Bolivia: Natives and Portraits in the Bolivian Andes – 10 days

Airport Arrival, Immigration & Customs

Depending on your international flight schedule you will arrive very early in the morning (between 2-6 AM) at El Alto International Airport. The airport is located in the city of El Alto which is on the edge of the Altiplano at 4,023 m (13,200 ft) above La Paz (downtown La Paz is at 12,000 ft). You are now at high altitude; so, you need to be aware of the effects of altitude on your body; you may feel light-headed and short of breath, but that’s normal.  Once we drop down 900 m (3,000 ft) in elevation to your hotel 3,100 m (10,200 ft), you should feel much better.

Upon arrival, you go through Bolivian Immigration for your tourist visa (issued upon arrival) then Customs (Aduana).  Your guide will be waiting for you at the general passenger meeting point, just look for the sign from Sergio Photo Tours.  We will take your luggage to our private vehicle for transport to the hotel.

Private vehicle transport to your hotel

We drive from the airport to the lowest elevation in the city of La Paz down a winding mountain road with breathtaking views of the valley below. We head to Hotel Mitru Sur (or similar) located in the  Calacoto/Achumani neighborhood.  You’ll check in and rest until lunch time (on your own) at the hotel.

The best way to acclimatize to altitude, is to move slowly, drink plenty of water and rest when you are tired.  Acclimatization time is a very personal affair, some do it quickly, and others take more time. It can take a few hours or a few days.  Listen to your body.  We design all high-altitude itineraries with acclimatization time built in.

La Paz city tour

At 2 pm we’ll begin a 4-hour city tour of this fascinating city deep in the heart of the Andes; visiting open air markets, colonial neighborhoods, the witches’ market and take in the vast canyon of La Paz from breathtaking viewpoints.  We return to your hotel so you can rest before dinner.

Hotel & welcome  dinner 

After the city tour concludes you can freshen up and rest before dinner.  We will get to know each other better over dinner and talk about the rest of the trip in detail.  We will make sure everyone is set with all their clothing and equipment questions and anything else they need to do.  Once we leave La Paz, we are not coming back until the end of the trip.  We recommend a light dinner, avoid alcohol and caffeine before bedtime.  During the day you may want to enjoy a Mate de Coca (coca tea), a local herbal tea that helps with acclimatization, but refrain from it at night.  Anise and chamomile teas help with digestion as well.

Keep drinking water, it’s very important for acclimatization.

Hotel: Hotel Mitru Sur (5*)

Meals included:  D

After breakfast we depart and head east to the spine of the Andes…our objective is the high-altitude agricultural valleys as we head towards Mt. Illimani 6,440 m (21,122 ft) sentinel that looms over La Paz. The geographical ruggedness of this region is stunning, and you will see a great deal of canyons, multi-colored cliffs, deep river valleys and never-ending stacks of mountains. Great photographic opportunities abound of people working the fields with stunning backgrounds. We will have lunch at a local restaurant while en-route. We return to the hotel in the late afternoon. Dinner together at a local restaurant.

Hotel: Hotel Mitru Sur (5*)

Meals included:  B, L, D

We depart after breakfast and head via the Altiplano towards the Peninsula of Copacabana and the port-side pilgrimage town of Copacabana. The route goes next to Lake Titicaca on our left and the Cordillera Real on our right, with plenty of spectacular locations for photos of both locations, many including both the lake and the Andes. The road will head north to the Peninsula de Copacabana and across the Strait of Tiquina where the vehicle will cross on a barge and our group will take a motorized boat to the other side to meet our vehicles. Once across you will continue your journey high above the lake with spectacular views of the Altiplano, Lake Titicaca, the Cordilleras Real and Apolobamba and the Islands of the Moon and Sun before arriving in the lakeside town of Copacabana in time for lunch. After checking-in to our hotel on the slopes of the Calvary hill, we can either explore the town a bit or head into the further points of the peninsula where quiet coves hide little villages and hamlets where people still farm and tend to their animals as they have for millennia. We return to our hotel before sunset.  You will have time to freshen up before we have dinner together at a local restaurant.

Hotel: Rosario del Lago (4*)

Meals included:  B, L, D

After breakfast we will depart to the Island of the Sun in a private boat, sailing along the rocky shores of the Peninsula de Copacabana then crossing to the Island of the Sun for about an hour.  We will land on the northern point of the island and head up to the Chincana Inca ruins before continuing south along the crest of the island to our hotel, which is located towards the southern end of the island. We will plan to have a picnic lunch en-route. There is no more spectacular location for a hotel like the Estancia Eco-Lodge with unrivaled views of Lake Titicaca below with the majestic Cordillera Real above. Sunsets and sunrises are a dream come true for anyone lucky to spend the night here. We have a plethora of beautiful scenery to enjoy as we walk across the island, enjoying the peaceful quiet as no motor vehicles are allowed, everything is done on foot. There is no need to walk far, as you can catch the sunset today and the sunrise tomorrow, all within the comfort of your cabin or from the main lodge.

Hotel:  Estancia Eco-Lodge (4*)

Meals included:  B, L, D

For those that like sunrises don’t miss this one in the morning – as the views south to Illimani and the Cordillera Real are stunning!  All you have to do is open your window and there it is! After breakfast we head south to the port which heads down the Stairs of the Inca and the Sacred Water Fountain.  This southern end of the island is where the majority of the people on the island live so we will have time to wander a bit on the narrow trails, talking to people and making portraits.  We will have lunch at lakeside and enjoy some time to relax before we sail back to the mainland.  We board our private boat back to the village Yampupata where our vehicles will be waiting. En-route you will have plenty of opportunities to photograph the local Aymara people tending to their normal daily life; farming, tending to their sheep, sending their kids to school. From Yampupata we head towards Copacabana via a spectacular dirt road high above the lake before arriving in Copacabana after sunset. After a delicious meal of fresh lake trout (or other nice options…) we head to our hotel to rest and sleep soundly for the night.

