HIGHLANDS OF BOLIVIA

Highlands of Bolivia: 7 Days Tour

Day 1 La Paz. City Tour and Moon Valley
Description

Transfer in La Paz.

Live the vibrant and colorful La Paz!

Enjoy the contrast and variety of the most interesting sites in La Paz for about 7 hours. Visit San Francisco Church, the biggest handicraft market in town known as the Witches Market. Short walk on Jaen Street and Plaza Murillo where you will see the Government Palace, the local Cathedral and the Congress building.

Enjoy a delicious snack of Salteñas a Bolivian pastry that everyone loves, or api con pasteles, a local purple corn drink.

Ride on one of the lines of the longest cable car in the world and be amazed by the beautiful Illimani, the snowcapped mountain, eternal guardian of La Paz. Continue to the South of La Paz and drive you through some southern neighborhoods like San Miguel and others.

Choose two of the following activities to complete your special visit in la Paz

- A Visit to the Moon Valley, well known for its eroded surface that resembles an out of this world the landscape.
- A visit to the home and workshop of one of our best known ceramists in Bolivia, Mario Sarabia, who tell us about his inspiration and his work.
- A Visit to the Moon Valley, well known for its eroded surface that resembles an out of this world the landscape.
- A visit to the home and workshop of one of our best known ceramists in Bolivia, Mario Sarabia, who tell us about his inspiration and his work.
- The gallery of Gaston Ugalde, a remarkable Bolivian artist.
- The Ethnography and Folklore museum.
- A workshop where the polleras, traditional women skirts are made.
- Other sites downtown.

Note: Municipal museums are closed on Monday and gallery visits must be booked in advance.

Overnight at the hotel of your choice.

Day 2 La Paz – Tiwanaku
Description

Breakfast at hotel.

Back to the origin of the Incas…

Breakfast and departure from La Paz to El Alto. Arrival to Laja, the original site of the foundation of La Paz. Travel through the Altiplano admiring the amazing landscapes.

Arrival to Tiwanaku, seat of one of the oldest American cultures, considered the cradle of the American man and one of the most advanced cultures in development at that time.

Visit the local museums and the archaeological site with the Kalasasaya temple the Gate of the Sun, the monoliths Ponce and Fraile; the Akapana pyramid and the Semi underground temple.

Lunch at a local restaurant.

Before returning to La Paz, visit to Puma Punku, a part of the Tiahuanaco complex. The name means the door of the Puma. The site has an occidental court without walls, a central hall and small area of megalithic stone terraces. There are also a few walls. This is one of the most recent developments in the ongoing work of the Tiwanaku diggings.

Return to La Paz.

Overnight at the hotel of your choice.

Day 3 La Paz – Copacabana
Description

Breakfast at hotel.

The trip goes through the highlands of Bolivia, passing by Huarina, the first village on the shore of Lake Titicaca. We then continue on the eastern side of the lake until the strait of Tiquina (2 hours) that connects the minor with the major lake. On route we will visit a workshop where Totora Reed boats are made by the youngest generations of the Limachi’s who participated in the world expeditions of Thor Heyerdahl. We cross the strait by boat and then continue driving to Copacabana. The landscape that combines views of Lake Titicaca with the Andean Range is certainly breathtaking (1-hour drive).

Visit the local village, the local streets the Sanctuary of the dark skin Virgin, the handcrafts markets and the local products market.

Lunch in Copacabana.

Short walk to the shore of Lake Titicaca to board the boats that will transfer us to Sun Island. Visit the Pilkocaina temple and hike to La Estancia Ecolodge.

Dinner and overnight at La Estancia del Lago in standard room.

*Optional stay in Copacabana*

Day 4 Copacabana – Sun Island – Moon Island – La Paz
Description

Breakfast and short hike to the village of Yumani, seeing on the way the agricultural terraces.

Descend on the Staircase of the Inca after drinking from the fountain of eternal youth.

Boat ride to Moon Island to visit the Sacred Temple of the Virgins of the Sun. Aphtapi lunch.

The views of Lake Titicaca and the Royal Range are certainly breathtaking.

Return to Copacabana and drive back to La Paz.

Overnight at the hotel of your choice.

Day 5 Uyuni - Incahuasi Island - Coquesa – Colchani
Description

Breakfast at hotel.

Transfer out. Flight LPB/UYU.

Departure from the hotel and visit to Colchani. Walk on a plant where salt with iodine is processed by the locals. Visit to the small market where handcrafts are made on salt.

Enter the magnificent Sal Flats, see the way local people gather salt for processing it. Discover why the eyes of the Salt Flats are boiling. Continue your journey on the Salt Flats and have a unique photo session in a great plain of Salt where perspective is only a theory.

Visit Incahuasi Island where gigantic cacti grow making the landscape even more unique.

Walk on a petrified coral path and drive to the northern shore of the Uyuni Salt Flats to Coquesa where the views of Salar de Uyuni are again different and just as impressive.

Short hike on the hillside, to the entrance of the Cave of the Coquesa mummies.

Enjoy lunch in the middle of the Salt Flats.

Return to Colchani watching the amazing sunset on the Salt Flats.

Dinner and overnight at a Salt Hotel in Colchani.

Day 6 Colchani - Laguna Hedionda - Ojo De Perdiz
Description

Breakfast at the hotel. Departure from Colchani. Visit the train cemetery where we find a very unusual train repair shop, machines are from the late 1800 and have stopped working.

These trains lay on an isolated flatland where the wind is their eternal companion, becoming an icon of Uyuni.

Continue to Laguna Cañapa and Laguna Hedionda, passing by the small Andean towns and the Valley of the Rocks. These Lagoons are known for its natural inhabitants: the flamingos that parade on the shore on the company of other smaller birds. Lunch on route.

Enter the vast Desert of Siloli, seeing some of the native animals of the area such as herds of wild vicuñas feeding. With a bit of luck, we may also see vizcachas, a type of wild long tailed rabbit.

Dinner and overnight at Ojo de Perdiz Desert Hotel.

Day 7 Ojo De Perdiz - Laguna Colorada – Uyuni
Description

Breakfast and departure from Ojo de Perdiz, driving on the amazing Desert of Siloli where the famous Stone Tree stands.

Arrival to the western side of Laguna Colorada, the main nesting place for 3 varieties of South American flamingoes .

Visit the Sol de Mañana Fumaroles, where we see the earth in activity.

Continue to the Chalviri Lagoon where, if desired, one can take a bath in the hot springs of this region.

Drive through Dali’s Desert until Laguna Blanca and Laguna Verde, where the turquoise green of the waters merge into a surreal landscape.

Lunch on route.

Return to Uyuni.

Transfer out Flight UYU/LPB.