

Meals Included: B, L, D

From the Mediterranean climate of Cochabamba, we head south to the highlands of Cochabamba and northern Potosi Department. Today will be an easy and brief drive and well worth it as the many different landscapes and people we will encounter while en-route to Toro-Toro National Park will be memorable. We begin on paved roads then transition to a few dirt sections then a cobble-stone road until the village of Toro-Toro. It is the least visited of the highland parks but has everything from plateaus to canyons and caves to dinosaur tracks and Inca ruins. As we get closer to the park the immense geologic uplift shows its impressive scale and its canyons and mesas become bigger and more rugged. You have arrived at Bolivia’s Jurassic Park! After checking-in to our hotel, we head to see giant dinosaur tracks that climb their way out of a creek and into the hills. Lunch then, we head to Ciudad Itas, a swiss-cheese-like landscape at the top of the ridge overlooking Toro-Toro. A hike takes into small canyons and eroded sandstone caves with grand views of the central Bolivian Andes. We plan to return to the hotel before sunset so we can catch it in the comfort of a nice chair and a drink.

Hotel: Rumi Kipu (3*)

Meals Included: B, L, D

A trek into a canyon that was cut by water and wind over Millenia into a Jurassic landscape.  A couple of hours later we will be close to six hundred feet lower at the bottom of a canyon with waterfalls and abundant birdlife in a green oasis with a large stream coming straight out of the rock wall!  A crystal-clear creek cuts its way into the bedrock and creates incredible paths and pools where we can enjoy swimming (bring a bathing suit) and lounge in a surreal canyon.  Picnic lunch in the canyon.  Down here time stands still.  After enjoying the peace and tranquility, we return up to the plateau and continue to our hotel for a brief rest and clean-up.  We can decide where to go for the rest of the afternoon based on how you feel after our morning hike.  Dinner and overnight in Toro-Toro.

Hotel: Rumi Kipu (3*)

Meals Included: B, L, D

We depart early after breakfast as we have a long day south to Sucre (8,850'), the capital of Bolivia, where a temperate climate will be enjoyed.  Sucre is known as the White City due to the colonial buildings being painted a bright white and capped off with orange roof tiles, reminiscent of Spain and seen all over Latin America.  We will have lunch en-route. This is where the first call of independence was declared in what used to be called Alto Peru and has now become Bolivia and Peru.  Many battles for independence against colonial Spanish forces were played out in the region.  This is where Simon Bolivar and Antonio Jose de Sucre had come through during various battles in the central Andes and eventually liberated Ecuador (1822), Peru (1824) and Bolivia (1825) from the Spanish Crown.  Bolivia’s Supreme Court and the Independence Museum are located as well as many colonial-era haciendas that still stand in the undulating valleys all around Sucre.  We will check-in to our hotel (formerly a wealthy landowner’s home during the Spanish colonial period) and rest before heading out for a walk at the main plaza.  Dinner and overnight in Sucre.

Hotel: Boutique La Posada (4*)

Meals Included: B, L, D

We have an early departure from Sucre, heading northeast into the rolling hills of the Andes, past cultural lands where corn, wheat and other crops are grown by the local Yampara people. We have lunch en-route or in the village of Presto before continuing onto El Palmar proper. We spend some time enjoying the scenery with casual walks to the beautiful oasis along the river with crystalline waters and tall palm trees on the horizon. We return to Sucre in the late afternoon in time for a refresh before heading out for dinner. Overnight in Sucre.

Hotel: Boutique La Posada (4*)

Meals Included: B, L, D

After breakfast, we begin our journey back in time, to the Yampara Culture village of Tarabuco. The route is replete with gorgeous landscapes all around – rounded hills, canyons, plateaus and small rivers and the drive is only an hour and a half, so it’s brief. Tarabuco is famous for the Pujlay Festival, a celebration of one of Bolivia’s most unique societies, the Tarabuqueños, who have a long history of being tough, invincible warriors. They are also master weavers and some of the finest textiles to be found in South America come from this region! Today is the Sunday market, so you get to experience real-life trading and traditional exchange of good and services in an open-air market scene. It’s colorful, exciting and full of photo ops. We will have lunch in Tarabuco at an appointed time then have another go at the colorful scene as we wander the streets of this village. You will be transported into another time as the portraits you will capture will be iconic. We begin our return to Sucre in the mid-afternoon and arrive in time for dinner and overnight in Sucre.

