Bolivian flute-player

Wanderlust Instagrammy Awards: Bolivia in 30 Amazing Pictures

 
As a child of the Facebook generation who only let Twitter into her life reluctantly, I resisted Instagram for a long time…and immediately got hooked as soon as I gave in to the photo-sharing app! The travel pictures I see on it every day are like porn to my wanderlust and a constant source of inspiration, so I’ve decided to share the best of them with you!

With each installment, the Wanderlust Instagrammy Awards showcase the best of a different country through my choice of photos submitted to the Instagram hashtag #inwonderlands.

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This time, I am taking you to BOLIVIA, a country I visited on my tour of South America two years ago.

Did you know that Bolivia holds 50% t0 70% of the world’s lithium reserves, mostly concentrated in the giant Salar de Uyuni salt flats? Lithium is a very valuable resource as a key component of electric batteries, but the country’s communist/slightly anti-American stance and Bolivians’ devotion to ‘Pachamama’ (‘the Mother Earth’) – as evidenced by President Evo Morales’ regular UN ecological interventions in traditional llama woollen jumpers (if you have never seen this, look it up!) – means that they won’t allow foreign corporations to exploit the Salar and are only extracting the lithium slowly in order to preserve this natural and touristic site.

Take that, Western greed!

Anyway, Bolivia may be the poorest country in South America, but that’s only moneywise: it is absolutely NOT lacking in natural wonders or opportunities for adventure!

With the world’s largest white desert, two of the world’s highest cities, the record-breaking altitude of Lake Titicaca, and the chance to cycle down one of the world’s scariest roads (appropriately called ‘The Death Road’), it’s an outstanding land in every way.

And that’s without mentioning the colourful traditions. If you’re looking to experience the real South America, the one you saw in Tintin and movies, Bolivia is where it’s at!

But a picture speaks a thousand words, so here’s the visual evidence!

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The cities of Bolivia

1. La Paz has possibly the most spectacular geographical setting ever!
Overview of La Paz, Bolivia

2. I mean: this skyline! Feeling dizzy in the highest capital in the world…

La Paz skyline, Bolivia

3. The busy streets of La Paz

The busy streets of La Paz, Bolivia

4. Atop the Potosí mining mountain. The miners drink 96% alcohol and chew coca leaves to keep going all day!

Atop the mining mountain of Potosi, Bolivia

5. The ‘White City’ of Sucre is considered Bolivia’s most beautiful…

San Felipe Convent of Sucre, Bolivia

6. … maybe because of the stunning colonial architecture of the constitutional capital?!

Colonial church in Sucre, Bolivia

The landscapes of Bolivia

7. Bolivia’s star: Salar de Uyuni, the world’s largest salt flat

Salar de Uyuni salt flats, Bolivia

8. You can spend hours taking crazy photos. Such as: this!

Salar de Uyuni crazy perspective photo, Bolivia

9. Meta: not a Magritte painting, but a picture of people taking pictures of each other…

Picture-taking at Salar de Uyuni, Bolivia

10. Sometimes the Salar turns into a giant mirror. Who needs filters with places like these?

Mountain island reflections at Salar de Uyuni, Bolivia

11. Or these?

Laguna in Sur Lipez, Bolivia

12. Road trip anyone?

Bolivia road and landscape

13. It never stops… Geyser in Eduardo Avarao Andean Fauna National Reserve

Geyser in Eduardo Avaroa Andean Fauna National Reserve, Bolivia

14. Who would you swim in these thermal baths with?

Eduardo Avaroa Andean Fauna National Reserve thermal baths, Bolivia

15. Swinging off an abandoned wagon at Uyuni train cemetery

Playing on abandoned trains in Uyuni train cemetery, Bolivia

16. Taking a break at the border with Chile

Railroad at Bolivia Chile border

The people, daily life and traditions of Bolivia

17. Shopping from ‘witches’: ‘Any dried llama foetuses on sale today?’

Shopping at La Paz Witches Market, Bolivia

18. The colours of Tarabuco market: pick your Andean blanket

Shopping for textiles at Tarabuco Market, Sucre, Bolivia

19. Sucre’s colourful fruit market

Colourful fruit market in Sucre, Bolivia

20. The long walk home…

Bolivian woman and landscape, Bolivia

21. Young happiness

Happy Bolivian child, Bolivia

22. More of that happiness

Young Bolivian girl and cat

23. ‘Cholita wrestling’ may be one of the world’s most random traditions: women in traditional costume doing ‘lucha libre’

Cholita wrestling near La Paz, Bolivia

24. And they are NOT kidding!

Cholita wrestlers near La Paz, Bolivia

The llamas of Bolivia

25. Llamas are cool…

Llamas, Bolivia

26. …so they totally deserve their own category

Family of llamas, Bolivia

27. Aren’t they photogenic?

Close-up on llama, Bolivia

28. Total poser

Smiling llama, Bolivia

29. Okay, poserS!

Herd of llamas, Bolivia

30. But flamingos, they’re not bad either!

Fauna of Bolivia

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Thank you to @seintheworld of Photos of S&E, @evagiblin, @de5ka, @dpalmar of Diego Palma Estudio, @daritozap, @christopherchriv of Blog du voyage, @bash.j, @lafranchutaviajando, @simo_dreamandlive of Viaggia Sogna Vivi, @ginamiroula, @cimikoglu, and @ruthontherun for sharing their amazing pictures! If you like their work, check out their accounts on Instagram and follow their adventures on their websites.

In the next Wanderlust Instagrammy Awards, I want to bring you to a country I just discovered and fell in love with: Latvia. Start tagging your best Instagram pictures #inwonderlands for a chance to be featured!
 
 
Do these pictures make you want to go to Bolivia? Which one is your favourite? Do you like llamas? Let me know in the comments below!

Are you on Instagram? Find me at @camwonderlands.

If you would like to follow the rest of my adventures, consider also subscribing to the blog to receive all updates by email, and connecting with Camille in Wonderlands on Facebook, where I regularly post snapshots and musings that haven’t made it onto the site.
 
 

Camille

Hey, I'm Camille! I quit my life to travel the world in 2013 – and I haven’t stopped since! I have visited 40+ countries as a location-independent travel/lifestyle writer and digital marketer. I like hammocks, scooters, eating, and scaring my mother trying adventure sports! I was chosen as a top travel influencer by Influence.co, and have co-founded Helipad Marketing to help travel & lifestyle brands soar with killer online marketing.

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23 thoughts on “Wanderlust Instagrammy Awards: Bolivia in 30 Amazing Pictures”

  1. Great selection but some mistakes in describing the pictures. No 10, 11 is not Salar de Uyuni but Parque Nacional Eduardo Avaroa. No 16 isn’t at the border with Chile, however the rail trucks lead to Chile. No18 – the Tarabucenos do not produce machine made textiles. No 26 – they are vicunas, not llamas:) Greetings from Cochabamba!
    Danuta/boliviainmyeyes recently posted…Freedom of Breastfeeding in Bolivia *** Swoboda karmienia piersią w BoliwiiMy Profile

  2. Comment choisir une photo parmi les trente ? Une toute petite préférence pour la “Long walk home” et les deux “Lucha libre”, peut-être, s’il faut vraiment choisir. Mais elles sont toutes absolument magnifiques, et la sélection si variée…

  3. BEAUTIFUL PICTURES! I’d love to return to Bolivia. I visited La Paz for a few days during a trip to Peru, but never made it out of the city. The salt flats look like a photographer’s paradise. These photos definitely inspire wanderlust.
    Erika recently posted…Venice, Murano and BuranoMy Profile

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