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$22 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.
HEALTH: 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.
We will at no time during the tour be above 4000 feet in elevation.
PACE OF THE TOUR: Early mornings will be the rule, returning for lunch followed by a long siesta. In the missions and Santa Cruz, we will spend most of our time birding along minor roads and on well maintained and mostly level forest trails. In Los Volcanes, some trails are quite steep and some require crossing sturdy plank bridges. There is always a local guide willing to help us safely across bridges. Most days we will drive out from the mission towns early in the morning and watch birds until mid morning when activity drops. We may also take a short birdwalk in the early evening. In Los Volcanes we will walk out from the lodge morning and mid afternoon, generally at a slow pace as we watch birds. We do not normally cover long distances though longer trails (up to 3 hours) are available should the group be interested in taking them. In Los Volcanes we may take night walks in search of owls, nightjars, and other creatures, not venturing more than half a mile on the longest walk. It is important to be prepared for sunny conditions as on several days we will be birding in grasslands and open forests, albeit not in the heat of the day.
On most (probably all) evenings outside Los Volcanes we will attend one of the concerts in the sixth Festival of American Renaissance and Baroque Music. Most concerts take place in churches and all are informal, though we are required to dress decorously. The concert seats are the church pews so tour participants may wish to bring a small cushion with them. Most concerts begin at 8pm or 8.30pm and last around 1.5 hours. In order to obtain good pews we will always be at the churches well in advance of the concerts (as evening mass is coming to an end).
In Santa Cruz, we will have concert tickets in advance but may have to wait for some time outside concert venues. If this is the case our guides and driver will keep our places in the line while tour participants will be able to take a seat nearby. We will generally eat before the evening concerts in order to allow us to go straight to bed afterwards and sleep well before the following morning’s birding.
With the exception of our arrival and departure from Los Volcanes for which we will be relayed in a four wheel drive vehicle, all travelling between sites will be in our own comfortable tour bus.
CLIMATE: Our tour coincides with the Bolivian-lowland equivalent of autumn and it is difficult to predict the weather at this time of year. The high temperatures and humidity of the wet season are generally over by now and the weather is often pleasantly warm and bright. It is possible that we will experience a “surazo’ during the tour. These southern fronts may bring heavy rains and strong winds. They can also be surprisingly cool. Temperatures at this time of year may vary from the low 50s to above 85°C, though extremes are uncommon.
ACCOMMODATION: Refugio Los Volcanes is very attractive and offers clean double rooms with private bathrooms and gas-heated showers. Meals here are complete and delicious, usually fresh salads, vegetables and meat. Vegetarians and most other dietary needs are easily accommodated with forewarning.
Our hotels in Santa Cruz, Concepción and San Ignacio are all of high standard. Hotels in Santa Cruz and San Ignacio have restaurants though in Santa Cruz we will probably have lunch in one or more of the very good restaurants in the city. In Concepción our hotel does not have a restaurant and we will eat at one of two simple but pleasant buffet-style restaurants in the town.
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: Birds and Music 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: January 2007