The Best of Bolivia - 7 Days

After Breakfast, we will pick you up from your hotel, we will visit the Andean Roots Eco Village, The  Altiplano Museum,  the Handicrafts Village, the adobe domes, and the mortuary towers of the Urus people of Titicaca.

We will then visit Chipayas.  Here, the famous  Limachi family will greet us in the community.  This famous family built the famous totora reed boats who made an epic expedition across the Atlantic Ocean. You can also meet vicuñas, llamas, alpacas, and the almost mythical Suri- All of the South American Cameloids.

We will then head to Urus Iruitos, where we will enjoy a traditional lunch.  Here, we can enjoy Lake Titicaca, sailing through totora reed canals to reach the Floating Islands & Sustainability Project. This Project came about to preserve the local traditions of a 5000-year-old civilization and ensure the survival of their traditional way of life.

We will then head to Kalauta Island on the Hydrofoil. Here, we will visit the ruins of an ancient stone village and one of the largest necropolises in the area with its mysterious Chullpas (burial towers).

*Important

This excursion depends on the water levels on Lake Titicaca, if the water is too shallow, our boat cannot reach these communities.

Finally,  we will head back from the Huatajata community in our private car to your hotel in La Paz.

After your breakfast, will pick you up from your hotel in La Paz and take you to the airport for your flight to Uyuni (not Included). We will be waiting to pick you up from the airport in Uyuni and then will depart for the salt flats tour. Our first stop will be the Train Cemetery, where rusty old trains sit in the desert, a strange and incongruous sight indeed. We will also visit the village of Colchani, where you can see the salt-extracting process and local handicrafts made of, you guessed it, salt. Then, we will start the amazing excursion to the Salt Lake and Isla Incawasi with its giant cactuses. Uyuni Salt Lake is the largest Salt Flat on Earth, located on the Bolivian High-Plateau with over 10.000 Km2. On route, we will visit the Salt Museum and stop at the Cold Water Springs “Ojos de Agua”. Arrive to Incawasi Island, an oasis with formations of algae and fossils. This island is covered by thousands of giant columnar cacti, some of them over a hundred years old, growing to a height of over 12 meters. The Bolivian Andes offers other-worldly scenery which is unparalleled in the world. The sound of silence will make your heart beat faster and the surreal pentagons of crystalline salt, the pure sky, and the giant cacti, certainly make you feel that there is no other place like this in the whole world. The landscape against the background of the salt flats extending to the horizon makes it an ideal place for photography buffs! This almost surreal yet stunning tour ends with a transfer back to your hotel.

Rainy season program (December to April, approx).

Arrival to Uyuni, pick up from the airport or bus station, and then visit the Train Cemetery. Continue to the salt processing workshop in Colchani, which is the entrance town to the Uyuni Salt Lake. We will begin this amazing excursion to the Salt Lake, the largest Salt Flats on Earth, located on the Bolivian High-Plateau with over 10.000 Km2. Visit the Salt Museum and stop at the Cold Water Springs “Ojos de Agua”. In the afternoon we will enjoy the water mirrors and walk along the borders of this magnificent Salt Lake. The Bolivian Andes offer stunning scenery which cannot be compared to any other. The sound of silence makes your heart beat faster and the surreal pentagons of crystalline salt and the clear sky, certainly make you feel that there is no other place like this on the planet. The landscape, against the background of the salt pans extending to the horizon, makes it an ideal place for photography buffs. Our day ends with a transfer to your hotel.

*Important
Kindly remember that during the rainy season, for safety reasons, some highlights of the area are not reachable. We will need your shoe size to provide waterproof boots to be used throughout the tour.

After breakfast, we’ll head out to the north side of the Salar de Uyuni. Here we can have a look at the Coquesa mummies, human archeological remains found in a small cave near the Tunupa Volcano, the guardian of Uyuni Salt Lake. The stone corrals are like a chess board, as shepherds walk by with their llamas, or plant quinoa in the fertile volcanic soil. Towards the crater, layers of sediment with a fantastic variety of colors that appear under a clear blue sky. From here we have a fine vantage point for looking across the immensity of the salt flats.
In the afternoon we will return to your hotel in Uyuni.

Day 5 begins with private transfer from your hotel in Uyuni to Potosi, which takes about four hours. Once we arrive in Potosi, we’ll embark on a fascinating city tour. Potosi was once home to the Spanish colonial silver mint, and for a while the city was one of the richest in the world, with huge amounts of valuable metals extracted from the nearby mountain, Cerro Rico. For this reason, Potosi is packed with colonial architecture, much of it now fading in a testament to the city’s former glory. At 4,090 meters (13,420 ft) above sea level, Potosi is also one of the highest cities in the world.  

We will visit the Casa de la Moneda Museum (the former mint, where African slaves were forced to work as human mules; the exterior of the Tower of Company; the exterior of the Arch of Cobija; and the artisan market in the city’s colonial area.  

After our tour, we’ll head to Sucre, which takes about three and a half hours. When we arrive, we will take you to your Sucre hotel. 

Sucre is the constitutional capital of Bolivia, despite La Paz being the seat of government. Founded by the Spanish in 1538, Sucre is now a pretty colonial city with a pleasant subtropical highland climate. It’s a fine place to explore, and our full-day city tour will show you some of the main highlights.  

First we will visit the House of Liberty Museum, which houses one of the most impressive historical collections in the nation. Moving on, we’ll visit a number of other historically and culturally important destinations, such as the Convent of La Recoleta Museum (which has a great viewing point), the Convent of San Felipe Nery, Bolivar Park, and the main historical monuments.  

If your tour happens to fall on a Sunday, we will head to the famous Tarabuco native fair. On Sunday, Tarabuco becomes a most picturesque market well known for its wonderful Indian weavings. The natives still wear leather helmets similar to those used by the Spanish Conquerors. Afterwards, we’ll head back into Sucre. 

On the morning of Day 7, we’ll pick you up from your hotel and take you to the airport in Sucre for your flight to La Paz. Once you’ve settled in to your hotel, we’ll take you on a tour of this fascinating metropolis.  

Our tour will include a number of the city’s highlights, such as the famous Witches’ Market, where yatiri witch doctors sell their wares and services. We’ll also visit San Francisco Colonial Church and the traditional artisanal crafts sold along Calle Sagarnaga; Plaza Murillo, which is home to the Cathedral of La Paz, the Government Palace and the National Congress; and Calle Jaen, a colorful colonial street with a cluster of interesting museums.  

Our next stop is the Moon Valley, which isn’t a valley at all, but rather an otherworldly maze of canyons, strange rock formations, and giant spires. This peculiar landscape was created by rain and wind erosion, which slowly cut away at the clay and sandstone of the local mountains. The result was this strange, craggy, and multicolored landscape, which wouldn’t look out of place in a science fiction movie.   

After exploring the Moon Valley and its two trails, we’ll head back to La Paz for your transfer to the Airport. This is where our Best of Bolivia tour finishes!