For many years the best choice to travel abroad was to hire an operator established in your own country. The main reason for that is the confidence you have in people like your own. Additionally that, it is easier to complain and probably ask your money back from companies that are under the same country laws rather than try to get honest response from some unknown guys from a third world country.

The truth is that some international travel agencies do not hire local operators and have enough contacts with drivers and porters to organize their trips themselves, but besides accomplishing the planned itinerary, they will never give you what is really important when travelling abroad: learning about the country’s culture, life, food, culture, while having direct contact with the local people. In instead you will just see the surface because your foreign guides do not have a deep knowledge of Bolivia (and we sincerely doubt they will ever have).

Bolivia has recently experienced a surge in Adventure Travel. There are dozens if not hundreds of new agencies popping up everywhere in the country. As the tourist population arises, problems grow and more unattended complaints have been reported to the “Tourism Police”. While the prices spiral down and casualties grow in numbers, we have maintained our professional level of service as we have done since 1992. In this industry you really "get what you pay for". It is not worth to gamble with your safety by settling for the lowest price. Not to mention, it won’t be as fun.

We are professionals, and we do not just operate tours because of the business; we do it because we love nature, the adventure and are proud of our job. We can guarantee, without any doubt, that you will not be able to find a better adventure service in the area, not only because of the good standard of our services, but also because of the experience and knowledge you will get from our local guides.

For many years we have been known for being the best mountaineering service in the region. We still are, but now we offer a wider variety of trips and in several countries of South America. The early mountaineering years have shaped our spirit and defined our style. That is why safety is our main concern. As we operate in isolated areas, we do not take any risks and always play it safe. All of our staff and not only guides take part of the training on safety matters. To give you more confidence in us, let us tell you that for mountaineering trips we only work with Mountain Guides who have received the credential from the highest worldwide certification: the International Mountain Guides Association (IMGA, UIAGM, IVBV). We are very proud that since 2005 the Bolivian Mountain Guides have become part of this international Association.

As we do not like crowds, and we know most of our clients neither, we usually operate off the beaten path. Every year we look for new destinations and design new itineraries exploring different tracks and roads to get there. This does not mean that we do not travel to some destinations that have become very well known and are worth the visit.

Our style of travelling is based in our ideal of what a trip should be like. We know that a trek, a mountain climb or a bike ride can be done easily in your own countries or perhaps in more adequate locations (lower altitudes). So what we really offer is what we call an “integrated experience”. That means that while you do the activity you enjoy the most, you will have a first hand and deep experience with a local culture. Our guides will not only lead you along the Pre-Colonial Trails, through the jungle or across the glaciers; they will take you on a trip inside the local life. You will learn about the history, the culture, the politics, and the daily life and to top it all you will have a taste of the local cuisine.

Before the trip

We understand how important vacations are for our clients, so we will do our best to help them make the right decision about what to do and where to go. In this web site you will find plenty of information for you to organize your holidays, do not hesitate to contact us if you need an advice or more information.

Once decisions have been made, you have to fill and sign the "Reservations Booking Form" in order to confirm a trip with Andean Summits. That means you agree with all of our “Terms & conditions”. A $us 300 deposit is required to confirm any reservation. The rest has to be paid one month prior to departure. Click here to get more information about Prices.

You can download all information required form our website, including: detailed itinerary, services included and not included, equipment list, etc. After your arrival, you and our guide will have a meeting in order to briefly review the itinerary and check the equipment needed.

Along the trip

Every night our guides will explain the plan for the next day: route, timing, elevation to be gained or lost, and highlights of the day will be fully explained. That will normally take place during or after dinner.

Even though we normally fully complete the trip planned, lack of acclimatization or illness in our clients, and changes in the weather conditions can force our guides to make the decision to change the itinerary (even to cancel partially or totally the trip) in order to guaranty the safety or the clients and the staff.

When hiking or climbing our guides will keep a steady pace considering always the slowest in the group. Enough breaks will be made to rest, drink and eat, avoiding – of course – taking too many of them or making too long ones.

Please have in mind that porters and muleteers normally take their own route and walk at different pace, so be sure to have all your essentials with you at the beginning of the day.

The group will always stay together unless the guide/client ratio allow the guides to split the group, if that is the case there will always be visual or radio contact between the groups.