Hotel: Boutique La Posada (4*)

Meals Included: B, L, D

Our direction today is south to Potosi – the sky-high imperial colonial city that made the Spanish rich. The drive is a little over 3 hours on a paved road. The terrain and scenery along the way encompasses river canyons, rugged mountains and plateaus where people are still farming the land in traditional ways. We should arrive in Potosi, the world’s highest major city at a lofty 13,430 ft in the late morning. Lunch in a very nice restaurant in the main plaza of Potosi upon arrival.  After a hearty lunch we head down to a hidden valley and the 400-year-old colonial-era Hacienda Cayara.  This hacienda-turned-hotel is a living museum, a working hacienda and a place to experience Bolivia’s colorful Spanish colonial history. The hacienda sits much lower in altitude than Potosi and is about 45 minutes from the main plaza. Dinner and overnight stay at Hacienda Cayara.

Hotel Hacienda Cayara (4*)

Meals included: B, L, D

After breakfast, we head up to Potosi. The drive climbs slowly through agricultural canyons before a quick uphill to the actual city of Potosi, once bigger and richer than London during its heyday! Potosi is one of the highest capitals in the world at 13,430 ft which was founded in 1545 (now 478 years old!). Once there we could visit a mine so you can see the hard-working miners toiling to get any minerals out of this mountain. The work is brutal and dangerous, and the people are tough and hardened. The architectural variety of buildings and churches from the colonial times make it one of Bolivia's most unique and oldest cities. Lunch at a very nice restaurant called the Silver Fork. Afterwards, we head to the Casa de la Moneda (The Spanish Mint) and have a visit where some of the most beautiful and unique collections of Spanish colonial-era paintings and pure silver objects are protected. The museum shows the methods developed by the Spanish to melt silver, stamp coins, and deliver it all to the Spanish king. It offers a very good timeline from the pre-Spanish period all the way though to modern times. It is truly worth the visit. We return to Hacienda Cayara to enjoy the peace and quiet that the wealthy class enjoyed when they oversaw the New World. Dinner and overnight.

Hotel: Hacienda Cayara (4*)

Meals Included: B, L, D

We continue heading west and drop down quickly from the lofty Andes of Potosi onto the Bolivian Altiplano. En-route we visit a fabulous train museum which was an integral business part of the trio of Tin Baron’s around the turn of the 20th century – Simon Patiño, Carlos Aramayo and Moritz Hochschild – considered some of the richest men in the world at that time. Much of their wealth came from silver and tin mining, which was used for airplanes, food cans and other much-needed modern industrial inventions especially during World Wars 1 & 2. After a brief visit to the museum, we finish dropping down to the Altiplano at 12,000’ and within striking distance to the world’s largest salt flat – The Salar de Uyuni. The terrain and scenery along the way encompass river canyons, ridges, open puna and abandoned mining centers. The overland journey lasts about four hours to the town of Uyuni with stops included. Upon arrival in Uyuni, we will have lunch before entering the salt flats and head north to the foot of the massive volcano called Thunupa on the northern edge of the salt flats. Our accommodations are in the small village of Tahua where the locals now own and run a community-led effort to run a hotel made of salt. Most of the building structure is made of salt bricks, cut from the Uyuni salt flats by hand and built brick-by-salty brick! In the middle of nowhere it’s nice to have a proper hotel with private bathrooms and hot water. There will be time to refresh before going out onto the salt flats for sunset! Dinner and overnight in Tahua.

