The word Apolobamba comes from the words Apu=Gods in the Indian religion and Pampa=flat land. Apullupampa - probably the ancient name of the Ulla Ulla plains - therefore means the flat lands where the mountain gods live.

In the past years, Apolobamba National Park, Ulla Ulla Vicuña Reserve and Madidi National Park have been engulfed into one huge protected area which covers all of the ecological steps in the Andes and the Amazon: from the high glaciated mountains down into the very Amazon rain forest.

These lands have hosted several cultures through the centuries. Some like the best-known Callawayas, the itinerant healers, still survive in the lower mountain valleys. To travel to this area is like traveling to the past ... almost to another dimension where time and space have different measures.

The expedition starts with an initial acclimatization process paddling on Lake Titicaca, then we head towards Apolobamba for the high-altitude acclimatization in the very seldom visited valley of Macara. After a rest day at Pelechuco we will be transferred to the western slopes of the mountain range to attempt our main goal of the trip; Chaupi Orko, the highest peak of Apolobamba mountain range.