Parinacota y Sajama
Sajama 6542m (6 days)
Parinacota. This mountain forms part of the western mountain range and is characterized by being a volcanic zone. Inside this national park we also find the snow covered peak Mt. Sajama; at 65042m this is Bolivia’s highest mountain and the park is home to various protected flora and faunas including the llama like Vicuñas and is also home to Pumas, and others.
Day 1.- Departure from La Paz to Sajama National Park. After lunch in the village of Sajama, we will continue by vehicle to the Parinacota base camp and then start our trek to the high camp (5,100m).
Day 2.- Our ascent begins at 3am to arrive at the summit approximately 10.00am. We then begin our return to the high camp.
Day 3.- After a big breakfast we return to our base camp where the vehicle will be waiting for us to take us through the village of Sajama and onto the valley of Wincurata. From there we begin our trek to the Sajama base camp (4,800m) located on the west face of the mountain.
Day 4.- After another good breakfast we will begin our ascent to the Sajama high camp at 5,700m. This ascent takes approximately 5 hours.
Day 5.- At 2am we will begin our preparations to depart for the summit. The route is a combination of rock and ice and the large majority of the ascent has a gradient of 50º. This climb generally takes around seven hours. Our return will take us past the high camp and back to base camp.
Day 6.- After breaking camp we will return to the valley of Wincurata from which the vehicle will take us to some nearby thermal baths. After a well deserved and needed bath, we will begin our return to La Paz.