Previous country: Brazil
Thursday 17th September 2026 – Ascensión de la Frontera
Easy leaving Brazil – 2 minutes to stamp passport and 2 minutes to cancel the Temporary import permit (TIP) albeit at different offices 100 kilometres apart! Immigration into Bolivia equally easy but issuing the TIP took one hour, mostly because of poor internet connections. The customs officer said that we were in the hottest region of Bolivia and the forecast was 40 Celsius. The road from the border is gravel but they had graded the first part. But badly corrugated in places but not too bad as we had been led to believe.
We are staying in a hotel courtyard. They have a pet parrot. They just called it down from the mango tree and put it on the handlebar of the motorbike and went off with it!
Friday 18th September 2026 – San Ignacio
Reached the end of the 300 kilometre dirt road from the border. Not in too bad condition even after morning rain. The hose has come off the airhorn again so I need to find a jubilee clip. The cable to the battery monitor also detached on the corrugations. Maybe some of my fillings too! Found a lovely place to stay that makes its own bread and cheese. A Swiss lady and her Bolivian husband. There were Mennonite communities on the way (they look a bit like Amish and had a horse and trap).
Had a wander around San Ignacio which has a colonial centre with covered walkways, wooden columns and terracotta tiled roofs. Went to the Jesuit Cathedral with its curious motifs.
Now at the Heladeria Ame Tauna, a famous ice cream and cake shop. Just what we need in the humid heat. They even have a cute Dachshund.
Saturday 19th September 2026 – San Ignacio
Decided to stay another day here to get laundry done (they have a laundry service business here!). Thunderstorms this morning and afternoon and the campsite at least has a shelter.
Annoucement that diesel subsidy being withdrawn today supposedly to tackle fuel shortages, the Bolivian government was spending approximately $55 million weekly (equaling over $2.6 billion annually) on fuel subsidies, primarily targeting diesel. Price per litre will roughly double to around the UK price per litre.
San Ignacio was crawling with police today, even a police helicopter circling overhead at very low level. We were told two rival mafia drug gangs were killing each other. A number of roads were cordoned off. Told not to be on the street after dark.
Being stiff upper lip British we ate cake!
We managed to get more ATF Dexrom III to top up the power steering should it be necessary. Also found a Jubilee clip to try and keep the airhorn hose in place. It wasn’t very good quality so fitting it was a bit of a pain but done now. There is a huge queue for fuel in San Ignacio, people just abandon their cars I guess until they get a message that fuel has arrived. We hope to get fuel in Santa Rosa or Santa Cruz (a hub for fuel coming from Argentina and Paraguay).
Internet connections are slow in Bolivia with high latency compared to internet powerhouses like Chile, Brazil, or Uruguay.
Sunday 20th September 2026 – Concepcion
As we were in a shady courtyard for 2 days with no solar the battery was flat. I asked Smiling Henry who lives in the courtyard if I could use the battery on his Land Cruiser that he had just started. However Henry produced a battery booster from his truck that got George started in no time. The Bolivians here have been so friendly. Henry, what a star!
We drive past the fuel station and there was a massive queue and no fuel. We then drove the pothole ridden road to Concepcion Town. There is a Jesuit Church that was restored in thd late 1970s by a Swiss architect Hans Roth (along with others). They now form a UNESCO site. The restoration is incredible, all done by training local people to be artisan woodworkers. The carved pillars and 72 ornately carved pews are stunning, as is the guilded altar.
The 2 foot diameter columns and ornate pews are carved entirely from local dense tropical hardwoods like Cuta (Sota) and Muriocoro. Each pew has a biblical scene carved on each end. Each column is a single piece od wood.
It took 4 years to build the original cathedral between 1752 to 1756 and 7 years to restore it between 1975 to 1982.
Moulting Cicada
Monday 21st September 2026 – Santa Cruz
Managed to get 65 lires of diesel in San Ramon. Big queue for petrol, small queue for diesel. To start with she didn’t want to let us have any because our number plate and TIP number weren’t recorded. She then took pity and agreed to use someone’s ID card details. There were 2 pickups with tanks snd bowsers taking huge quantities of diesel. It is evident that all citizens need tk use their ID card numbers to get fuel here.
