Best of Bolivia: La Paz to Atacama

Arrival
On arrival at the airport you will be met by our representative and transferred to your hotel.

La Paz is dizzying in every respect, not only for its well-publicised altitude (3660m), but for its quirky beauty. The city's buildings sprawl across the walls of the canyon and spread spectacularly downwards. On a clear day the snowy Mount Illimani will be a picturesque backdrop to this brilliant city.

La Paz City Tour
Pick-up time 09.00 hrs. from your hotel in La Paz. Our 5 hour tour of La Paz begins with a visit to the Bolivian National Museum of Archaeology which is located in the capital of La Paz and serves as an insightful look into the mystifying relics of Bolivia's past. Wander the halls, gaze at artefacts dating back as far as 1,500 BC and trace the history of the indigenous peoples from eras long forgotten through the art which is still being produced today. From here we head to ‘Mirador Balcón' which offers spectacular views of the city and after a short walk we reach Plaza Murillo and admire the colonial architecture around the square as your guide introduces the culture and history of La Paz and Bolivia. Enjoy a traditional mid morning ‘Salteña' snack as you take in the plaza.

We then wander through Calle Jaen, with its steep, narrow cobblestone alley lined with brightly coloured colonial houses, cafes and museums before taking a cable car to El Alto. You can expect spectacular views and then at the end you are met by your driver and transferred back into town where we visit the Witches' Market. Your guide shares information about Aymara healing and spiritual beliefs as you browse an amazing array of medicinal herbs, folk remedies and talismans. You can even pay to have your fortune told by a shaman who specialises in reading fortunes with coca leaves. We return you to your hotel and you have the remainder of the day at leisure.

Breakfast included.

Depart
Our representative will pick you up from your hotel and transfer you to the airport.

Fly La Paz to Sucre
Today you will take a flight from La Paz to Sucre. Please note, the below flight schedules for the week.

Direct flights:
Sunday: 19.30-20.30 hrs. morning/afternoon flights only with stopover
Monday: 07.00-08.00 hrs. or 19.30-20.30 hrs. or flights with stopover
Tuesday: 10.50-11.50 hrs. or flights with stopover
Wednesday: 19.30-20.30 hrs. morning/afternoon flights only with stopover
Thursday: 10.50-11.50 hrs. or flights with stopover
Friday: 09.35-10.35 or 19.30-20.30 hrs. or flights with stopover
Saturday: only flights with stopover

Airport to Hotel
On arrival at the airport you will be met by our representative and transferred to your hotel.

Breakfast included.

Sucre Tour
This morning we embark on a tour around Sucre, Bolivia's constitutional capital and one of the country's most beloved cities. Enjoy the expertise of a local guide and visit such stops as Sucre's main square, Simon Bolivar Park and Museo de la Recoleta, which overlooks the city centre. We also visit Sucre's vast cemetery which is hailed as one of its most beautiful places before heading to ‘Parque Cretácico' which is home to one of the largest collections of dinosaur footprints in the world. Discovered on the grounds of the local cement company, the footprints have been turned into a major tourist attraction with the creation of a dinosaur-themed park which includes a museum dedicated to the findings, and a collection of life-size dinosaur sculptures including the enormous titanosaurus. We return you to your hotel later in the day.

Breakfast included.

Transfer Sucre to Potosi
Today, our representative will meet you at your accommodation and transfer you to your accommodation in Potosi.

Breakfast included.

Half Day Potosi City Tour
Potosí, the colonial city is characterised by its architecture, its beautiful churches, monasteries, temples, towers, and colonial mansions which decorate the narrow streets of Potosi. Today you will visit several attractions of the city, all of which are a short distance from the city's central plaza, including the city's cathedral and colonial mansions.

Near the central plaza we visit Bolivia's original mint, the Casa de la Moneda. Now a museum, the mint offers a fascinating look into how silver from the region's many mines was pressed into coins and medallions. The museum also has a great collection of paintings and artefacts from several generations of Potosi artists.

We visit the Church of San Francisco, with views across the entire city, and then admire the intricate, pressed stone architecture as you stroll through the narrow streets to the church of San Lorenzo. From San Lorenzo, we head to the central market, where you can try a bowl of k'alaphurka soup, a Potosino specialty consisting of corn, bacon and local vegetables warmed with heated stones. Finally, we visit the Covenant de Santa Teresa where for centuries, Potosi's wealthiest families would send their daughters to join the sisterhood of nuns. Families would then drop off extravagant gifts of jewellery, paintings and furniture to Santa Teresa, which are on display at the Convent's museum.

