Bolivia
If there’s one country that encompasses the diversity of South America, it’s Bolivia. Its split personality of cold Andean thin places, high plain salt flats, and polychromatic deserts in the southwest contrast with the hot, dense jungles and rainforests that cover two thirds of the country bigger than the US state Texas and a little larger than France and Spain combined. There is a lake region, Lago Titicaca, that is considered the birth place of the Inca, and before them the Tiwanaku, and before them the Sun itself. To the southeast, there is the Grand Chaco, a semiarid plains region whose name comes from the Quechua word for “hunting land.” Bolivia would have a Pacific coastline, too, if Chile hadn’t taken it away from them in 1879. In Bolivia, it’s possible to see river dolphins, howler monkeys, crocodiles, jaguars, and lush, green jungle canopies, and also see llamas, and their shorter, fuzzier cousins the alpacas, condors, flamingos, ruddy rocky spires, and, during the rainy season, an endless mirror at Salar de Uyuni.
Extreme, unpredictable, bizarre are some of the words used to describe the experiences and the driving in Bolivia. In the west, the high altitude means less oxygen and lower atmospheric pressure, so it takes longer to cook the over 10,000 varieties of potato said to originate in the region. For more, select Much Ado About Potatoes.
Coca leaves are in abundance and are chewed to combat altitude sickness and for other medicinal purposes. A prime ingredient in Coca-Cola, they have a tumultuous political history in the country and in international relations due to their nefarious use in cocaine production. The country struggles to promote a “zero cocaine but not zero coca” policy.
The people protest frequently and this can stop up traffic to the point that it’s impossible to travel around the country.
Bolivia has two flags. The tricolor represents a nationalistic past and emergence as a nation independent from Spain in 1825. The Wiphala is an ancient flag as multi-colored as the moziac of the more than 36 indigenous peoples living in Bolivia. The major native groups are the Aymara, who are predominant in the La Paz area, and the Quechua, who are predominant in the Cochabamba area. Evo Morales, noted as the first indigenous president, set in motion a number of things to recognize and empower the indigenous peoples of Bolivia, including renaming the country the Plurinational State of Bolivia.
Since the 1920s when British railway workers introduced it to Bolivia, the bowler hat has become a symbol of indigenous Bolivian women called Cholitas. Puffy petticoats, a manta shawl, braided pigtails, and the bowler hat were at first a badge of distain and became over the years symbols of honor. To read more, select The rise of the ‘cholitas.’
Cholita wrestling is popular in El Alto, the highest city in Bolivia at 13,615 ft. El Alto is essentially a suburb of La Paz and, as a point of comparison, Santa Fe, New Mexico is 7,199 ft and Denver, Colorado is 5,280 ft. Visiting these highest urban areas in the United States would only be a step in preparing to acclimate for the highest urban area in Bolivia. It’s suggested not to fly into La Paz for that reason, but to choose to start in the largest city in Bolvia, Santa Cruz, at an altitude of 1,365 ft, selecting places to visit next based on an incremental altitude increase.
There are two capitals in Bolivia. Sucre, the first capital at independence in 1825, is the constitutional and judicial capital. Over time, La Paz became the de facto capital and is the seat for the executive and legislative branches of government. Both are key historic cities.
Silver mining and Jesuit Mission Circuit history can be seen in the cathedrals and hollowed out Cerro Rico near Potosí. Apparently unafraid of mortality, there is a winding “Death Road” just northeast of La Paz, the Yungas Road.
Qhapaq Ñan, a Quechua word meaning “beautiful road,” is the ancient trade route that connected the communities along the Andes. Thousands of miles long, it is possible to hike sections today. The Inca Trail is a 21 mile section of the Qhapaq Ñan that leads to Machu Picchu.
Well-written and rich with information, I highly recommend reading La Paz and Tiwanaku: colour, bowler hats and llama fetuses.
You can almost hear the Andes in the flute and strings of the folklórica of Bolivia. To read about and listen to some music, select 6 Musicians You Need to Know From Bolivia. To listen to some singing in the Quecha language, select Bolivian Music Performance by Los Masis.
Bolivian writing is full of the delightful magical realism common to South American literature and, more recently, delves into science fiction and the intricacies and moral dilemmas of the modern world, especially concerning political corruption and the changing role of women.
For a sampling of authors, select An Introduction to Bolivian Literature in 5 Incredible Authors
…and A Year of Reading the World – Bolivia.
