General Tour Information
ENTERING AND LEAVING BOLIVIA: Bolivian authorities require a passport that is valid for at least six months after the date of your arrival in Bolivia. Visas are not required for U.S. citizens. Tourist cards are prepared by your arriving airline. Currently, there is a USD$25 departure tax, paid in the airport terminal immediately after checking in for your departure flight. Citizens of other countries should check with their Bolivian embassy or consulate for entry requirements. Note: It is a good idea to take a photocopy of your passport and air ticket with you when traveling abroad. Copies can prove invaluable in helping you get replacements if your originals are lost or stolen. It is a good idea to pack the photocopies separately from the originals.
BOLIVIA MAP AND COUNTRY INFORMATION: You can view maps of Bolivia in the University of Texas series here. Click in the lower right corner of the map to adjust the size. You can review the U.S. State Department notes on Bolivia here.
HEALTH: Although cases of malaria are vry rare where we’re going, a malaria prophylaxis is recommended. For malaria prevention, please talk to your doctor or public health or travel health clinic about which drug is best for you. The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) currently recommends one of the following antimalarial drugs: mefloquine (Lariam®), doxycycline, or Malarone®. Please remember that many anti-malarial drugs must be initiated one or more weeks before the period of exposure, and continued for several weeks after it concludes.
Certification of yellow fever vaccination is not required unless you are entering Bolivia from a country where yellow fever is present; if you are entering Bolivia from the U.S., this is not required. The CDC, however, is currently recommending yellow fever vaccination for travelers to Bolivia who plan to be outside of urban areas.
Further, the CDC currently recommend the following vaccines: Hepatitis A or immune globulin (IG); typhoid; as needed, booster doses for tetanus-diphtheria and measles. See your doctor at least 4—6 weeks before your trip to allow time for immunizations to take effect.. You can review the current CDC traveler’s advisories here
ALTITUDE: We’ll be going as high as 14,800 feet (4500 meters) on several days. Although we will likely spend less than a half-hour and walk very little at these elevations, we’ll do a bit more walking at 13,750 feet (4200 meters). At these elevations, most people experience lightheadedness and a need to take deeper breaths with only a little exertion. Some people experience a delayed effect of slight nausea and headache, which can be mitigated by drinking plenty of water, and which will disappear once we return to moderate elevations. There are some medications that will help alleviate the side effects of high altitude, and if you are thinking about taking these or if you have a history of or uncertainty about of altitude sickness, please consult your doctor.
PACE OF THE TOUR: Since most all birding areas are at least an hour from the hotel in Cochabamba, early mornings and full birding days will be the rule, but we always try to be back at the hotel before dark and allow a one to two hours off before the group dinner at a local restaurant. The pace will relax considerably towards the end when we arrive at Refugio Los Volcanes. Much of the birding will be on dirt or paved roadsides, although trails are the main access at Refugio Los Volcanes. Most of these will be relatively level and manageable, but some are moderately difficult, and most of the entrance road at Los Volcanes is steep. In these cases, we’ll walk at a very slow pace. One trail requires some rock hopping to cross a stream several times.
CLIMATE: We will likely experience a great variety of weather. Since we’ll be nearing the end of the rainy season, the daily afternoon showers, more typical of January-February, are not predictable, and the higher elevation areas and Valle region should be quite dry. The cloud forest areas could get persistent to intermittent rain, mist or fog at any time. Early mornings at the higher elevations could be quite cool, possibly even into the upper 30’s at Oruro, but temperatures should stay between 50-80ºF for most of the tour; warmer temperatures are possible at the lowest elevations during the latter half of the tour.
ACCOMMODATION: In Cochabamba and Oruro, we’ll be staying at regular hotels, though the Oruro hotel, the best in the city, is well below our usual standards (a newer hotel is being built). Our hotel in Comarapa is basic but clean and comfortable, with private baths. Refugio Los Volcanes is more remote and rustic, but still comfortable and very peaceful. While there we’ll be without telephone but only 45 minutes from the nearest town and a couple of hours from Santa Cruz. Electricity is provided by solar cells and battery . Single occupancy rooms may be available but cannot be guaranteed. Our final hotel will be in Santa Cruz and offers excellent rooms and service.
SMOKING: We request that you do not smoke in the vehicles or when the group is gathered for meals, checklists, etc. If you are sharing a room with a non-smoker, please do not smoke in the room. If you smoke in the field, we ask that you do so well away and downwind from the group, if possible.
GENERAL INFORMATION & CONDITIONS OF WINGS TOURS: Please take a moment to read the (General Information & Conditions)[/about/]. This section contains important information about how we conduct tours, e.g., what is included in the tour price, refund and cancellation policies, pace of the tours and other information that will help you prepare for the tour.
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION: A more detailed General Information for Tours to Bolivia will be mailed to each registrant on receipt of their booking. Final information with instructions for meeting the group, hotel addresses, etc., will be mailed about three weeks before trip departure. Other news will be communicated as necessary. If you have any questions, please contact us.
Updated: April 2005