BOLIVIA
South America’s natural reserve
Located in the heart of South America,
Bolivia contains a huge area in the Amazon basin near the borders with Brazil and Peru. It
is characterized by tropical forest and an incredible bio-diversity seldom seen in other
places. Bordering Argentina and Paraguay, it features beautiful and fertile valleys in the
foothills of the Andes. The area around LAKE TITIKAKA, extending westward to the borders
with Peru and Chile, is called Altiplano (high plateau) where we find 2500 year old PRE-
INKA REMAINS. The unique scenery of the UYUNI SALT DESERT. The Laguna Colorada and the
Laguna Verde are in the South. The desert of South Lipez can easily be a "Sahara in
South America". All this is what D`Orbigny, the French naturalist meant by his
phrase, "Bolivia: Synthesis of the World".
To the delight of visitors, in Bolivia, it is
possible to make the transition from the high glaciated mountains to tropical forest in
only a few hours. Bolivia is home to more than 30 different ethnic groups with expressions
visible in their costumes, textiles, dances, music, traditional architecture and a variety
of ancestral rituals and ceremonies.
The mountain ranges, called
"Cordilleras" are in the western part of the country, on both sides of the high
plateau "Altiplano". Bolivia`s main mountaineering area is located in the
CORDILLERA REAL, considered once by Austrian climbers as "The Himalayas of the new
world", while the APOLOBAMBA range, considered the "far west" of Bolivia,
still remains unexplored or rarely visited. On the extreme western side of Bolivia we find
a volcanic range with snow capped mountains such us SAJAMA (6.542 m high) the highest in
Bolivia.
 |
LA PAZ is the capital city and is surrounded
by snow covered peaks and can be easily considered a "Chamonix" by mountaineers
and hill walkers coming from all over the world. |
2005 - Azimut Explorer |