José Edmundo Paz Soldán Ávila, born in Cochabamba in 1967 and now teaching at Cornell University in New York, wrote ten novels, ten collections of short stories, and various translations.
Also teaching at Cornell University is Liliana Colanzi Serrate, born in Santa Cruz in 1981, who has written three short story collections.
To read about the two writers, select Two professors nominated for prestigious short story award.
For a New York Times article by Pico Iyer about Paz Soldán’s book Turing’s Delirium, select Virtual Unrest.
Comidas típicas of Bolivia include rice, potatoes, yucca, and plantains, depending on the region of Bolivia.
Following the European style, restaurants often offer a formula set lunch (almuerzo) with soup (sopa), followed by main course (segundo) with rice, potatoes, meat or chicken, salad, and sometimes finished with a dessert. The formula dinner (cena) is similar with the addition of a more substantial meat, like steak.
Salteña is the popular snack: a baked empanada filled with spicy meat or chicken and chopped vegetables, olives and hard-boiled egg. It is named after the city of Salta in northwest Argentina and often sold from street stalls and eaten with chilli sauce.
Refrescos are carbonated drinks, such as Coca-Cola and other homemade versions.
Jugos are tropical fruit juices often sold from handcarts and market stalls.
Té (tea) and café (coffee) are also widely available. Bolivians drink mates, an herbal tea. And cascara, the outer skin of the coffee cherry, is also made into a drink.
Select the following to read more about the food of Bolivia:
A Guide To Bolivia’s Most Mouthwatering Foods
Top 12 Traditional Foods to Eat in Bolivia
Eating and Drinking in Bolivia
BOLIVIA FROM NORTH TO SOUTH
Pando is the Amazon region at the north bordering Brazil with rainforests and a wildlife preserve.
Beni is in the northeast bordering Brazil, an extremely humid region.
Select How To Visit the Amazon Rainforest in Bolivia for advice about how to get to the jungle lands of the country.
Trinidad on the Río Mamoré is the capital of the Beni Department with the white and gold Catedral de la Santísima Trinidad. It is a base point for Spotting river dolphins in Bolivia.
Rurrenabaque (823 ft, 251 m) is a little town called “Rurre” by locals and is also known as the gateway to the Amazon with monkeys, crocodiles, snakes, and dolphins.
Parque National Madidi, west of Rurrenabaque, ranges from the extremes of the Andean mountains to lowland rainforests with howler monkeys and croaking frogs. For more information select A Guide To Madidi National Park and Bolivian red howler monkey.
La Paz, founded on October 20, 1548 by Alonso de Mendoza, is the highest administrative capital in the world at about 3,600 meters (11,811 feet) above sea level. There is an aerial cable car, Mi Teleférico, that provides dramatic views of La Paz and its prominent mountain, Illimai (6,438 meters/21,122 feet). The Mercado de la Brujas (Witches’ Market) is not for the faint of heart, and the Mercardo Rodriguez is a the largest food market in La Paz. For more, select Walking Tour of La Paz.
El Alto is the highest part of the city sprawl of La Paz at 13,615 ft with stunning views and the opportunity to be at the highest urban point in the country and perhaps the world.
Yungas Road or Calle del Muerte (Death Road) is just north east of La Paz. Bike tours are offered of the steep carved road.
For more information, select Is Bolivia’s Death Road Still the World’s Most Dangerous?
…and Racing Down Bolivia’s Death Road Proved to Me How It Got Its Name.
Valle de la Luna (Moon Valley) just south of La Paz is an otherworldly landscape of jutting rock spires.
Valle de Las Ánimas is another lunarlike landspace with particularly spiky formations perhaps representing the souls the site is named for.
Tiwanaku, near the eastern shores of Lago Titicaca, is an ancient archeological site for the people who lived in the area before the Inca Empire.
Lago Titicaca, 3,812 meters (12,507 feet) above sea level, is the largest high altitude lake in the world and the largest lake in South America. Lago Titicaca is celebrated as the birth place of the Inca and civilizations before the Inca.
Copacabana on the eastern shore of Lago Titicaca provides boat service to Isla del Sol. The Stations of the Cross walk provides stunning views.
For more information, select Copacabana and Lake Titicaca – What to Do, See and Know.
Basilica of Our Lady of Copacabana is the site of the Festival of the Virgen de la Candelaria in early February each year.
