THE GUIDE - The Rough Guide to Bolivia - page 197

Language lessons The amiable and ubiquitous Siria Leon Domínguez ( 7195 5431,
[e-mail] ) and Chilean expat Claudia Alvarez ( 7190 7301, claudiaal-
[e-mail] ) offer private Spanish lessons (Bs28-40/hr).
Laundry Hotel Bella Vista has a service open to both guests and non guests (Bs20/kg).
Post office The post office is on the plaza, though it's only open irregularly (closed all day
Mon); you're better off sending letters when you get back to La Paz.
Telephone office The ENTEL office is on the north side of the Plaza.
Parque Nacional Cotapata
Around 20km north of La Paz, some four hundred square kilometres of the north face of the
Cordillera Real are protected by PARQUE NACIONAL COTAPATA (otherwise known as
Parque Nacional y Area Natural de Manejo Integrado Cotapata). Ranging in elevation from
1000m to 6000m, Cotapata encompasses many of the astonishing range of different eco-
systems and climatic zones formed as the Andes plunge down into the valleys of the up-
per Amazon Basin. Within a remarkably short distance high mountain peaks, snowfields and
puna grasslands give way to dense cloudforest, which in turn blends into the humid montane
forest that covers the lower slopes of the Andes in a thick green blanket. The cloudforest -
also known as the ceja de selva or “jungle's eyebrows” - is particularly striking, made up of
low, gnarled trees and home to many unique bird species, and elusive pumas and spectacled
bears.
The Choro Trail
The only way to visit Cotapata properly is by walking through the park along the pre-Hispan-
ic Choro Trail . Running almost entirely downhill, the 70km trail is easy to follow and can
be walked in three to four days. If you have your own camping equipment, a compass and
(ideally) a map, it's relatively simple to do without a guide.