Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
GETTING AROUND: THE SOUTHERN ALTIPLANO
In addition to the harshness of the natural environment, travel around the region is painfully
slow
, given that few of the roads south of Oruro are paved, although the
trains
which run
between Oruro and Villazón on the Argentine border offer a faster and more comfortable al-
ternative.
Parque Nacional Sajama
Southwest of La Paz, the road to Chile passes through some of the Altiplano's starkest
scenery,adesertplainvirtuallydevoidofvegetationpresidedoverbytheperfectsnowcapped
cone of
Volcán Sajama
. At 6542m, Sajama is Bolivia's highest mountain, and the first in
a chain of icebound volcanic peaks known as the Cordillera Occidental that straddle the
Chilean border and mark the edge of the Altiplano - although Sajama stands alone, separ-
ated from the rest of the range. Sajama is also the centre of Bolivia's oldest national park,
the
PARQUE NACIONAL SAJAMA
, established in 1939 to protect the local population of
vicuñas
, a wild relative of the llama that had been hunted to the verge of extinction for its
wool. The animals have since made a dramatic recovery, and large herds can be found graz-
ing 25km or so north of the village at the area known as Patoca.
The park covers roughly one thousand square kilometres, encompassing the entire mountain
and a large area of the surrounding desert, where pumas, Andean deer and rheas are also
found - though rarely seen. Sajama's slopes also support the world's highest forest, a patch
of
queñua
trees that survive up to 5200m. The records don't stop there: in 2001 the highest
football match in the world was played in the crater at the top of Sajama.
Most visitors are
climbers
, drawn by the chance to ascend a peak of over 6000m that re-
quires relatively little technical expertise. However, the mountain's lower slopes make for
excellent
hiking
, and there are bubbling geysers and hot springs to be explored in the plain
below.WestoftheparkontheChileanborder,thetwovolcanicpeaksof
Parinacota
(6132m)
and
Pomerata
(6222m) provide a stunning backdrop. Known as the
payachatas
(“twins”),
and considered the female consorts of Sajama, these mountains can also be scaled.
