1 - La Paz City Tour – Valle de la Luna (3315m/10.876ft)
At 08h00 we meet to go on a private tour of the city. We’ll visit a few museums as well as the church and convent San Francisco. After lunch we descend to the southern part of La Paz to visit the Valle de la Luna; mistakenly called a valley the Valle de la Luna is made up of strange rock formations that give it its lunar landscape. We return to the centre in the late-afternoon and the evening is free to explore La Paz by night. Hotel. Distance: 60km/37mi. Transport: 2h00. Visit: 6h00.

2 - La Paz – Copacabana – Trek Isla del Sol - Yumani
At 07:30 we leave for Copacabana in a private vehicle. The road runs parallel to the Titicaca Lake and the Cordillera Real until Copacabana (approx. 3h30). Here a small boat will take us to the extreme north of the Isla del Sol, to the Inca ruins of Chincana (3h) from where we start our trek by following the island's crest to the village of Yumani in the south (approx. 3-4 hours hike). Hotel. Trek: 4h; Elevation: +200m/-100m, +656ft/-328ft. B/L/D
Note: a private boat is at our disposition during 2 days and will transport the bags during the hikes.

3 - Yumani – Yampupata – Trek – Copacabana – La Paz
We walk down the almost 500 steps of the magnificent stone staircase that leads to the Fuente del Inca and here the boat is waiting to take us to Yampupata. We hike along the bay to the Virgin of Lourdes passing by the lost village Zampaya (4-5h). We then take the boat to Copacabana and from here a car back to La Paz. Hotel. Distance: 161km/100mi. Transport: 3h. Trek: 4h. Elevation: +100m/-200m, +328ft/-656ft. B/L

4 - La Paz – Pinaya (3900m/12.795ft) - Puente Roto (4550m/14.927ft)
We leave the hotel in a private vehicle at 07:45 to go to Pinaya (3h30), a small village at the foot of the Illimani at 3900m/12.795ft of altitude. Here we meet with our mule-driver crew and their animals before we begin our trek to the village Puente Roto “Broken Bridge”, the most popular base camp on the west face of the Illimani. Camping. Trek: 3h. Elevation: +650m, +2.132ft. B/L/D

5 - Puente Roto – Mina Aguila (4400m/14.435ft)
We continue our trek following an old trail on the western face of the Illimani. The Illimani is the 2nd highest mountain in Bolivia and the name means “Golden Eagle” in Aymara. Being the highest mountain in the Cordillera Real and its close proximity to La Paz makes this one of the most popular mountains for mountain climbing. We reach Mina Aguilla after a 6 hour hike where we set up our camp. Camping. Trek: 6h. Elevation: +450m/-600m, +1.476ft/-1.968ft. B/L/D

 

6 - Mina Aguila – Tutural Pampa (4000m/13.123ft)
Still on the flanks of the Illimani we ascend to a mountain pass situated at approx. 4800m/15.748ft of altitude. From here we walk down into a valley at the feet of Mururata to the Tutural Pampa ranch. Camping. Trek: 6h. Elevation: +400m/-800m, 1.312ft/-2.624ft. B/L/D

7 - Tutural Pampa – Mina Bolsa Blanca – Río Malpaso (3900m/12.795ft)
We start today’s trek by walking down to the village Tres Rios. From here the mine Bolsa Negra (3700m/12.139ft-2h hike) is not far away. We turn right into a valley close to the Cerro Wari Wachana and a long ascend brings us to the Mina Bolsa Blanca (4800m/15.748ft-3h hike). We walk down to the Rio Malpaso where we install our camp. Camping. Trek: 7h. Elevation: +1100m/-1200m, +3.609ft/-3.937ft. B/L/D

8 - Río Malpaso – Lambate (3420m/11.220ft)
We continue our descend during approx. 1h30 until we reach the trail leading to the Tutural ranch (3400m/11.154ft). From here we mount a small path on the flanks of the Cerro Pararani, passing a mountain pass at 3900m/12.792ft before walking down to the village of Lambate. Camping. Trek: 6h. Elevation: +500m/-980m, +1.640ft/-3.215ft. B/L/D
Note: Today we receive new food and clothes supplies and it will be possible to evacuate possible sick/injured hikers.

9 - Lambate – Kirkuma (2540m/8.333ft)
From Lambate a long descend, with an elevation of more than 1000m/3.280ft, is waiting for us. We cross fields with traditional crops before we end our descend at the river Chunga Mayu (2250m/7.382ft), from where we start our ascend to the community of Kirkuma. Behind us we are able to observe the north-east face of the Illimani. Camping. Trek: 6h. Elevation: +290m/-1170m, +951ft/-3.848ft. B/L/D

10 - Kirkuma – Laguna Kasiri (3950m/12.959ft)
Today we start early with a hard ascend (elevation +1400m/4.593ft). Our route slowly penetrates into the forest while we leave the river Kasiri and continue on the flanks of the Cerro Choro Monte. Now it’s time for a well deserved break to admire the landscape and to get refreshed. After the break we continue our hike and arrive at Laguna Kasiri where we install our camp at the banks of the lake. Camping. Trek: 8h. Elevation: +1410m, +4.593ft. B/L/D

11 - Laguna Kasiri – Solaka (3470m/11.384ft)
We start today’s trek by hiking along the Laguna Kasiri and walk up a trail which brings us to a mountain pass at (4180m/13.714ft). After a small hike we find ourselves on the pre-Colombian trails of the Yunga Cruz trek until we reach Solaka which is our stage for today. Camping. Trek: 7h. Elevation: +230m/-710m, +754ft/-2.329ft. B/L/D

12 - Solaka – Cerro Duraznuni (2610m/8.563ft)
After having crossed the last stream of this part of our trek, we finally enter the jungle. The vegetation gets denser with numerous creepers across the trails that oblige the guide to use his machete. We might stumble upon a few gold-diggers who try their luck in some of the many unexplored valleys in this region. We put up our tents on a grassy flat, before the Cerro Duraznuni, from where we can enjoy the panoramic view. Here we have to be extra attentive once night falls because we might be lucky to receive a visit from the Jucumari (small Andean bear that is also commonly known as the spectacled bear). Camping. Trek: 7h. Elevation: -860m, -2.821ft. B/L/D

13 - Cerro Duraznuni – Chulumani (1740m/5.709ft) – La Paz
As we continue to walk down the temperature continues to rise. We leave the jungle and emerge on the coca and coffee plantations of the Sikilini Ranch (1850m/6.070ft). We regain the trail which takes us to Chulumani, situated on the valley’s other mountainside and after lunch a car brings us back to La Paz. Trek: 4h. Elevation: -870m, -2.854ft. B/L

Options

• Mountaineering: On the 5th day you have the possibility to integrate the ascend of the Illimani or if you are interested in another climb please see our andinism programs here
  
• Trek: If you are interested in trekking please see our trek programs here
  
• Other options: After the 13th day you also have the possibility to continue your trip to Peru (Cusco and the Machu Picchu and/or the floating island Uros and the neighbouring islands Amantani and Taquile), Chile (San Pedro de Atacama and Arica and the Pacific Ocean) or Argentina (Salta).
  
  

  If you have special wishes for a tour that you do not find on these pages i.e. birding, wine tours, adventure sports, archaeological tours etc. please do not hesitate to contact us directly for more information.