Once again thank you very much for your help, exellent service and great trip! We enjoyed ourselves and learned a lot about the way of life in the Apolobamba area. We met a lot of friendly people during the days. Especially the first day (Qotapampa) and last day (Chacarapi) made a strong impression on us with our first sight of the animals (alpacas, llamas, vicuñas), the knowledge of the natural medicines and the outstanding hospitality of the communities. The weather was a bit cold and cloudy but the locals were very helpful with thermo bags, warm tea and lots of blankets for the cold nights. We did manage to get along with our basic spanish knowledge but of course at times it was a bit difficult understanding the spanish dialect of the guides, although we still got a lot of interesting information! We were really excited about tasting the food of the region and found very tasty. It was easy to see that the locals put a lot of effort into it. Overall we found the trip (and your help) very well organized and professional and we could not have wished for a better trip! We find the concept of La Paz on Foot interesting and it is just the right spirit!

I loved my trips with La Paz on Foot, one through Apolobamba and one through El Alto and La Paz.  Steve is a fabulous leader who attends to every detail and gives the hiker both a great hike and deep cultural experience.  He is informal and care taking and clearly has strong relationships with the communities with which he works.  I would recommend traveling with La Paz on Foot anywhere they have a trip.  Steve is so smart and well-versed and has hired very knowledgeable  people to lead tours when he cannot. Rest assured you'll be in good hands and have a fabulous natural and cultural experience with La Paz on Foot.  Be prepared to be delighted.  Lucky you...I wish I could go right now.

Quisimos contactarte para agradecerte por la orientación y servicios que nos ofreciste. Tuvimos un lindo viaje, sin contratiempos y con muy buenas experiencias. Especialmente disfrutamos mucho en las Pampas del Rio Yacuma, donde pudimos hacer muy interesantes observaciones de fauna, incluyendo tapir y anaconda, animales nada fácil de ver en vida silvestre! Tomas (nuestro hijo de 4 años) disfruto muchísimo!. Nos gustaría tener la oportunidad de encontrarnos en algún momento para contarte los detalles, nuestra percepción y quizás hacer algunas sugerencias que puedan ayudar en futuro!. Mil gracias nuevamente!

En el pasado hicimos muchos viajes por los Andes pero solamente pasamos por lugares hermosos y pueblitos de apariencia ?exótica? sin saber mucho y, para ser sinceros, sin tratar de entender mucho acerca de ellos. Pero el año 2009 cuando viajábamos con ?la Paz on Foot? a Cordillera Apolobamba decidimos comprobar cual era el ?turismo comunitario? que nos ofrecieron en la agencia. El viaje desde Q?otampampa hasta Charazani lo hicimos con los guías locales, gente de los pueblos por los cuales pasamos. Esta parte del viaje nos permitió conocer, por lo menos un poco, a la gente y su vida. Fue una experiencia excelente y muy diferente a los viajes anteriores. El turismo comunitario es un método excelente pare enriquecer el viaje de aventura con un poco de conocimiento del país.

Bolivia. I had never imagined even traveling there until a friend invited me to come along with La Paz on Foot last April. I took two weeks leave from work and went. The travel schedule was designed to ease us into the high altitude ? rest and a hike from the top of La Paz down through local neighborhoods. Guidebooks scare you to death. It took no time to get used to the local diet ? fresh tropical fruit juices (pineapple, payaya, guava ) and bowls of warm soup full of different kinds of potatoes, quinoa, taro root, vegetables, and sometimes beef or chicken as well as some interesting restaurants under the watchful eyes of our guides. The travel list provided by La Paz on Foot ensured that I had brought the clothes I needed to stay comfortable in the widely varying climates we visited. Our well being was assured no matter where we were. The enthusiastic and knowledgeable guides took us through old and new La Paz the first several days and drove us through the seemingly endless suburbs of day to day life on the altoplano to sapphire Lake Titicaca, the highest in the world. We toured Inca ruins, hiked along the shores of the lake and were guests of a local farmer for lunch of fresh grown produce. Now I know what one of my favorite [grains] ? quinoa ? looks like in the fields. We drove to Sajama National Park on the border with Chile and watched snowcovered Mt. Sajama turn gold in the setting sun. We saw three of the four Andean camelids ? Llama, Alpaca, and vicuna, all grazing in their natural settings. We learned about the impacts of global warming on the fragile ecosystems of the Andean mountain communities whose farmers have depended on the snowcovered mountains to fill their rivers for centuries. We saw for ourselves the rich history and culture of the Aymara and Inca relatives. We met the Amazon watershed side of the country face to face in Rurrenabaque where parrots perch on the lamp posts and a French baker walks around with freshly baked chocolate croissants every morning. We sped upriver against the current in longboats to see Macaws at Madidi National Park, a natural preserve, and drink freshly pressed sugar cane juice with local villagers. We bounced over the main road to Brazil across the savanna through herds of white braman cattle guided by their colorful gauchos to stay at a quiet lodge run by a local family where electricity is carefully rationed reemphazing the value and need for conservation of our natural resources that most of us take for granted. On the Pampas River we came face to face with yellow monkeys and swam with pink dolphins. We saw a guidebook full of tropical birds and river life. Even though the trip was 12 days, the images will stay with me for a lifetime.

It was so great and beautiful: the Pacha-Trek! Believe me: I enjoyed it so much - the nature, the incredible Andes, the walks, and the cultural side of this trip! Anyway, I loved it and can always recommend it - as also Santiago de Okola: this was so peaceful and tranquilo over there:-) even Walter - it was such a pleasure to have him on the walk!!!! Tomorrow I gonna leave to Trinidad and hope to get a boat to the brasilian border - hopefully the boats do go, even because of the election on sunday....! Thanks for everything! Sincerely, Jens.