Hotel: Tayka de Sal - Tahua (4*)

Meals Included: B, L, D

We depart pre-sunrise for a 10-minute drive to the edge of the salt flats today. There are few things more spectacular than watching the sun rise over the eastern horizon and reflecting on the salt flats of Uyuni! The sun rises quickly at these latitudes so after we enjoy the sunrise we return to the hotel for a proper breakfast. After a brief rest, we depart inland to the caves of Chiquini, where we will see ancient formations of petrified plants. The route winds across canyons and overlooks where you will see the different faces of the salt flats. We will have lunch en-route and return to the hotel for a brief rest in the afternoon. Later we drive up the flanks of Mt. Thunupa, an extinct volcano seeing from every angle in the region as it dominates the skyline at 17,460’/5,321 m and is used for navigation. Upon arrival to the end of the road we take a 5-minute walk around the flanks to a hidden cave where mummies lie from the pre-Inca period. The volcano was active during the Pleistocene era with lava flows constructing the layers of the volcano and there are signs that it was once glaciated until about 15,000 years ago and it has signs of being an island on Lake Minchin and Lake Tauca which once were part of the Altiplano. The jaw-dropping views from this height will show you that you still cannot see the edges of the world’s largest salt flat. We return to the edge of the salar for sunset and then return to the hotel for dinner and rest.

Hotel: Tayka de Sal - Tahua (4*)

Meals Included: B, L, D

Every day there is a new sunrise spectacle, and this is our last at the salt flats. We return to the hotel for breakfast then depart soon thereafter for our journey north around Mt. Thunupa and towards Bolivia’s first National Park, Sajama. We retrace our route as we head north to Salinas de Garci Mendoza, then towards the western border of Bolivia with Chile. En route we will see countless volcanoes across the vast Altiplano with many landscapes that few people ever see – rivers, lagoons, lakes, undulating scrubland, high-altitude wetlands and lots of wildlife; vicuñas, hawks, falcons, Rheas, ducks, and more. We will have a picnic lunch at a pre-determined location in a city of stone called Pumiri (natural lava flow canyons and gargoyle-like rock formations) where we will take time for a nice walk and see natural lava rock formations that look like animals, monsters and strange beings. We continue north along remote roads before arriving at the south-western entrance to Sajama National Park. After checking-in at the park, we head to the lagoon below Mt. Sajama, a location where Bolivia’s tallest mountain; Mt. Sajama (21,460 ft / 6,542 m) is reflected and is the perfect location for both sunrise and sunset. Depending on the current weather conditions we can stay for sunset or head to the NW corner of the park to our hostel for the night in the village of Tomarapi which is about 45 minutes away. Upon arrival into Eco-hostal Tomarapi, we will check-in and freshen up before dinner. This is a community-owned enterprise that was founded in 2003 with the hopes of developing a sustainable business to support the tourism sector in the Sajama National Park.

Hostal Tomarapi (3*)

Meals included: B, L, D

Our last sunrise in Sajama. The sun lights up the eastern flank of this strato-volcano and the church in Tomarapi. We will try to get access to see the inside of this church and enjoy the frescoes and art that adorn the inside.  We want to visit the geyser fields this morning, so we head west and into the mountains. A nice drive will take us to a canyon where we can walk around the area and see the colorful geysers and creeks with hot steamy water. We could also spend an hour at the hot springs looking at Mt. Sajama’s north face (bring a bathing suit) before we have lunch at our hotel. After lunch we depart on a dirt road around Mt. Sajama that takes us to the southern edge of the park and onto the paved road between La Paz and Arica, Chile. Our route heads east and crosses the Altiplano via canyons and river valleys and the undulating Altiplano. We will stop and visit some “chullpas” (funerary towers) on the way north to La Paz. Our estimated arrival in La Paz should be late afternoon.  After checking-in at our hotel, you can rest and relax for a bit. We will get together for a final group dinner at 7 PM at a local restaurant and enjoy one last session of recounting stories of this journey where landscapes, people and wildlife were an integral part of our experience. We return to the hotel for some rest.

Hotel Mitru Sur (5*)

Meals included: B, L, D 

Day 17 / Sun / October 13:  FREE AM – PM departure to the airport

This morning you have a FREE day to you as you wish, or we can plan to visit a nearby location that you may have missed earlier in the trip. We can decide based on how you feel today. Lunch at a local restaurant. The afternoon is free to pack and relax before the transfer to the airport. We will take you to the airport at an appointed time, based on your flight schedule. Drive time from hotel to the airport is 45 minutes. We need to arrive 2 ½ - 3 hours before any international departure. We will coordinate your departure time.

Hotel Mitru Sur (5*)

Meals included: B, L (*Dinner served on your flight)

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