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Bolivia

The world's largest salt flat, a 6,000 m cordillera above the capital, and an Amazon park owned by the community that runs it.

4 expeditions across deserts, salt & tablelands, amazon & rainforest, high andes. Windows on offer: May–Oct (dry) · Jan–Mar (mirror) · May–Oct · Apr–Oct · May–Sep.

Expeditions
4
Open to plan
4
Inquire only
0
Days
6–9

What Bolivia is actually good at

Bolivia is the most altitude-dominated country in the catalog. La Paz sits at 3,600 m, Titicaca at 3,812 m, the Uyuni salar at 3,656 m, and the Sud Lípez camps run to 4,900 m. Almost every itinerary here starts high and goes higher, so acclimatisation is the design constraint rather than a courtesy.

The Salar de Uyuni is 10,582 km² and works as two entirely different trips depending on water. The Cordillera Real runs about 125 km northeast of La Paz with more than a dozen peaks above 5,500 m, and Huayna Potosí at 6,088 m is real mountaineering however often it is described as the easiest 6,000er in the world. In the north, Madidi drops from above 5,000 m to 200 m of lowland Amazon inside one park, and Chalalán is owned outright by the Quechua-Tacana community of San José de Uchupiamonas.

Access and permits

Country-level constraints that decide whether a date is possible.

  • The Uyuni mirror is a wet-season phenomenon only. In mirror season Isla Incahuasi is frequently unreachable and drivers reroute at short notice.
  • Route conditions on Huayna Potosí change year to year with glacier retreat, and the guide's call in the field is final.
  • Isla del Sol's northern sector has been closed at times by community decision; we confirm the current position rather than promise the full traverse.
  • Rurrenabaque's airstrip closes in poor weather with some regularity, so every Madidi itinerary carries a buffer day.

The Bolivia catalog

Bolivia

Deserts, Salt & Tablelands

Uyuni Salt Sky Crossing

Salar de Uyuni & Sud Lípez

In the dry months the hexagonal salt crust runs to the horizon; in the rains a thin sheet of water turns the salar into sky. Colored lagoons hold flamingos; nights freeze hard under thin air.

8 daysModerateMay–Oct (dry) · Jan–Mar (mirror)

$5,500–$8,500

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Bolivia

Amazon & Rainforest

Madidi Amazon Traverse

Madidi National Park

From Andean cloud forest to lowland Amazon in one protected corridor. Jaguar country; river camps listen for night hunters.

9 daysChallengingMay–Oct

$7,200–$10,500

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Bolivia

Deserts, Salt & Tablelands

Lake Titicaca Island Circuit

Lago Titicaca & Isla del Sol (Bolivia)

Inca paths ring the islands of the highest lake that working boats still cross. Thin light turns the water silver; a few reed craft hold on among the fibreglass.

6 daysEasy–ModerateApr–Oct

$4,500–$6,800

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Bolivia

High Andes

Cordillera Real Ascent

Cordillera Real & Huayna Potosí

Glacier travel above La Paz on peaks that catch first sun. Condors work the icefalls while camps sit on rock islands in snow.

8 daysChallengingMay–Sep

$5,800–$8,800

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Something else

Combine Bolivia with a neighbour

Most private journeys cross a border — the Atacama to Uyuni crossing, Copán into Guatemala, Iguazú from both sides. Tell us the shape you want and we will say whether the logistics hold together.

Private & custom