Bolivian Altiplano
south america
9 day photographic safari

The Altiplano is perhaps the most lunar landscape I've yet encountered. Not only is it enticing in it's otherworldly look, but being here feels like you're on another planet because of the high altitude.

We will spend a good duration traveling through the Altiplano landscape with the highlight shooting on the Salar de Uyuni for sunrise and sunset. Along the way we will stop at Laguna Colorada, el Arbol de Piedra (the stone tree) and many other features of the Bolivian Altipano.

Dates	Availability		Price
2012, June 28-6		SOLD OUT	£1995

Includes:
• 8 Nights Bed & Breakfast
• 6 Lunches & Evening Dinner
• Transportation between shooting locations
• Local Bolivian Guide
• One to One Guidance & Group Guidance
• Twin room accommodation in salt hotels
• Packed Lunch

If you have any further questions about the trip I'll be happy to answer them for you. You can use the contact form below or e-mail me at info@lightonscotland.com and I'll be right back to you.

Trip Details

Bruce likes to run his Safaris in a friendly, open, group setting. This trip is more a practical hands on 'Safari' than Bruce's normal workshops, due to the logistics involved, but you will get a lot of hands on experience from Bruce while at the same time, immerse yourself with plenty of time out in the field on your own.

Arrival & Introduction

We will meet in San Pedro de Atacama in northern Chile (direct connection from Santiago), or if you are coming with Bruce from Patagonia, we will fly up from Punta Arenas.

7:00 - 9:00pm
Dinner with the group, hosted by Bruce

Acclimatisation Days

In order to get ready for venturing onto the Bolivian Altiplano, we will have to spend a couple of days in San Pedro de Atacama taking it easy and letting ourselves get acclimatised. There are no tours during this time as the importance is on getting fit and ready to experience the highest altitude of the Bolivian Altiplano.

Itinerary

In this section I'll give you a break down of what we're doing each day, in terms of location. There's a further section down the page which deals with what to expect as a daily schedule.

Day 1: Arrive in San Pedro de Atacama. Night stay & breakfast in Hotel, San Pedro.

Day 2: Acclimatisation day in San Pedro de Atacama.Night stay & breakfast in Hotel, San Pedro.

Day 3: Transfer morning and afternoon to southern region of the Bolivian Altiplano where we will encounter many lagoons and pass through Reserva de Fauna Andina. Photo Workshop evening on Bolivian Altiplano around Laguna Colorada. Hotel Tayka of the Desert for our evening stay and evening meal. Lunch, Dinner and Breakfast.

Day 4: Photo Workshop. Morning and evening shoot on Altiplano. We will be near Sol de Manana and also el Arbol de Piedra (stone tree) landscape. Plenty to explore in this region of the Altiplano. Hotel Tayka of the Desert for our evening stay and meal. Lunch, Dinner and Breakfast.

Day 5: Photo Workshop. We will travel up towards the southern area of the Salar de Uyuni and check our luggage into our hotel Tayka Stone early afternoon. We will photograph around the southern region of the Salar de Uyuni this evening. Hotel Tayka of Stone for our evening stay and meal. Lunch, Dinner and Breakfast.

Day 6: Photo Workshop. Morning and evening shoot on Salar de Uyuni. Travelling through the middle of the day, over the Salar de Uyuni to the northern area to our hotel Tayka Salt. Evening shoot over the Salar looking south. Hotel Tayka Salt for our evening stay and meal. Lunch, Dinner and Breakfast.

Day 7: Photo Workshop. Morning shoot on Salar de Uyuni. Travelling through the middle of the day to our hotel La Petite Porte. We will shoot the salt mines aroud or near Colchani in the evening. Hotel La Petite Porte for our evening stay and meal. Lunch, Dinner and Breakfast.

Day 8: Days transfer to La Paz. Evening meal and night at Ritz hotel, La Paz. Lunch, Dinner and Breakfast.

Day 9: Breakfast, end of Safari.

Daily Schedule

Each day will have the following format:

7:00 - 9:00am
On location for sunrise.

9:00 - 10:00am
Breakfast, on location, prepared by our private cook.

10:00am - 12:00pm
We will travel through the day while the light is bleached out, in order to get to our next major photographic location for sunset. But we will stop from time to time at areas of interest.

12:00pm - 1:00pm
Lunch on location.

1:00 - 4:00pm
Continue traveling. We have a lot of distance to cover.

4:00pm - 6:00pm
On location for sunset and twilight shooting.

7:00 - 8:00pm
Arrival at our salt hotel for evening meal and bed for the night.

Accommodation

We will be staying in the beautiful salt hotels on the Altiplano. Considering how remote the locations we are traveling through are, the salt hotels are an amazingly nice option for staying the night and many have a 'boutique' flavour to them.

Getting to the workshop

There are regular flights to San Pedro de Atacama. Upon booking the trip, you will be forwarded onto Andean Trails (South American travel specialis) who can arrange flights and excursions for you.

Flights cost around £1,100 from the UK, based on 2011 prices. No prices have been published from Airlines at the moment for 2012.