Bolivia's Wild Altiplano

A full day in La Paz led by a guide from El Hormigon Armado, an organization working with lustrabotas since 2005 with deep roots in the popular districts. The route runs through the General Cemetery and the surrounding market streets of fish vendors, artisanal hat makers, medicinal plant stalls, and carnival costume workshops serving the Gran Poder festival, a UNESCO Intangible Heritage event. The group crosses the Mercado de Las Brujas and descends into the colonial district, walking Calle Jaen and the small museums around the plaza. The afternoon closes with a cable car ascent on the Red Line teleferico to El Alto, the full scale of the canyon city visible below.

An early morning transfer to El Alto Airport for the Boliviana de Aviacion flight to Uyuni, around one hour. A private 4x4 meets you on arrival and heads south on Route 5 toward San Cristobal, where the original 1600s colonial church still stands alone at the old townsite: in 1999 the entire village was relocated 14 kilometers to clear land above one of Bolivia's largest open-pit zinc, silver and lead deposits. South of here the paved road ends. The Rio Grande crossing is reliably good for vicuñas and ñandus, the large flightless birds of the altiplano, before arrival at Villamar in the mid-to-late afternoon, a sheltered valley at 3,700 meters where llama herds graze against the surrounding volcanic formations.

Flight: La Paz (LPB) to Uyuni (Joya Andina Airport), Boliviana de Aviacion, included.

Pre-dawn departure from Villamar south into Eduardo Avaroa Andean Fauna National Reserve, the longest and most visually intense driving day. First light at Laguna Colorada finds the brick-red algae most vivid and all three Andean flamingo species feeding along the mineral-stained shore. On to the Sol de Manana geothermal field at 4,850 meters, Bolivia's highest, where boiling mud pools churn alongside jets of sulfur vapor against the frozen desert. The route continues via Polques thermal baths, the Salvador Dali Desert, Laguna Blanca, and Laguna Verde at the foot of Licancabur volcano (5,916m), a lake that shifts from white to emerald green when afternoon winds move across it. The return drive passes the Arbol de Piedra, a five-to-seven-meter ventifact shaped by wind-driven sand.

Eduardo Avaroa entrance fee (~$30 USD per person) included

North along the Chilean border on the Ruta de las Joyas Alto Andinas: five high-altitude lagoons inside and adjacent to Eduardo Avaroa National Reserve. Ramaditas, Honda, Charkota, Hedionda, and Canapa host all three Andean flamingo species, and Laguna Hedionda offers the best conditions in Bolivia for close approach to the James's (Puna) flamingo, the rarest of the three. The viewpoint of Ollaguüe volcano (5,868m), still active with visible fumarolic activity, breaks the northern section of the drive. The group crosses the Salar de Chiguana at 3,690 meters before arriving at San Pedro de Quemez in the late afternoon.

Before entering the Salar, the expedition stops at the Cave of the Galaxy near Aguaquisa, containing 225-million-year-old petrified algae formations discovered in 2003 and found nowhere else on earth. Adjacent is the Cueva del Diablo with pre-Columbian burial remains. Then onto the Salar de Uyuni: two hours across 10,582 square kilometers of white salt to Incahuasi Island, a volcanic formation adrift in the expanse, covered with giant cacti and stromatolites. A stop at the Coquesa cave burial site on Tunupa volcano reaches remarkably preserved 500-year-old pre-Columbian mummies via a short steep hike with a community guide. Sunset at Tahua on the northern shore. Optional guided stargazing on the Salar after dark.

From Tahua the route heads northwest onto the Salar de Coipasa, Bolivia's second-largest salt flat and one of the least-visited landscapes in the country. Coipasa contains a permanent lake at its center, its surface shifting between open water and white salt depending on the season. The crossing is genuinely remote, with no fuel, signal, or services for hours. The expedition arrives at Chipaya, home to the Uru-Chipaya: one of the oldest indigenous cultures in the Andes, with a distinct language belonging to the Macro-Mayan family, unrelated to Quechua or Aymara. The community is organized into four ayllus, with distinctive cone-shaped adobe houses and pre-Incan chullpa funerary towers on the surrounding plain. Dinner and overnight with the community.

A morning in Chipaya before departure, with time to walk the surrounding altiplano with a community guide: the red and white dunes, the Lauca River, and the chullpa towers are all within reach on foot, and time permitting there is an opportunity to see Uru-Chipaya weaving and music in practice. The route then heads north and west toward Sajama National Park, into the high plains below Bolivia's three great western volcanoes. Arrival at Tomarapi Ecolodge, with time to walk to the village's colonial adobe church and see Sajama (6,542m) framed behind it. In the early evening, a transfer to the Manasaya thermal baths at the foot of the volcano for a sunset soak with all three peaks visible above.

A gentle start at Laguna Huàña Khota, where flamingos, speckled teal, Andean ibis, and crested duck share the water with Sajama reflected at 6,542 meters. A short walk through the Queñua (Polylepis) forest above the lodge passes through one of the world's highest tree stands at 4,400 meters. Late morning the expedition leaves Sajama National Park. En route to La Paz, a stop at Curahuara de Carangas: a 1587 adobe church containing Renaissance and Mannerist frescoes depicting Catholic and Aymara iconography side by side. Check-in at Hotel MET La Paz for a few hours of rest before the farewell dinner at Gustu, Bolivia's flagship restaurant built around ingredients from all five of the country's ecological zones.

Distance: Tomarapi to La Paz approximately 4.5 hours.

After 10 days in some of the most remote terrain in South America, the final morning is a quiet one. Breakfast at Hotel MET La Paz, then a transfer to El Alto International Airport for your onward flight.