Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
No maps are available for this route, due to government sensitivity on mining issues,
and landslides often cause changes to the paths, which in some parts are heavily over-
grown - a machete will be necessary. Therefore, it is strongly recommended to take a
guide from Sorata. Guides for this trek charge around B$350 to B$400 per day, and port-
ers are about B$500 each. You'll thank yourself for every kilo you're not carrying if you
opt for the porter.
Access
The Mapiri trail begins at the village of Ingenio, which has basic
alojamientos
. It can be
reached either by 4WD from Sorata (around B$500 for five people, three to four hours) or
on foot over Abra Chuchu (4658m). For the latter, start at the cemetery in Sorata and fol-
low the track up past the tiny settlements of Manzanani and Huaca Milluni to the larger
village of Chillkani, about three hours beyond Sorata. From there you have five hours of
fairly relentless climbing through semiforested slopes to Abra Chuchu. You'll meet up
with the road twisting 4km below the pass.
Shortly after the crest, take the left turn down toward a small lake - the route straight
on leads to Ancoma and El Camino del Oro trek. This route will take you over Paso
Lechasani (4750m) and down past Mina Suerte to Ingenio and the start of the Mapiri trail
at 3550m.
The Route
Past Ingenio you'll cross the
Río Yani
. Here the trail starts downstream, but half an hour
later it cuts uphill along a side stream; there's a good campsite where the trail crosses the
stream. The path then twists uphill for 1½ hours over a 4000m pass. In the next two hours
you'll cross three more ridges, then descend past
Cueva Cóndor
, a cave that is also a
good campsite, to a small lake. From the lake the route ascends to
Paso Apacheta Na-
cional
(3940m), then twists down
El Tornillo
, a corkscrew-like track that drops 150m. In
under an hour you'll cross the
Río Mamarani
, where a good campsite is protected by
large rocks.
The next campsite lies three hours further along, beside a stream crossing at the foot of
the next big ascent. There is another campsite 30 minutes after this one, near the next
stream (collect water here). Here the trail climbs a long staircase, then descends into a val-
ley before climbing to the next pass,
Abra Nasacara
(4000m). At this stage you're on the
ridge that dominates most of the Mapiri trail route, with great views of the Illampu massif.
For the next three days, you'll follow this ridge up and down, slowly losing altitude and
passing through mostly lush jungle vegetation; fill your water bottles at every opportunity.
The first water along this stretch is at
Tolapampa
, which also makes a good campsite.