On our mountaineering trips, the itineraries are normally designed to have at least one day in the mountains for training basic climbing skills like: Rope Management, Crampon Techniques, Ice Axe Techniques and Self Arrest. When climbing, our guides will always lead the most technical slopes.

At the campsites our clients are expected to help set up the personal tents. Some of them can be a little tricky to pitch, so for the first days, there will always be somebody from Andean Summits explaining how to manage them.

For your own comfort, we strongly advice our clients to keep in mind the following suggestions about the tents:

• Keep the tent and pole bags from flying with the wind. Put them into your pocket while putting up the tent, and inside the tent after setting it up.
• Take all your stuff out from the tent, and clean it up before putting it down.
• Dry the tent up before packing it.
• Do not get inside the tent with shoes or boots.
• Zippers should open and close freely.
• If not, please check the set up of the tent since it might be too tight.
• Smoking is not allowed inside the tents.

There are very few campsites with toilet facilities; therefore we normally dispose our wastes by digging a hole in “active soil” and burying it. In larger groups we also take a “bathroom tent” for privacy. We do not take a "shower" but provide our clients with warm water for a quick wash.

One of our main concerns when cooking or eating is hygiene; outside the mess tent there will always be a bowl with water and soap. We strongly suggest our staff, and of course our clientele to wash their hands after toilet and before meals. Tableware is also washed with soap and bleach after every meal. Alcohol in gel will be provided with all meals for hands disinfection.

Plastic trash bags are also available inside (and outside) the mess tent for both organic and plastic garbage (white and black bags respectively). We dispose organic leftovers feeding local animals or by burying it. We take plastic rubbish back to the city.

After the trip

We would appreciate your comments about the services provided (guide, transportation, accommodation, food) in order to maintain our quality or improve it. You can do this verbally, or either by filling our “commentaries from” or sending us an email later.

Back in the 80’s, when we decided to work in the tourism business, we also understood that a compromise with nature was part of the game. As nature lovers we have a clear policy about the environments we visit. We try to do the lowest impact on nature and on local cultures.

As the tourism grows in the area and amounts of visitors boost up, it is very sad to see that both, nature and culture are being negatively influenced. Local operators who do not know or do not care about our resources are predating countries like Bolivia, which do not have a clear environmental policy. So it is getting more and more common to hear the last Britney Spears hit, loud on CD player at a shag at the side of an Inca road; or to see Coca Cola plastic bottles, chocolate warps along the treks or the excrement piles topped with toilet papers around the camp sites or the hundreds of plastic bags around the villages and towns.

That is one of the reasons we avoid the most traditional and well-known destinations and travel to more remote destinations. But that does not resolve the problem because sooner or later other operators will copy our exclusive programs and pollute our remote campsites. So at Andean Summits we have decided to make the locals understand that nature is our treasure. On every trip we have talks with the local people about this matters and we enhance our speech with actions: we do not only take back with us all our rubbish but we also pick up the one left by others and in all our trips we take along toilet tents and dig out latrines.

On the people’s side we are not fully supportive of continuing the local traditions. We have to admit that we try to make an impact on the local cultures; not by changing their essence but by adjusting their ways to the new situations brought by the international market and tourism. They have lived hundreds of years in the same lifestyle and had always had rubbish and leftovers that were easily biodegradable. They have always thrown it at the back yard; it was a kind of a natural and logical way of recycling. But now with plastic, the situation is getting dramatic. We have a huge work to do: change the local mentality on that issue, while the culture remains with its particularities.

Some suggestions for independent travelers

• All trash must be carried back to the city (where there is a proper damp)
• Do not trust in porters or muleteers to dispose the rubbish; they will throw it down behind the nearest rock, or - in the best case-, will just burn it.
• Bury your excrements, and make your bathroom far away from water sources, trails and campsites.
• Bury you organic rubbish or feed domestic animals like pigs with it.
• Use neutral soap to wash the dishes.
• Whenever possible walk on trails, and avoid steeping on fragile vegetation like: moss or fern.
• If you make fire, keep it away from bushes and other vegetation. Always cover ashes with water, earth, or sand to extinct it. Do not cut down trees to make fire, use available firewood.
• Hunting and fishing is not allowed on National Parks and Protected areas. Avoid disturbing animals holding or chasing them.
• Do not pick up fossils or archaeological pieces.