Bolivia Travel Forum

Hi, I plan to visit Bolivia during the coming year. I know the dry season is from April-November. Can anyone tell me if it would be better to go in April or to go in October?

We plan to go to La Paz, Lake Titicaca, Rurrenabaque (3 day jungle tour and 3 day pampa tour), and Uyuni (multi-day tour for salt flats and coloured lagoons).

I know both months should be fine, but is one of them better for seeing birds/animals in the Amazon, flowers, mirroring layer of water on salt flats etc?

And...do you think this schedule could work in 3/4 weeks? Any tips on places should I add?

Thanks a lot for your reply!

Until the Dunge Fever epidemic passes I would not make any plans to visit Bolivia. It has been very severe.

suerte
SAM

to actually answer your question:

it's a toss up. to get that mirroring layer of water on the salt flats, it is better towards the wet season. but there are places that have water the whole time. in rurre, the further you are into the dry season, the more animals you'll see, especially anaconda.

i recommend mapajo for your tours in rurre.
and i recommend kantuta for the salt flats.

Thanks for your replies! Regarding the animals, I think then October might be better than April.

Porteno, can you tell me a bit more about the Dungue outbreak? I wasn't aware of that. Do you think that October 2009 it will have passed? Thanks again for your answer!

Here is a link to a recent BBC report
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7866908.stm

Outbreaks are more frequent during the rainy season. But the spread of Dengue Fever in Bolivia, Paraguay and Brazil have been substantial in the past few years.
It is certainly nothing to be taken lightly since medical care in Bolivia and other areas are less than adequate in the best of times.

I would certainly proceed with caution and monitor the situation closely before making too many plans. Most of Argentina, Chile and the non-tropical areas of Peru are completely free of Dengue Fever and other tropical diseases so you might consider using them as fall back countries to visit.

Suerte
SAM