HIGHLIGHTS OF BOLIVIA
Santa Cruz, Samaipata, Sucre, Tarabuco, Potosi, Uyuni, Salt Flats, Oruro and La Paz
Nine days
DAY1: Santa Cruz
Reception at the airport in Santa Cruz and transfer to hotel. Afternoon city tour. Located on the eastern tropical plains, Santa Cruz is well known for its mixture of colonial and modern architecture. Unusual species of animáis and exotic birds can be seen at the local zoo. Luxurious hotels, restaurants and nightclubs offer a wide variety of entertainment.
Overnight accommodations
DAY 2: Santa Cruz / Samaipata / Santa Cruz
Breakfast. Full Day Visit to the Samaipata ruins. At only one and a half hour drive from Santa Cruz, you reach the ruins of Samaipata, where you can see strange carvings on a giant rock representing a snake and many other enigmatic figures. These ruins generated countless archaeological debates, and have inspired Erick Von Daenicken in his extraterrestrial theories. UNESCO also declared the Samaipata ruins: “The Historical and Cultural Legacy of Mankind”.
Overnight accommodations (B/L)
DAY 3: Santa Cruz / Sucre
Breakfast. Transfer to the airport for your flight to Sucre. In Sucre reception at the airport and transfer to your hotel. Afternoon City tour.
Sucre, the constitutional capital of Bolivia, is a living expression of both colonial and modern times. The Cathedral, churches and cloisters of La Recoleta, San Felipe and Guadalupe, the House of Liberty, where Simón Bolívar signed the Declaration of Independence, the Freedom Bell at San Francisco cloister, the second oldest university in South América, San Francisco Xavier, as well as the university Museum offer fine examples of anthropological research, colonial and modern art. Sucre and Potosí are the most representative examples of the colonial time and art in the Andes and a visit to these cities takes you back to the 17th century. Sucre was also declared by UNESCO as “The Historical and Cultural Legacy of Mankind”.
Overnight accommdations (B)
DAY 4: Sucre / Tarabuco / Sucre
Breakfast. Full day visit to Tarabucos Market (Sundays only)
Visit the Tarabuco Sunday native fair. Full day visit to the Sunday Native Fair of Tarabuco. On Sunday Tarabuco became a fantasy of colors; Indian costumes and a fabulous market. The natives in Tarabuco still use a leather helmet similar to the one used by the Conquerors.
Continué to Candelaria Hacienda and enjoy a country lunch and the dance of “Pujllay” the most authentic of our folklore expressions. Return to Sucre by mid afternoon.
Overnight accommdations (B/L)
DAY 5: Sucre / Potosi
Breakfast. Bus transfer to bus station for regular bus to Potosí
At 3 hours journey (paved road) from Sucre, you reach Potosí, the famous Colonial City, and source of silver during colonial times. The rich mountain towers over the city, and according to legend, it has produced enough silver to build a solid silver bridge from Potosí to Madrid. The Cathedral and the church of San Francisco. Potosí was also declared by UNESCO as “The Historical and Cultural Legacy of Mankind”. PM City Tour.
Overnight accommodations (B)
DAY 6: Potosi /Uyuni
Breakfast. Early in the morning visit the Casa de la Moneda (Royal Mint), with its wooden machinery used to make the silver coins for Spain during the colony and a visit to a mine are the main local attractions. Transfer to the bus station for regular bus to Uyuni. Uyuni the highest and largest Salt Lake in the world (10,000 KM2) surrounded by an impressive panorama. On the edge, visitors can see natives extracting salt with lost in time methods.
Overnight accommodations (B)
DAY 7: Uyuni / Salt Flats / Uyuni / Oruro
Breakfast. Pick up from your hotel for a full day tour of Salt Lake and Isla Pescado
The largest salt fíat on Earth, located on the Bolivian Andean Altiplano with 12.000 square Km; the Bolivian Andes offer stunning sceneries which can be hardly matched. It has to be -a once in your life time journey-. The noise of silence makes the heart beat faster and the surreal pentagons of crystalline salt, the puré sky, the cacti and the flamingos, will certainly make you feel that there is not place like this in the whole world
Drive to “Isla Pescado” . *At a distance this island has the shape of a fish. Its historical ñame is Inka Wasi. It is located at the center of the Uyuni salt pan. Nature has bestowed a singular type of flora on this place. The surface rocks contain fossils of marine algae. This is the largest island in the group that forms an isolated oasis-type ecosystem within the salt pan; the landscape against the background of the salt pans that extend to the horizon makes it an ideal place for photography fans. Lunch. Afternoon return to Uyuni. Transfer to hotel for day use room while waiting for the night train to Oruro. Late transfer to the train station.
Overnight on the train. (B/L)
DAY 8: Oruro / La Paz
Breakfast. Reception in Oruro and transfer to the bus station for regular bus to La Paz. Transfer to your hotel.
Overnight accommodations (B)
DAY 9: Depart La Paz.
Breakfast. Transfer to the airport for your flight to your next destination or return home (B)