We are going to a Land Rover parts shop in Santa cruz to try and get George’s passenger door lock sorted. It is seriously windy here today. Wind is from the north bringing hot humid air clashing with that of the Amazon. It prefaces a cold front and a change in the weather. So much dust everywhere.
We wanted to buy a door striker but it was £37 (in UK £7) so left it in the shop. They didn’t have the machine screws to hold it on but 500 metres down the road is a shop called Perno Centro, an Aladin’s cave of fixings, belts and tools. 6 screws were £1.20 (We thought it wise to buy a few spares while we were there! The owner of the Land Rover spares shop Daniel is travelling in Paraguay and offered to help us source any parts that we might need on our travels in South America, bless him!
Having sourced new machine screws I needed to get the broken one out of the captive nut on the backing plate. I had hoped to get it out with the pliers attachment on my leatherman tool but it wouldn’t shift. Luckily the owner had a vice, lump hammer and some WD40. This did the trick! However, the door mechanism was so choked up with dust that lots more WD40 was needed. The owner kindly helped me in this diagnosis and resolution too. It is great who you meet on the way, the kindness of strangers.
We are staying in tbeir beautiful garden, probably about two acres (I asked and its 20,000 sq metres or 5 acres).. They have a builder separate to the house with a superb view over dense forest. They also have a spectacular basement swimming pool. The owner said it was her paradise and I can see why. We managed to buy more fuel in Santa Cruz. We like to fill up when we see it in these circumstances.
Tuesday 22nd September 2026 – Santa Cruz
Thunderstorms in the night and this morning. Luckily we have a covered area. Just waiting for the weather to clear and for the tent to dry out. The owner says there is a lot of water on the road in the direction we are going.
The diesel in Bolivia is 5,000 ppm Sulphur (Europe is 10ppm), no choice. Luckily no problem for George, he eats it for breakfast! I don’t know how overlanders come here with modern engines with catalytic converters, they must get serious problems. Heard of a Dutch couple who carried 320 litres of diesel in 16 Jerry cans from Brazil to get though Bolivia!! It would weigh 333 kilograms, equivalent to 4 or 5 adults!!
We are staying at “Finca La Víspera” at Samaipata. It is an organic garden with a cafe. When you camp you can help yourself to the vegetables from the garden!
Lunch with produce from the garden.
We are now at 1,650 metres so it is nuch cooler, so no shorts and sandals here that we had become used to. We walked into the town and were told that it is a Fiesta day in the town tomorrow so we will visit the town square at 9am to see it. We will also stay another night to visit the cloud forest and see the tree ferns.
The tufts growing on the power lines in Samaipata are air plants belonging to the genus Tillandsia (often commonly referred to as ball moss or small epiphytic bromeliads, such as Tillandsia recurvata).
Wednesday 23rd September 2026 – Samaipata
We are so lucky to be here on the anniversary celebration of regional independence from the Spanish in 1810. And what a pageant! Different groups of schools, marching bands, associations, companies, even the police! Each group has a beautifully embroidered banner. There were literally thousands of people marching. The great and the good gave speeches and some fancy certificates were presented. Meanwhile everyone was yawning but waiting patiently! Took so many photos. The school kids were angelic, some of them recited things so well. So heart warming, what a great celebration of life!
Faces of Bolivia:
Santa Cruz Fiesta:
This boy gave a confident recital:
Another excellent lunch – Ravioli and Garden salad.
In the afternoon we visted El Fuerte, the fortress. An intriguing Inca site later used in part by the Spanish in the 17th Century. There are Jaguar and Puma reputedly carved into the rock and a snakes back. Archeologists have identified temple structures with niches for Gods and for mummified relics of family.
Thursday 24th September 2026 – Samaipata
Staying another night here. Visited the cloud forest today. Stunning trees ferns up to 20 metres tall and up to a century old. A mystical place with a unique peaceful atmosphere. We even saw hummingbirds there (they call them a colibrí or a picaflor here). No photos sadly they are too fast!
We also came across these berries of of Coccocypselum lanceolatum (commonly known in parts of South America as bananillos azules or cauabori). The intense, metallic blue color of the berries is a rare trait in nature. Instead of relying entirely on standard pigments, the vibrant shade is amplified by structural coloration within the cell walls of the fruit epidermis, which perfectly reflects blue light.
There are extraordinary lichens in the cloud forest because of the clean air.
Amazing view from above the cloud line where we had lunch.
