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Where to stay in La Paz on a budget: If casual hostels are more your style, try the Adventure Brew Hostel ($40 USD double) or The Nest Boutique Hostel ($37 USD double), both of which are located in the downtown area close to main tourist attractions like Calle Sagarnaga and the San Francisco Basilica. Where to stay in Potosí: If you’d like to extend your time, there are several options for lodgings in Potosí such as hostels like Santa Monica ($69 USD double) or Colonial ($75 USD double). Where to stay in Cochabamba: Cochabamba has a lot of nice hotel options for your stay, including Hotel Aranjuez ($85 USD double) and the fantastic Running Chaski ($38 USD double). All of this can be done via bus (eight hours from Cochabamba to La Paz, and then 12 hours from the Villa Fatima bus station in La Paz to Rurrenabaque), via plane (45 minutes from Cochabamba to La Paz, 40 minutes from La Paz to Rurrenabaque), or via a combination of the two.

This article is published in conjunction with several others: one that covers the current travel restrictions across South America; another that focuses on the experiences of Worldly Adventurer readers fleeing countries when the first wave of lockdowns began in March 2020; and a final one discuss So, from travel restrictions, to quarantine protocols and the mostly impenetrable world of travel insurance terms and conditions, there are plenty of things to think about before booking any travel to South America in the age of COVID-19. If you’re in the process of planning a trip to South America for later this year, I personally wouldn’t recommend booking anything that is not refundable right now. Not only can it be difficult to follow the latest guidelines if they’re issued in a language that you don’t speak, but arranging flights home and knowing whether you’re covered by your travel insurance – or will be forced to cover all costs out of your own pocket – is similarly onerous.

While I’ve outlined current lockdown and travel restrictions and things you should consider before even planning a trip to South America post-COVID-19 in other articles, I wanted to share the experiences of readers who were caught out in South America as the first wave of lockdowns were imposed. She had booked flights home for around $400 USD, but “several days later, I heard that LATAM was ending their flights to the US and that the flight I had booked would be the last flight. the government said that we needed to be on that flight…the unfortunate thing about this flight is that none of it was subsidised and no one’s travel insurance would cover the cost!” Receiving refunds from cancellations was difficult – and in some cases, impossible Cancellations have proven one of the most complicated elements of post-COVID-19 travel, with many readers reporting issues with getting refunds. I personally had to pay £800 ($1,020 USD) for a repatriation flight operated by the UK government to get home from Colombia, where I spent the first month of the lockdown.

People used to steal bits of the city’s walls for building materials,” my translator and tour guide for IMPULSE Travel Colombia’s Zenú Heritage Tour, Kate Garcia Velasco, admits. Here, in the Plaza de Los Coches, Wilfrido points out the statue of city founder Pedro de Heredia as he recounts the histories of Cartagena and the Zenú. Later, the violence of paramilitary guerrilla groups, drugs lords and the government that ravaged Colombia in the 1990s disproportionately killed indigenous groups and forced the Zenú to flee for their lives, with some 6,000 settling in Cartagena in 2000. How to learn about the Zenú and try your hand at weaving IMPULSE Travel Colombia’s Zenú Heritage tour is a half-day tour that explores the city centre and the Museo de Oro before heading out to the 20 de Julio neighbourhood.