Into Bolivia's Forgotten Amazon: The Moxos Expedition

It runs in the dry season, May to October. These months give navigable rivers on the Mamore, passable savanna in the Beni, clear conditions on the Choro high pass, and the fewest mosquitoes in the lowlands. Dates are set with you when you book, and the trip can also run as a private departure.

The headline rate of $4,200 per person is the best-value price at the full group of ten. The per-person cost is higher for smaller parties, since the fixed costs of the river vessel, the reserve logistics, and the ground team are shared across fewer people; the full scale of rates from two to ten travelers is shown on the page.

A deposit of $1,050 per person, twenty-five percent of the ten-guest rate, secures your place, with the balance due before departure. You can pay by whichever method suits you, whether card, bank transfer, or wire.

The expedition is capped at ten guests. The river vessel, the reserve bivouac, and the vehicles all limit numbers, and a small group keeps the footprint light across some very sensitive places.

It rates as demanding, the hardest trip in the range, mainly because of its length and variety rather than any single extreme. Over nineteen days you trek, raft, ride, and travel by river and road, with early starts and a wide swing from high cold to lowland heat. You should be fit, adaptable, and comfortable with consecutive active days and simple conditions.

Days six to eight are a supported three-day trek on the pre-Inca Choro trail, starting near La Cumbre and crossing the Apacheta Chukura pass at 4,870 meters before descending more than 3,500 meters into the Yungas. A mule team carries the gear, but the long descent on stone paving is hard on the knees, so trekking poles and broken-in boots matter.

No technical skills are required, but a good base of fitness and some downhill conditioning make the Choro section much more comfortable. The rest of the expedition is active rather than strenuous, with river travel, short forest walks, and a horseback leg.

The first days around La Paz and Lake Titicaca sit between 3,600 and 3,900 meters and serve as acclimatization before the Choro pass at 4,870 meters on Day 6. After the trek the route drops to the warm Beni lowlands, where altitude is no longer a factor. Take the early days steady, hydrate well, and consult your doctor about altitude medication if you have any heart or respiratory condition.

Yellow fever vaccination is strongly recommended and is required for onward travel to some countries, so carry your certificate. Malaria prophylaxis is recommended for the lowland Amazon portion. Confirm current advice with a travel clinic well before departure, and bring strong insect repellent.

The Beni and the Mamore are hot and humid. The dry-season timing keeps insect numbers down, but mosquitoes are still present, so pack light long-sleeved layers and repellent alongside the warm gear you need for the high Andes at the start.

Comprehensive travel insurance is mandatory and must cover both trekking to around 4,870 meters and remote medical evacuation, since the reserve and river sections are far from a hospital. We ask for your policy details before departure.

For three days on the Rio Mamore you travel aboard the Tambaqui, a river vessel that becomes your base deep in the Amazon, with simple cabins, meals on board, and small-boat and walking excursions for wildlife, including pink river dolphins and caimans.

You join a ranger patrol inside the Beni Biosphere Reserve and take part in a bioindicator survey alongside Tsimane communities, with a bivouac inside the reserve. It is hands-on conservation work rather than a drive-through, and the access depends on a direct relationship with the communities who manage the land.

Yes. Near Trinidad you take part in an active survey of a Moxos loma, one of the raised earthworks of this pre-Columbian culture, contributing data to an ongoing research program. It is a genuine working site, not a staged visit, so the day is led by the pace and priorities of the research.

La Paz, Trinidad, and Santa Cruz have coverage. The Choro trek, the Beni reserve, and the river vessel are off-grid, with little or no signal for those stretches. Treat them as a genuine disconnection and let people know your schedule in advance.

It ranges widely: comfortable hotels in La Paz, Copacabana, San Ignacio de Moxos, and Trinidad; supported tent camps on the Choro trail; a bivouac in the Beni reserve with the Tsimane; and cabins aboard the Tambaqui on the river. The remote sections are basic by design, which is simply the cost of reaching them.

You need to cover two climates: warm trekking layers, a hat and gloves, and a waterproof for the high Andes and the Choro pass, and light long-sleeved clothing, sun protection, and repellent for the Amazon. Add broken-in boots, trekking poles, a daypack, and a dry bag for cameras on the river.

It suits travelers who want depth and range over comfort, and who are drawn as much to the Moxos culture and the conservation work as to the wildlife. If you want a single-base wildlife lodge or a gentle pace, this is not that trip; if you want to cross Bolivia from the high Andes to the deep Amazon in one journey, it is.