Hotel: Rosario del Lago (4*)

Meals included:  B, L, D

By now, you should be very well acclimatized after spending a few days in La Paz then moving onto Lake Titicaca and the Island of the Sun.  Today we head into high-altitude territory – the Cordillera de Apolobamba, a little-visited group of glacier-covered mountains next to the Peruvian border, just north of Lake Titicaca.  Our route takes us from Copacabana, back to the Straits of Tiquina and then northwest towards the Gulf of Achacachi and the towns of Santiago de Huata and Achacachi, before beginning the steady climb into the southern Apolobamba Range.  As we leave Lake Titicaca behind, the road meanders across ridges and farmland and we come face to face with the rugged peaks and deep valleys where medicine men make potions that are used throughout the spine of the Andes.  Narrow mountain roads with stunning views of glacier-covered peaks will be the order of the day.

This is the world of the Amautas, Kallawayas and Yatiris…a select group of people who have been keeping secret recipes and perform rituals for generations, only to be shared with the people that need them.  Outsiders do not get to see how the medicines are made, but they can get help from a medicine man in order to cure ailments.  One can feel the spiritual energy as you enter the realm of the Kallawayas.  We will end up in Charazani, a small-town clinging to the side of a very deep canyon where the melting glaciers of the Andes flow into the rivers of the Amazon further to the east.  We will have a picnic lunch en-route and take time to see and speak with the locals before arriving in Charazani at the end of the day.  In this part of the world, accommodations are basic, but we think the trade-off will be worth it.  Dinner and basic overnight accommodations in Charazani.

Hotel: Hostal Mi Tierra (2*)

Meals included:  B, L, D

As we peer around our basecamp for the next couple of days, we can see small villages on far-off ridges, once in a while, plumes of smoke coming from thatched-roof houses.  We are now in Quechua territory.  These are the villages and homes of the Amautas, the wise men of the Andes.   In the period of the Inca dynasty, they were the scholars and teachers of everything the children of the Inca kings needed to know about their society.  This knowledge was maintained through an oral tradition, as they had no written language, and passed it on to future generations.  We will visit a village where these people will perform a ceremony for safe travels, good health and abundance.  Afterwards we will have a traditional lunch overlooking the mountains.  In the afternoon, we head to a canyon that has a very robust population of condors, the sacred bird of the Andes.  We return to Charazani in the late afternoon, after sunset.  Dinner and basic overnight accommodations in Charazani.

Hotel: Hostal Mi Tierra (2*)

Meals included:  B, L, D

The mornings are very quiet in the mountains, and this is a great time to be out and about walking the narrow, steep streets of Charazani.  As the locals begin their slow rhythmic morning pace this is a great time for photos, so take advantage of the opportunity and explore early.  After breakfast we will begin our drive out of the canyon, crossing various passes until we see Lake Titicaca again.  We drop elevation quickly on curvy roads with views of the Apolobamba Range in our rear-view mirror.  The stark shimmering blue of the lake will be a powerful and colorful change from the beige and black mountains.  We will have lunch en-route.  We spend a good amount of time driving on the shores of the lake with breathtaking views of the Cordillera Real on our left.  There will be plenty of time for photos of the locals and landscapes from when we leave Charazani until we arrive in the port of Huatajata.  Dinner and overnight at the Inca Utama hotel.

Hotel: Inca Utama (4*)

Meals included:  B, L, D

The placid mornings on the lake have a peaceful tone and provide a smorgasbord of photo ops when the light is still soft.  We depart after an early breakfast for the brief sail to Suriqui Island, home of the famous Aymara totora reed boat-builders of Lake Titicaca.  These are the same people who Thor Heyerdahl hired to build the Ra II in 1970 from Ethiopian papyrus reeds that sailed from Morocco to Barbados.  We will have lunch at an appointed time before sailing back to the mainland.  The rolling hills next to Lake Titicaca is where we head for more exploration and to catch the sunset.  We return to our hotel in Huatajata for dinner and rest.

Hotel: Inca Utama (4*)

Meals included:  B, L, D

Today is our last day on Lake Titicaca as we head into the heart of the Cordillera Real.  A short drive away is our turn-off so we head high into the Cordillera Real, the massive range that has been keeping watch over us for the past 9 days.  Our destination is the alpine lake and basecamp to Mt. Huayna Potosi 6,088 m (19,970 ft) before we drop into Zongo valley.  As we head directly east on this windy dirt road, little windows of the Cordillera Real will pop into view around every corner, delighting the senses.  Glaciers, rocky summits, fast-moving clouds and historical mining centers and cemeteries are part of what we will see today.

Once at the lake we can take a walk on the edge of the lake, enjoy the heady views and then we drive down the other side to the Zongo Valley where we will have lunch.  The small stream that has been blocked by the damn above us becomes larger and larger as we head down valley.  We will find a nice, secluded spot to pull off and have lunch.  There will be time to chat with the locals and enjoy the views, warmer temperatures and lower altitude.  At an appointed time, we head back up the valley, up and over the hump of the Andes and wind our way back to the city of El Alto and eventually to the city of La Paz.  We should arrive at our hotel in the late afternoon, so you have time to freshen up before our farewell dinner together at a local Bolivian restaurant.

Hotel: Mitru Sur (5*)

Meals included:  B, L, D

Based on your flight schedule, we will coordinate a departure time from the hotel. The ride from hotel to the airport takes 45 minutes. Domestic flights require 1.5 hours before departure and international flights require 3 hours before departure.

Hotel: none

Meals included: none.

End of our services.