On our return we had a delicious super crepe at the cafe with 3 different ice creams and lots of fresh fruit. Delicious.
Friday 25th September 2026 – Samaipata to Villa granado
Internet connections are pretty awful here. But rich countries get ever faster connections and how can others compete? Just the 30 software updates a day that happen invisibly at home are a pain.
We will start to seriously ascend now, Potosi is over 4000 metres. We will try to limit our ascent to 200 to 300 metres per day when above 2500 metres to try and avoid altitude sickness. We have some medicine to help acclimatisation but it has some side effects.
Got some stone ground bread and some cakes in Samaipata before leaving. Drove through valleys between mountains and the landscape got drier and drier until there were abundant candelabra cacti. The rock formations were incredible with different colours of rock from pink to yellow. The geological folds and formations were equally fascinating. We managed to get more diesel at the second station we found (first only had Gasolina). We are hearing that the Santa Cruz region has given central government an ultimatum of 10th October to reinstate the fuel subsidies. We are thinking that date may be a flash point so we may aim to leave Bolivia by then. This morning George refused to start. Everything was working but the starter motor wouldn’t engage. A Dutch overlander Jorrit offered to have a look and tested the voltage at the starter motor with a multimeter. There was voltage. However when he reconnected the third starter wire (having tested for voltage present) the starter turned. We are therefore unsure what had happened. The rest of the day George started no problem. We are bush camping at 2168 metres. A family of Parakeets visited a tree nearby our camping spot. Had aubergine curry with tasty homemade mango chutney from the organic garden we stayed at in Samaipata. We bought some of their marmalade too. Tomorrow we will likely get to 2700 metres.
Saturday 26th September 2026 – Villa granado to Sucre
Up early after broken sleep from altitude. Tent already hot from morning sun at 6am. Bolivians here in the mountains are in more traditional clothes, the women in knee length skirts and hats. A smiling local stopped to talk to us this morning. His gestures gave us an idea of what he was saying!
The road to Sucre is stunning with the wide river bed and green of the small fields of tomatoes, corn, sugar cane and citrus and mango trees. The road is an engineering marvel cutting through rocks with many switchbacks. In many places the river is dry yet in other places there is clear running water. There are many Pescatoria restaurants lining the route. George didn’t get as stressed today with the needle rarely going above normal. In Sucre we hope to find leak stop for his leaking power steering box. The owner has kindly agreed to advise us where to look if we WhatsApp him photos of what we need.
Sunday 27th September 2026 – Sucre
The menu at last night’srestaurant promised Bolivian specialities but was a bit of a disappointment. Huge quantities but lacking flavour.
Going to get laundry done at launderette while we acclimatise to altitude. We want to take it steady with minimal increase above 2500 metres in a day to avoid any altitude sickness. We are staying in a courtyard in the town which is quiet and we are the only people here. Oddly they want to be paid to Spain or the US!
Visited the Cathedral last night where the late Archbishop was lying in state for 4 days in an open coffin with many people paying their respects. There was to be a mass for him at 7pm. Sucre, called the white city retains many colonial buildings particularly its central square which was bustling with life last evening.
We thought of visiting tye nearly vertical 80-meter-high limestone wall holding over 5,000 real, 68-million-year-old dinosaur footprints, including a continuous trackway hundreds of meters long at the Parque Cretácico. However it is full of plastic Dinosaurs for taking selfies which has proved too off putting!
Managed, with Tito (the campsite owner) help to get the power steering leak stop despite it being Sunday with many shops closed. It is Simonitz branded so imported from the US. So kind of Tito to spend some of his Sunday this way.
Decided to get my first ever Bolivian hair cut as we walked past many barbers yesterday. The clippers made an odd noise and the larget scissors he first used seemed rather blunt but overall an excellent cut! He is now cutting Rachel’s hair! In for a penny…. He sterilises the comb and scissors first with an alcohol flame with a great flourish! If only this was as easy and stress free on a Sunday morning in the UK. A Bolivian haircut is the princely sum of £2!
Found a cafe with a nice courtyard serving Empanadas with an olive and a quails egg inside each one.
On this trip I received contact from people I met on previous trips in The Gambia, Morocco, Ghana, Nepal, Guinea Bissau, Ethiopia, Botswana, Togo, Senegal, Serbia, Benin, Kenya, Malawi and Zambia. Travel is amazing.