We also visit Cerro Rico where we can view the entrance to some of this famous mountains dangerous mines. We haven't included the tour inside the mines themselves but if you are brave enough this can be added as an optional extra.

Potosi Hotel to Uyuni Hotel
Today you will be picked up from your accommodation in Potosi and driven to your accommodation in Uyuni.

Altiplano Crossing Day 1
You will be collected from your hotel in the morning to begin your journey south. Pick-up time 05.40 hrs. for the flight from La Paz to Uyuni. Estimated arrival time 08.40 hrs in Uyuni.

Your first stop is the Train Cemetery near Uyuni, where you can explore a huge rusting collection of disused English trains that once crisscrossed Bolivia. It’s said that more than one of them was robbed at the hands of the infamous Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid while on the run from the law in South America. In the village of Colchani is an opportunity to observe the salt processing operations, Salt museum and even purchase your very own bag of Uyuni salt.
Begin your explorations of the famous Salar de Uyuni, one of the big highlights of the continent. It’s difficult to comprehend its enormity, blindingly white and impossibly flat, the largest salt flats in the world span an area of over 10,500 square kilometres. On closer inspection you will see that the salt dries into repetitive hexagonal shapes with jagged salty edges sharp to the touch.

Visit a hotel made entirely of salt blocks before visiting the Ojos del Salar/eyes of the salt flat where bubbling gases escape from underneath. Thought to have restorative powers, it is not uncommon to see rotund local ladies sitting in the knee-deep water splashing themselves liberally. Another photography stop at the some montones del sal/salt piles, where salt is dug up and piled into a series of cones to drain the excess water before being transported for processing.

You will visit Incahuasi/cactus island, a small hill of erupting in the middle of the flats. Take a short walk over the island alongside huge prickly cacti several times your height and enjoy the fabulous panoramic views. You’ll also have a chance to mess around with the lack of perspective in silly photographs. In the rainy season the salt flats are covered with a layer of water creating a mesmerising mirror effect. Although stunning, the water restricts access to Incahuasi and may result in diversions as vehicles are unable to cross the flooded flats.

Continue on to your evening’s accommodation.

Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner included.

Altiplano Crossing Day 2
Your journey continues driving through the Silolí Desert where you will get to see the Árbol de Piedra. Wind has eroded the rock haphazardly, leaving a bizarre tree like formation over eight metres high. This afternoon you will pass a series of lagoons - Altoandinas: Ramaditas, Honda, Chiarkota, Hedionda and Cañapa. From here you will arrive at a viewpoint from where you will have a good view of the semi-active Ollagüe Volcano.

As you drive along the tracks be sure to keep a keen eye out for local wildlife. The elusive Vicuna call the Altiplano home, though their rusty brown wool coat often camouflages them against the mountains and grass. As you get closer to small villages you will see herds of llamas, often accompanied by their Bolivian owner – usually a short older woman with two long plaits, a bowler hat and big skirts. You may see an impossibly big rabbit bounding through the grass; these are in fact viscacha, a South American rodent from the Chinchilla family.

Next is a photographer’s dream - Laguna Colorada/Red Lagoon. Sitting beneath a series of colourful rolling mountains, the lagoon is tinged a dark orangey-red with algae and dotted with large pools of white borax deposits. The endangered Andean flamingo gathers in vast numbers to feed on the bountiful algae. They are impossible to count, appearing as a pink haze around the edge of the water, only breaking formation when one is startled prompting a group to suddenly take flight.
Continue to your night’s accommodation.

Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner included.

Altiplano Crossing Day 3 - Arrive in Atacama
Continuing your journey, you will pass the Salvador Dali desert, so called for its resemblance to the famous artist’s surrealist paintings. Next you can take a dip in some thermal hot springs pool on the edge of a huge lake. There’s changing facilities, bathrooms and a tiny shop with unreliable opening hours. You will also visit big steaming geysers and bubbling pools of volcanic mud.

Your final stop is Laguna Verde/Green Lagoon at the base of Licancabur volcano. Watch carefully and see how the wind disturbs the water and agitates the resident algae that creates the vibrant green hue. Finally, you reach the Hito Cajon border of Bolivia and Chile. Once you have completed the immigration procedures you will say goodbye to your local driver and guide and take a shared transfer down the winding road to San Pedro de Atacama.

Breakfast and Lunch included.