Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Four hours after crossing the swinging bridge at the
Río Coocó
, you'll reach the little
settlement of
Mina Yuna
, where you can pick up basic supplies, and it's possible to camp
on the soccer field.
An hour further down is
Chusi
, which is four hours before your first encounter with the
road. There's no place to camp here, but you can stay in the school.
Puente Nairapi
, over
the Río Grande de Yavia, is a good place for a swim to take the edge off the increasing
heat.
Once you reach the road, the scene grows increasingly depressing. For a final look at
relatively unaffected landscape, follow the shortcut trail, which begins with a steep
Inca
staircase
and winds up at
Baja Llipi
and the
Puente de Tora
toll bridge (B$2) over the
Río Santa Ana
.
After crossing the bridge, climb up the hill and hope for a
camioneta
or 4WD to take
you to
Tipuani
and
Guanay
.
Camionetas
from the Río Santa Ana bridge to
Unutuluni
cost B$5 per person; to continue on to Tipuani or Guanay costs an additional B$15.
You can pick up basic supplies at Ancoma, Wainapata, Mina Yuna, Chusi and Llipi, as
well as at all the lower settlements along the road. Spartan accommodations may be found
in Unutuluni, Chima (rough-and-ready and not recommended), Tipuani and Guanay, all of
which are along the road.
Mapiri Trail
A longer, more adventurous alternative to El Camino del Oro trek is the six- to seven- day
precolonial Mapiri trail, which was upgraded 100 years ago by the Richter family in
Sorata to connect their headquarters with the
cinchona
(quinine) plantations of the upper
Amazon Basin. The trek is now considered dangerous, and you should check to see if con-
ditions have changed before heading out.
It's a tough, demanding trek which requires a lot of physical exertion beyond mere
walking - expect to clamber over and under logs, hack at vegetation with a machete, get
assaulted by insects and destroy formerly decent clothing! That said, it's an amazing ex-
perience; the nature is unspoiled, and for the large part you are out on your own miles
from any roads or villages.
An excellent side-trip before you get started will take you from Ingenio up to the lovely
medieval, cloud-wrapped village of
Yani
, where there's a basic
alojamiento
. Bolivia
doesn't get much more enigmatic than this and adventurers won't regret a visit.
