Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Getting There & Away
From La Paz (B$25), Trans Provincia del Norte ( in La Paz 2-238-2239) and the
more reliable Trans Altiplano ( in La Paz 2-238-0859) depart daily at 6am from Calle
Reyes Cardona in the cemetery district. The services take six to eight hours and return
from Charazani daily at 6pm. Book tickets in advance.
From Charazani, a 4WD route winds down to the Yungas village of Apolo at the edge
of the Amazon Basin, where you can stay overnight at the monastery. The route is fre-
quently negotiated by camiones during the dry season, but several serious stream cross-
ings and landslide risks mean it's best suited to mountain bikes or foot traffic in the wet.
Área Natural de Manejo Integrado
Nacional Apolobamba
In the late 1990s the Reserva Nacional de Fauna Ulla Ulla was renamed the Área Natural
de Manejo Integrado Nacional (Anmin) Apolobamba and was expanded by nearly
300,000 hectares to 484,000 hectares. It now includes the entire Cordillera Apolobamba
and most of the renowned Lagunillas to Agua Blanca trek along the range's eastern
slopes. At its northern end it abuts Parque Nacional Madidi to form one of the western
hemisphere's most extensive protected areas.
The original park - a loosely defined vicuña reserve along the Peruvian border - was
established in 1972, and was upgraded in 1997 in Unesco's 'Man and Biosphere Reserve
Program.' Later that same year the Instituto Nacional de Fomento Lanero (Infol) was cre-
ated to represent wool producers and was charged with researching, monitoring and pre-
venting habitat degradation of the reserve's camelids. Infol morphed into the Instituto
Boliviano de Tecnología Agropecuaria (IBTA), which focuses more on agricultural devel-
opment and social services.
The modern park is home to several thousand alpacas and vicuñas, and also to Bolivia's
densest condor population. In addition to the popular hiking routes, you'll find excellent
wild trekking around Lagos Cololo, Nube, Quello, Kanahuma and Pullo Pullo, all of
which enjoy snow-covered backdrops and rich waterbird populations, including flamingos
and several species of Andean geese.
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