Isla del Sol, an island extending into the eastern end of Lago Titicaca from Copacabana, is considered the birth place of the Inca. There are numerous archeological sites throughout the island. For more information, select How To Explore Isla del Sol in a Day or More.
Chullpas are pre-Columbian (read pre-Inca) burial towers built by the Aymara people in what is today the Bolivian Altiplano. They can be found near Lago Titicaca, around Sajama National Park, and in other places in the southwest of Bolivia. For a very well-written article about the Chullpas and what they represent to the past and present cultures, read The Forgotten Towers.
Cochabamba (8,432 ft, 2,790 m), at the heart of Bolivia, provides a cable car to the Cristo de la Concordia statue and opportunities to sample Bolivian cuisine.
For a story about a nearby wildlife sanctuary, select Inti Wara Yassi – Where the Forgotten Animals of Bolivia are Loved.
Santa Cruz (1,365 ft, 416 m) is by far the largest city in Bolivia with a population of 1,364,389. It’s low elevation makes it the ideal starting point for a visit to Bolivia.
For more information, select Santa Cruz and the Eastern Lowlands Travel Guide.
….and 12 Reasons to Visit the Eastern Lowlands of Bolivia.
El Fuerte de Samaipata, just southwest of Santa Cruz, is an archeological site with ruins from the Chané people, the Inca, and the Spanish. Samaipata means “Rest in the Highlands” in the Quecha language. For more about the town, select Samaipata.
Vallegrande continues to remember the revolutionary who died there and it’s possible to Follow the Che Guevara Trail in Bolivia.
Oruro (Uru Uru) 12,169 ft (3,709 m) in the Altiplano was a religious site to the Aymara and Quechua people before the Spanish conquest and became a mining town.
Oruro Carnival is a pre-Lenten festival of color, music and parades, a merging of Aymara and Quechua and Christian religious traditions.
For more information about Bolivia’s parade celebrations, select Fun-Filled Festivals in Bolivia.
Parque Nacional Sajama is home to llamas, alpacas, vicuñas, armadillos, pumas, condors, pink flamingos, and the highest peak in Bolivia: Nevado Sajama (21,463 ft, 6,542 m).
Sucre (9,153 ft, 2,790 m), named for the hero of Bolivia Antonio José de Sucre and the historic place where the Declaration of Independence was signed, is as white-hued as its sugary name suggests. It is the lower altitude, lower population, original, constitutional and judicial capital of Bolivia. For more information, select Sucre Photo Journal – Discovering Bolivia’s White City.
Parque Crétacico, just north of Sucre, has an array of dinosaur prints.
Tarabuco, 65 kilometers southeast of Sucre, has an enchanting market.
Potosí (13,420 ft, 4,090 m), one of the highest towns in the world, has a silver mining history from Spanish colonial times. The rich mountain, Cerro Rico, was valued by the Inca who put the indigenous people they found to work mining it before the Spanish arrived and continued to do the same thing. It became a symbol of prosperity and hope for the country that is featured on the coat of arms. Centuries of silver mining have taken a toll on the people and even the mountain Cerro Rico. To read more, select Bolivia’s Cerro Rico – The Mountain That Eats Men.
Salar de Uyuni is the world’s largest salt flat that becomes an endless mirror during the rainy season. There are salt hotels in the area. Though flat, the elevation is high: 11,995 ft (3,656 m).
Laguna Colorada is a high altitude, red-hued, saltwater lake in the southwest corner of Bolivia. According to legend, the waters of Laguna Colorada are red from the spilled blood of the gods, however, the scientific explanation is algae growth.
Laguna Colorada is a shallow lake known for its flocks of flamingos from December to April.
Termas de Polques is a scenic high altitude hot springs with a pool for bathing in the southwest corner near the border with Chile.
Tupiza is a multi-colored dreamland worth visiting!
For more about this stunning landscape, select Tupiza For Travellers – More Than Just a One Night Stand.
Tarija is in a wine region of Bolivia.
More Information about Bolivia:
Socialism doesn’t work? An emerging middle class of Bolivians would beg to differ
Bolivia to launch COVID-19 mass vaccination following deal with China
Students in Bolivia’s high plateaus are now wearing protective suits
10 Reasons Why You Should Visit Bolivia at Least Once in Your Lifetime
Travel Guide Bolivia
11 Best Things To Do In Bolivia
18 Incredibly Useful Things To Know Before Travelling Bolivia
Preventing Altitude Sickness Bolivia & Peru