Monday 27th September 2026 – Sucre to Betanzos
Leaving our oasis of calm in the city today. Enjoyed Sucre it feels calm and safe. Who doesn’t like Zebras on Zebra crossings!
Great covered market here
Fine colonial buildings, a UNESCO site
Fair to say that the wiring in Sucre is interesting!
Wild camping tonight, no campsites in this area. Bolivia has a litter problem sadly such that many places are blighted with plastic waste. We have cleared up lots of bottles and broken glass at our camp spot. A small gesture in the scheme of things. However a storm is brewing. Not a bad backdrop though:
We climbed 700 metres in 3 kilometres, poor George was exhausted and had to take a rest! After the climb there was a huge cultivated plateau.
Tuesday 29th September 2026 – Betanzos to Potosi to Uyuni
A jolly Bolivian man passing our campsite wanted a photo with George. He is now a celebrity!!! A media sensation. He is looking for an agent if you know anyone! I hope he doesn’t get too big headed. He could be difficult to live with. Last nights storm wasn’t too bad and was short lived although the lightening was impressive. I hate being in a roof tent when its windy. They say that 40mph or even 50mph gusts are possible without damage but I never want to experience or test it.
In Pelosi now. Forecast is sleet/snow. Had to go back to trousers. 11 Celsius. Some interesting buildings in Potosi:
Potosi has very narrow streets so difficult to drive around. As it is at 4000 metres and the buses use dirty diesel it is easy to feel slightly nauseous! It is also bordered by open cast mines! So plenty of trucks pushing out fumes. Poor George was also smoking like mad at that altitude! We think George is using 20% to 25% more fuel here, partly the altitude but mostly because its awful quality. George has been complaining about his diet, especially now he is a global superstar!
Driving from Potosi to Uyuni the landscapes are extraordinary. We went through Cactus Valley.
Saw our first Llama and Vicuñas on the way. There were thousands on the grassy valleys.
We got diesel here easily but there is no petrol. It is reported that there are 1000 tour companies Land Cruisers waiting for fuel. The streets are lined with them!
Wednesday 30th September 2026 – Uyuni
We decided to get a room for a couple of days following bad stomachs from food in Sucre. Best not to be too far from a toilet.
Visited the salt flats today. A stunning landscape. In hindsight using a tour vehicle rather than our own might have been better given the amount of salt George picked up! However we found a place with a ramp who jet washed him.
We visited the salt statues on the salt flats:
We also visited the stairway to heaven that gives a different perspectives of the salt flats:
We visited the monument to the Dakar rally:
George gets a clean and towelled off!
On the edge of town is a steam train graveyard with 18 locomotives from 1906 to the 1950s. German, British and American made.
Thursday 1st to Saturday 3rd October 2026 – Laguna route
We have been doing the Laguna route in the national park with salt lakes and flamingos. The road is awful in places, both front shock absorbers are leaking badly. We will have to replace them in Chile. I normally carry a full set of spares but decided not to ghis time to save weight! It makes driving difficult in his current state. He bucks like a Bronco! The springs still work like tigger but without any damper effect of the shock absorbers!
Vicuña (Vicugna vicugna)
Mountain Viscachas (Genus Lagidium). They look a bit like a rabbit but have a bushy tail. They are strictly herbivores and get most of their hydration from the plants they eat. They live in a pretty extreme environment in the mountains.
Chinchilla rat (Abrocoma)
We wild canped beside one of the lakes surrounded by snow capped mountains with flamingos feeding away. The night sky was amazing as we were so far away from any settlement. The night however was really cold. When we woke my contact lenses (which were in the cab of the land rover were solid ice! We resolved to spend the following night at a hostel. Glad we did it was minus 7 with a wind chill making it feel like minus 15! We had three blankets at the hostel and they cooked us dinner too. My feet still got cold though! The wind was howling in the night.
We visited the Languna verde and Laguna blanca on the way out to Chile. We got to a maximum height of 4900 metres above sea level.
George was really difficult to start in the mountains. A horrible combination of altitude (40% lower air density), low quality diesel (with a poor cetane number and heavy paraffin fractions that thicken rapidly in sub-zero cold) and the massive cast-iron block sheds residual heat completely in the cold. This all conspires to hamper combustion!