Highlights:
Welcome at the airport and transfer to your hotel in La Paz. Rest of the day at leisure.
Night flight to Uyuni, 50 minutes duration.
Departure from Uyuni at 7 a.m. We head to the Chilean border “Hito Cajón“ driving for approximately 6 hours, we pass by the nice town of “San Cristobal”. Then we continue southwest towards the border to meet our other companions that come from San Pedro de Atacama (Chile). Before we will stop in the Valley of the Rocks, this bizarre eroded rock formation has hundreds of reddish colored rocks, shapes are due to the constant pounding of the wind and sand. There is a large quantity of viscachas (related to chinchillas) an quirquinchos(armadillos) in the whole area.
Arrival to the border where we wait for a short time while other passengers do the immigrations paper work. Later we drive into the Eduardo Abaroa National Reserve. The first stop is at Laguna Verde at the foothills of Licancabur Volcano, this lagoon has a surface of more than 17 Km2 of salt water with an elevated content of magnesium, arsenic, lead and calcium carbonate, giving this lagoon a brilliant emerald green color.
Then we drive through Dali’s Desert (the name was given because it resembles a painting of Salvador Dali, the Spanish painter). We continue to Sol de Mañana, where we can observe the bubbling mud “fumaroles” emerge from the depths of the earth.
The highlight of the day is the beautiful Red Lagoon (Laguna Colorada), which receives its name from the reddish colored waters, caused by the presence of “plankton”, a microscopic algae of the specie called Dunaliella Salina. The lagoon is also home to the three types of flamingos: The Andean Flamingo, the James Flamingo and the Chilean Flamingo
It’s time to head towards the Hotel where we will overnight, on our way we visit Árbol de Piedra (Tree of Stone), a very particular eolic formation. Arrival to “Tayka del Desierto”, it stands in the middle of a landscape painted by nature with a range of colors, in the heart of Siloli Desert at 4,600 m.a.s.l.
After breakfast we will start towards the “Joyas Andinas Lagoons”, the first one is “Laguna Honda” (Deep Lagoon), is the smallest of the surrounding lagoons and has a great variety of wild ducks and partridges. Then Laguna Hedionda (Smelly Lagoon) is a rather strange lagoon, the sulfur saturated waters give off an odor that can be noticed from several kilometers around the area, finally Cañapa Lagoon is surrounded by mountainous terrain and extinct volcanoes, its green color water contrasts majestically with the flamboyant colored flamingos that inhabited the area.
In a southwest direction to Uyuni, close to the border with Chile is Ollagüe Volcano, it has smoke near the top because is an active volcano.
It is time to go to the Hotel Tayka de Piedra at San Pedro de Quemes for lunch. Close to the hotel it is located the Burned Town, called this way because when Bolivia and Chile where at war at the end of the XIX century, the Chilean Army came through and burnt the old town down.
Inside the magnificent Salar de Uyuni we will drive towards Incahuasi Island located 102 Km. from Uyuni village. It stands in the center of the salt flat, and it is the highlight of today’s trip and the most popular due to the stunning flora and fauna unique in the world, there we will make after the short hike to the top of the island.
We continue our trip driving north entering the magnificent Salar de Uyuni and head towards the hotel for overnight, Hotel Tayka de Sal at the village of Tahua.
At 8 a.m. we start the drive up to the Thunupa Volcano, then after a 2 hours trek we can observe from the “Mirador Colorado” the “Ruta Intersalar”: Salar de Coipasa, Salar de Empexa and the majestic Salar de Uyuni, which can be seen with all its splendor.
Then we are back to the beautiful Salar to take beautiful pictures. Later arrival at the Playa Blanca Hotel which is built of salt blocks, the general construction is very rustic and since it’s setting in the middle of the Salar it has a astonishing landscape. Then we will observe the “Ojos de Agua” (Water Eyes), are holes on the surface of the salt plain, inside which the brine (salt saturated water) located under the superficial crust bubbles up. Finally, we arrive to Colchani whose residents extract the salt using rudimentary tools such as a pick and shovels and later continue to the Train Cemetery (also called Train Graveyard), it is possible to observe a great number of antique steam locomotives and rail wagons of the early railroad days, built mainly in France and England.
