sajama national park

We had such a great time in that village. We spend three days at Sajama hostal where we had our little home. Our host was really helpfull. We visited all the mains points : lagunas, geysers, thermes. We were only four tourists in the village at that time. The sajama national park should definitly be part of a travel in Bolivia. Peace

Banjo Tours 'Andean Trail to Sajama National Park' tour was absolutely the highlight of my wife's and my three week visit to Bolivia. We loved La Paz, Sucre, Potosi, Tupiza, the four - day 'salt flats' area tour and Titicaca but most of all we were captivated by the rarely - visited - by - foreigners areas that Banjo Tours founder, Ben Montevilla, arranged for us to discover over four truly fascinating days. Quite incredibly, we were the only tourists to be found when we hiked to the ruins of the Eagle Men, the City of Stone and to the base camp of Mt Sajama, Bolivia's highest peak. We even had the geyser field and hot springs to ourselves. In addition to all this off the beaten track enjoyment, we even had a night in an altiplano village ..... with not a single other visitor within miles. All in all, it was a most enjoyable grand finale to a memorable visit to a country that we found to be truly enthralling.

Bolivia is a country of immense natural beauty. And we wanted to see it, in particular the high-altitude areas of Altiplano: lake Titicaca, Cordillera Real and Sajama park at the border with Chile. Well ahead of our arrival we selected the tour operator (Climbing South America); going with the right agency and guides can make or break the trip in Bolivia. And we maanged to see it all and do it all – starting from the ruins of Tiwanacu (BTW, one of the crucial archeological sites in whole Latin America), we visited Copacabana, sailed to Isla del Sol and trekked from north to south there, launched briefly to Isla de Luna with its not so much known but well preserved Inca shrine. We climbed an acclimatization 5-thousander Pico Tarija in Cordillera Real (Condoriri valley), where we have also seen viscachas and herds of llamas under the hanging glaciers of the high peaks, and constellation of Southern Cross in the early evening sky. Afterwards, we finally headed southwest to Sajama national park, where Tomarapi village served as our base. While food was excellent all along the way, breakfasts in locally-run Tomarapi lodge were just superb – pancakes, eggs, local bread and mate coca or coffee were just right for the demanding program down there which involved the climb of a 6-thousander Acotango; our guide Jeff Sandifort decided to take a non-standard route via the NW face; included about 300 meters climbing first through nieve penitentes and then ice and snow slope of about 40 degrees. We made it to the top! And safely back down. And then we enjoyed the hot springs, seen herds of vicunas, nandu birds, lakes with Andean flamingos, and we spent one day in Chile in the Lauca national park. The otherworldly landscape of the volcanoes and deserts of Altiplano was the best from the entire trip. And thanks to Climbing South America the entire experience was smooth, well-paced, safe and overall enjoyable.

I don't understand why tourist don't go to this place !It's absolutely worth it, we booked the trip with a good agency, which is necessary to avoid the hassle of the transport and time loss, they gave us a guide in the process, it was one of the best visits in BL.the valley is so beautiful, the volcanoes majestic and moreover, there was no tourists, we had the hot springs just for our selves and the geysers too. A good company to go with is Inca land tours, but if you have more time you can do it by your self, two days in the parc are sufficient.

Fantastic landscape! Very dry but absolutely unique whith all the volcanos and lamas. The hot springs are about an hour away from the village and very(!) nice. The road which continues to Chile is really beautiful as well.

Sajama National Park is amazing. It's totally off the tourist route, very undeveloped, offers spectacular scenery and lots of outdoor adventures. As I was travelling on my own I decided to do a tour offered to Sajama by Banjo Tours, and this made the experience even more wonderful. Ben, who owns and runs the company, has put together a great tour to this part of Bolivia. He is meticulous at planning and organising and has included visits to the quaint village of Rosario, the City of Stone and the Ruins of the Eagle Men as part of the tour, which are all worth a visit. The tour allowed me to take time and explore each of the sites that we stopped at, rather than just having a 20 minute photo stop. The area is also not sign posted, so it was a great relief not having to worry about getting lost. Climbing up to 5300m on Mount Sajama, followed by a swim in the thermal springs was just awesome. Lots of alpacas, Vicuñas and viscachas and I even got to see a condor gliding on the thermals in the sky above us. So if you like visiting places far from the tourist crowds, then this is a must do, and doing it with Banjo Tours made it a much more fun and enjoyable experience. This was definitely the highlight of my visit to Bolivia.

