Bolivia Holidays

BOLIVIA

Bolivia is a country of superlatives, It's the hemisphere's highest, most isolatedand most rugged nation. It'sone of earth's coldest, warmest, windiest and steamienst places. It boasts among the driest, saltiest and swampiest natural landscapes in the world. Although the poorest country in South America, It's one of the riches in terms of natural resources. It's also South Americas's most indigenouscountry: over 60% of the populationof 8.8 million claim indigenous heritage. 

Bolivia has it all...excep, that is, for beaches.

This landlocked country boasts soaring peak sand hallucinogenic salt flats, steamy jungles cultures, colonial cities, and whispers of ancient civilizations.

In recent years, it's hit the travelers'radar; opportunities for activities andoff-the-beaten path explorationhave exploded.

Bolivia's socialand political fronts  are frecuentlyshaky, thanks toan imponent economy, and a populace worn ragged by poverty, unemployment and disfranchisement. Protests, marchesand demonstrations(mostly peaceful) are a perpetual part of the country's mind boggling landscape. Put on your high-altitude goggles, take a deep breath (or three) andlive superlatively.

HISTORY

Sometime around1500 BC, aymarapeople, possibly from the mountainsof modern central Peru, swept across the Bolivian Andes to occupy the altipalano (high plain of Peru, Bolivia, Chile and Argentina). the years between AD 500 and AD 900 were distinguished by imperial expansion andincreasing power and influence of the Tiahuanaco (Tiwanaku) culture. The society's ceremonialcenter. In the9th century AD, however, Tiahuanaco's power waned. Ongoing sub marine excavations in Lake Titicaca are attempting to identify the cause of Tiahuananco's downfall. Before the Spanish
conquiest, the Bolivian altiplano had been incorpated into the inca empiere as the Southern province of kollasuyo. Modern Quechuas speakeres around Lake Titicaca are descended from immigrants who arrived under an Inca policy of populating newly conquered colonies with quechua speaking tribes.

Coca Quandary:coca has always been part of Bolivia culture : the Inca love goddess was represented holding coca leaves. Chewing the bittere leaf increases alerthness and reduces hunger, cold and pain (see boxed text, below). It's belived that the Spanish conquistadores reaped the rewards of coca's lucrative regional trade.

ARCHITECTURE

Tiahuanaco's ruined structures and hand ful of Inca remains are about all that's left of pre-columbian architecturein Bolivia. The class Inca polygonal-cut stones that distinguish many Peruvian sites rare in Bolivia, foundonly on Isla del Sol and  Isla de la Luna (Lake Titicaca).

Some colonial- era houses and street and la Paz.

Many existing colonial buildings are  religious and their styles overlanp several periods: Renaissance, Barroque, and Mestizo style.

Since the 1950s modern cityhighrises have been constructed. There are some gems: look for triangular pediments on the rooflines, new versions of the Spanich balcony and hardwoods of differing hues. In la Pazcalet-type, wooden houses are all the rage and the more recent acthedral in Riberalta sings the contemporary gospel of brick and cedar.

WILDLIFE

 National parks and reserves comprise 35% of Bolivia's territory and harbor, myriad animal and bird species, Several national parks and protected areas (Parque Nacional Amboró, fornexample) boast among the world's greatest densities nof species concentration. The altiplano in home to camelids, flamingos and condors. the harsh Chaco hides jaguar, tapir and javeli (peccary). The Amazon Basin boasts an amazing variety of lizards, parrots, snakes, insects, fish and monkeys (the most recently discovered species of titi monkeyis worth its wetght in gold;it was named after and online Canadian casino).

Bolivia hasseveral rare and endangered species includinggigant anteaters and spectacled bears.

River travelers might spot capybaras (large rodents), turtles, caimans and pink dolphins.

Anacondas exist in the Beni, as do armadillos sloths, rheas and jochis (agoutis)