Arrival to Uyuni at 5 p.m. approximately.
Night bus to Sucre.
Day at leisure to explore this beautiful city, constitutional capital of Bolivia.
Early we take a privat transportation to the airport to take the 1st day flight to Cochabamba, it is a 45 minutes flight. From the airport of Cochabamba we will take our transportation to Torotoro, which is 6 hours far by a dust road.
We arrive to Torotoro for lunch time. In the afternoon we will register at the Torotoro National Park office and we get ready to get on the way to Umajalanta´s cavern, where we will be able to see stalactites, stalagmites and the blind fishes.
Return to the hotel.
After breakfast, we begin our day walking to the Wayllas Hill; there we will have the pleasure to see hundreds of prints made by different dinosaur species. We will begin a 7km approx. walk going along the edge of the Torotoro Canyon, on our way we will appreciate more dinosaur prints and very attractive rocky formations. We will make a quick stop at the hanging viewpoint, from where we will see at the distance the red forehead parrots. We take a break while we enjoy our box lunch, in the meantime you can enjoy the view of the “El Vergel” waterfalls where you can take a bath in its clear water.
Walk back to Torotoro.
We will visit the PachamamaWasi Lithic Museum where you can see an extensive fossil and stone formation collection. We end visiting the local handicrafts center where you can buy nice and original handicrafts.
After breakfast, we get on the road towards “Ciudad de Itas”, where you will see a series of stone formations located over 4000 masl. This “city” is characterized by labyrinths and galleries similar to a gothic city placed in the base of a rock hill. Caverns link to each other by narrow hallways, stone bridges and you can have the chance to see some of the existing cave paintings.
After lunch return to Cochabamba, where we will arrive at 20:30 approximately.
Dinner in Cochabamba, the capital of the Bolivian gastronomy.
Flight Cochabamba - La Paz - Rurrenabaque. Rest of the day at leisure to enjoy this beautiful town at the entrance of the Bolivian Amazon.
We start the trip by motorboat towards the Ecolodge. The trip takes 5 and ½ hours approximately, navigating the Beni and Tuichi rivers, the trip is an opportunity to enjoy and appreciate beautiful landscapes such as the Bala Canyon, landscapes of the tropical jungle, with the possibility of observing some animals and birds during the trip until arriving at the port of Chalalan (Half way along the route we serve a box lunch or snack). From the main port we start a 25 minute walk following the Jaguar trail until we reach Lake Chalalan where the Ecolodge is located.
In the afternoon, we will have a hike along one of our trails, where the local guide will interpret the humid tropical forest and its traditional uses for the local Quechua-Tacana community. Return by boat to observe some species of monkeys and birds.
After dinner we will enjoy a short walk to observe the nocturnal life of animals, especially variety of insects.
After breakfast, we will have a short trek of 3 to 4 hours along the Tapacaré path, where the local guide will deepen the interpretation of the rain forest and the ecological processes.
In the afternoon, after a short rest (siesta), you will visit the viewpoint from where you can see the beautiful landscape of Lake Chalalan and the extensive primary tropical forest of Madidi National Park. Talk about the history of the community, the Chalalan project and the creation of the Madidi park.
Dinner will be ful of typical food, and later we will enjoy a special activity to observe the impressive shine of the eyes of alligators and other animals.
Very early we will have our 1st hike along one of our trails where you will have your last chance to observe some animals and birds. It is time to walk to the port of Chalalán to board the motor boat back to Rurrenabaque. During the trip it is recommended to be always attentive on the way to observe some animals. The return trip down the river takes only 3 hours.
Arrival to Rurrenabaque and transfer to the airport.
Visit to the historical center of the city and an impressive panoramic excursion by the lines of the Teleférico (Cable Car) towards the south zone of the city. Finally visit to the Moon Valley.
Private transfer to the airport for your flight back home.