It seems that we visited at the coldest, windiest season just over a year ago and found it a bit of a struggle!The surrounding area is just beautiful and it's amazing to see the alpaca strolling past so casually. We walked to the thermal springs which had that distinct eggy smell but it was amazing to have such a great view whilst relaxing in the hot water.We arranged accommodation (from the little office as you arrive into town on the bus) with a local woman who had a room with a few beds but unfortunately it was a very cold walk to the outdoor toilet at night! We had about 5 blankets on our bed and struggled to find anywhere to eat! In the end we found a hostel that gave us some food and coca tea to help with the altitude sickness.We left within a couple of days as there didn't seem to be anything to do other than visit the hot springs (unless you're a well-experienced climber!) There weren't any guides and it's a very remote place so it felt lonely very quickly as everything appeared to be closed!Going from the other reviews, I think perhaps we just went at the wrong time of year (July 2012) when the wind made everyone close up business. The altitude sickness set in with the cold weather and made it hard to stay here for long!

Good national park to stay a night (or two) if you like mountains, hiking, beautiful scenery, alpaca's and/or geysers.

Very nice unspoiled National Park on the Bolivian highlands (Altiplano). Stunning views, nice geothermal areas and lots of Alpaca's.

Stayed here for three nights with two of my mates. We were down @ Sajama NP for trekking and exploring the area in general.We based ourselves at Hostel Sajama. We had our own lodge with private bathroom and electrical power points (ex handy for recharging batteries etc) Dinner bed and breakfast package incredibly cheap under $10/night/person. Food is very good and a decentbreakfast sets you up perfectly for a day exploring the beautiful area. The family who run the Hostel are extremely friendly & welcoming. Not something you see too often in Bolivian hostelries. I'd recommend Hostel Sajama as an ideal base for trekking, climbing etc.

We went to visit Sajama and the plan was to spend the night there and leave the other day. We were surprised how calm and peaceful the place was and ended up staying for 5 days. If I didn't have to travel to La Paz to renew my visa we would've stayed much longer.We stayed at Hostal Sajama right beside the main gate of the park, the hostel is clean and cheap and you get your own private bath and room if you want. All travelers we met spent more than they planned and the reason was always because of the nature of the place and how calm it is.Food was part of the deal with the hostal, for $2 you get your breakfast and same (add $0.5) for lunch and dinner and you get your tean and coffee for free. You can also use the kitchen if you wish.There are plenty of things to do in the park and one of them to see the flamingos or swim in the host springs.

We found ourselves unexpectedly in Sajama after seeing a photo in a tourist office, and hopping on the first bus (many buses/minivans) to get out there. How can this place not be in the Lonely Planet South America book? When there are more llamas than gringos you know you have found somewhere special, and even the locals agree that Sajama is another planet. We tried to find the thermal pools, just ended up getting sunburnt and tired trudging through the grey silt, but returning back to our very basic accommodation that afternoon we were happy with finding absolutely nothing.This place is one to remember, one to write home about.

Recommended by Millenarian Tourism & Travel, we went to Sajama National Park to visit the highest mountain of Bolivia and experience the grandeur of the plateau. Actually Millenarian manages the lauded Tomarapi community-run lodge in Sajama and have a very good arrangement for us: transportation, tour guide, lodge and meal, itinerary. We didn't expect such a comfortable stay in this remote area. With its service, we had a care-free, great time.Very few people visit the park during the rainy season. It gave us a good opportunity to mix into the sacred beauty of nature and boundless serenity. The wild and domestic animals like ostrich, llama, vicuña and alpaca make the place like Safari of Africa. There are geysers, hot springs and lagoon in the park to explore too, but going up towards the base camp of Mountain Sajama and have a bird view of the town and plateau is more rewarding in my opinion.Check the photos and you can imagine how beautiful it is.

My husband and I had the good fortune of seeing Sajama National Park, Bolivia, on June 11 and June 12, 2011. We were EXTREMELY impressed with Millenarian Tourism & Travel. Our guide was Nicolas Sotomayer and we must say he was one of the best guides we have ever had (having travelled to over 40 countries worldwide). He was very knowledgeable and was a pleasure to spend time with. Nicolas has an innate warm and gentle personality and we shed tears bidding him farewell after only two days. Millenarian Tourism & Travel also employs very responsible safe drivers, ours being a lovely fellow with an equally warm heart named Efraim. Although our driver did not speak English, Nicolas was kind enough to translate between our group so that we all developed a close connection. We have focused on Nicolas and Millenaria Tours, however, we would be remiss if we did not comment on the absolute stunning beauty of the Sajama National Park. We have never experienced such a serene environment. We highly recommend touring the Sajama region with this company and we also appreciate their sensitivity to the environment and to the local communities. We hope to explore the Amazon under their guidance in the not too distant future.

Sajama is a good 3hr drive from Oruro. You are rewarded though with pristine desolation, relaxing hot springs, and scenery from another planet. There are herds of alpaca and vicunas that are exciting just to watch as you soak your feet in 120+ degree thermal water and soak in all the natural surroundings. Sajama also has the worlds highest forest on the side of its slopes. A nice day trip if you are getting tired of Oruro ;-)