9 Day "Motorcycle Diaries" Guided Tour in Bolivia

Overview

This is Bolivia Motorcycle Advantures' smallest tour and dedicated to the famous revolutionary Ernesto Ché Guevara, who died in 1967 while trying to start a revolution in Bolivia. Mostly, you will follow the “La Ruta del Ché” and enjoy the fantastic roads and scenery of Bolivia. Some of the roads are the same that Ché took to escape. Possible options: Vado del Yeso, where passing Rio Grande, almost the entire Tania and comandante Joaquin group was massacred, as well as an encounter with members from the “Fondation Ernesto Ché Guevara” in Vallegrande.

Highlights

• Starts and ends in Santa Cruz
• Use of motorcycle, support vehicle available
• Visit El Fuerte, a UNESCO World Heritage Site
• Tour to various places related to Ernesto Ché Guevara
• Tour led by multi-lingual, experienced guide
• 8 nights accommodation

Itinerary

1. Day 1: Airport pickup at Viru-Viru, Santa Cruz

   - Altitude: 400 meters The staff will pick you up at the airport of Santa Cruz, Bolivia from where they will drive to the small town of Samaipata (120 kilometers, three hours). There, you check into a comfortable hotel and spend the rest of the day to relax and discover. If your flight arrives late, you need to spend the night in Santa Cruz. In that case the following day is considered as day 1.

2. Day 2: Samaipata

   - Altitude: 1650 meters You start with the briefing where you learn more about safety riding, the route, the local traffic rules, and about each other. To get used to the bike, you go for a ride to the archaeological site of El Fuerte. Classified World Heritage by UNESCO, it is an old Inca town build around the, much older, largest stone sculpture in the Americas. For some people, it is an ancient Alien landing field!

3. Day 3: To La Higuera (175 kilometers / 109 miles)

   - Terrain: 50% off-road - Altitude: 1900 meters Leaving early in the morning, you stop in Vallegrande to visit the hospital´s laundry, where revolutionary hero Ernesto Ché Guevara´s lifeless body was presented to the world. Also on the program, his thumb transformed today in a mausoleum, the thumb of Tania Tamara Bunke (Tania la guerillera) and the commandante Joaquín grave. After lunch, you continue your ride towards the tiny mountain village of La Higuera, the place where Ché was captured and executed. On the road, you stop at Ché monuments and observe condors, the world's biggest bird. Afte

4. Day 4: To Villa Serrano (120 kilometers / 75 miles)

   - Terrain: 100% off-road - Altitude: 2100 meters After visiting the ancient school building where Ché Guevara was executed on September 9, 1967, and the related sites, you leave towards Villa Serrano. On the suspension bridge over the Rio Grande you have a picnic lunch and if the conditions are good (mostly the water level) you can go for a swim. You arrive in Villa Serrano in the afternoon, Bolivia’s capital of the Charango. It's a kind of a small, double five strings guitar, very difficult to play.

5. Day 5: To Monteagudo (120 kilometers / 75 miles)

   - Terrain: 100% off-road - Altitude: 1130 meters Following dusty gravel roads across wild scenery, you continue to Monteagudo. No infrastructure for far, lunch picnic on the road. Only basic comfort available.

6. Day 6: Via Lagunillas to Camiri (160 kilometers / 99 miles)

   - Terrain: 90% off-road - Altitude: 810 meters You continue your route to Muyupampa and Lagunillas, were you visit the place where the guerilla camp was located. Your way leads you through the gas production zone of Bolivia. In Camiri, you visit a hotel room where Ché spend a night in 1967.

7. Day 7: To Samaipata (340 kilometers / 211 miles)

   - Terrain: 0% or 30% off-road variants depending on weather conditions In the morning you leave Camiri. The road to Samaipata takes you alternately over sandy tracks, the road is more or less the route Ché escaped or asphalt roads along the Piraí River, the Eastern cordillera up to Samaipata, your starting point. You leave your bikes behind and hurry to jump into the hotel's pool.

8. Day 8: To Santa Cruz

   Late in the morning, you set off for Santa Cruz where you can relax, hanging around the plaza and do some souvenir shopping. In the evening, you have a farewell dinner.

9. Day 9: To the airport

   Always a sad moment when you say goodbye. But who knows? You won't be the first to come back for more!

Ride Details

Terrain

60% off road

Bike

rental bike (Suzuki DR650SE)

Mileage

915 kilometers / 569 miles

Daily rides

120 - 175 kilometers / 75 - 109 miles

Meals

all meals

Accommodation

Various hotels will be your home during your stay in Bolivia.

Getting There

This tour will bring you to some places which are related to Ernesto Ché Guevara. Some of them are La Higuera, a mountain village where he was captured and executed, as well as Ché monument. [+](https://www.tripaneer.com/bolivia-motorcycle-adventures/9-days-motorcycle-diaries-tour-in-bolivia# "Zoom in") [−](https://www.tripaneer.com/bolivia-motorcycle-adventures/9-days-motorcycle-diaries-tour-in-b