Bolivia: Cerro Austria, Pequeño Alpamayo, Huayna Potosi and Illimani Ascents

Meeting with your tour guide at the hotel reception.
The day will be dedicated to visiting La Paz. You will discover the main sites of the city: barrio colonial (colonial neighborhood), mercado de las brujas (Witch market), calle Jaén (Jaén street), plaza Murillo. You will be able to enjoy the colorful markets of La Paz and its typical atmosphere (mercado Rodriguez…).

You can also discover the city from above thanks to the funicular railway of La Paz known as the highest funicular in the world. From there, you will benefit from a spectacular view of La Paz.

Return to the hotel by the end of the afternoon.

Leaving the hotel with your guide to go to the archaeological site of Tiwanaku. You will discover this archaeological site linked to the tiwanakota culture with its ruins and museum.

After lunch, we’ll travel along the edge of the Titicaca lake towards Copacabana, a village located on the shores of the lake. Visit of the main sites of the village and ascent to the calvary where you will enjoy a sunset on the lake.

Night at hotel.

Leaving the hotel for the Copacabana harbor where our boat will be waiting for us. We’ll sail to the village of Ch´allapampa located in the northern part of the Sun Island. From then on, we’ll start our hike by following an old Inca trail towards the ruins of Chinkana. We’ll continue towards the summit which offers a spectacular outlook on the Illampu and Ancohuma mountain range. In the afternoon, we’ll arrive at the village of Yumani located in the southern part of the island. Sunset and night spent at hotel.

Night at hostel.

Leaving the hotel and walking to the ruins of Pilkokaina. Return by boat to Copacabana.

Leaving Copacabana after the lunch towards the Condoriri massif.

Arriving at la Rinconada, an hour long hike will take us to the Chiarkhota lagoon where we’ll set our base camp.

Camping night

Hike to the Austria Peak, viewpoint from where we’ll enjoy nice view on the summits of Cordillera Real.

Camping night

Leaving at 03:00 am.

Hike to the end of the valley to reach the foot of the glacier located at 4805 m alt.

Ascent to the Pico Tarija located at 5320 m alt.

Descent to a rocky section before climbing the final slope for the “pequeño alpamayo” (50/55º).

Return to base camp following the same trail.

Camping night

Night at hotel.

A hiking day taking us to different lagoons in the highlands. We walk up to the west wall of Huayna Potosi where we set up our camp.

Camping night

On this day, we’ll hike from Maria Lloco until the pass where the private car will waiting for us to go to Huayna Potosi base bamp.

From the base camp, we’ll climb to the higher camp. We’ll hike following the aplomb part of the “morena” at first. We’ll then climb up one of its major slopes. We’ll enjoy the unique view of the Zongo valley. After two hours and a half of hiking, we’ll arrive at the refuge of the higher camp where we’ll stay overnight.

Night at refuge

To reach the summit, we’ll start our ascent at 3:00 am taking advantage of the solid land. We’ll enjoy a unique sunrise. The route includes a “pala chica” of 30 meters with a 50 degree slope. After that, we’ll follow flat paths and slope sections in order to reach the last sloping part of 45 degrees called “pala grande” which will take us to the summit. We’ll climb down following the same track to reach base camp and La Paz.

Resting day in La Paz.

Leaving the hotel at 08:00 am in a private car to Pinaya (3880m.alt), a village located on the hillside of snowy Illimani. Meeting with our team of mules and shepards and hiking towards base camp called Puente Roto.

Camping night

After breakfast, we’ll hike following the aplomb part of the “morena” at first. We’ll then follow a steep path which includes a rather tough crest taking us to the high camp of “Nido de Cóndores” (5500 m alt.).

Camping night

To reach the summit, we’ll start our ascent at 1:00 am.

We’ll climb following crests located between rocky and icy parts on the edge of slopes and crevices. After reaching the part called “Escalera al Cielo” we’ll have to climb 45°/ 55° slopes. After this ascent, we’ll reach the edge of the crest which will take us to the summit. Descent using the same route towards Puente Roto base camp.

Camping night

In the morning, we’ll hike to the village of Pinaya where we’ll have lunch and return to La Paz by private car.

Resting day in La Paz.

Transfer from hotel to the airport (3 hours before our international flight).