Travelling to La Paz, in order to then make our was to Peru in 9 Days time. Rebooking would be tough with 4 different flights to get there.
Did somebody make their way in the last days fr
Bolivia via roas into Peru? Can we make it via car? Walking potential blockades?
Insight would be much appreciated
Hello everyone,
We are sharing another other update on Bloqueos for Travelers in Bolivia.
We currently have a few groups out that have had to change plans and received a variety of local reports from our team across the country.
WARNING: Marches today in La Paz to Centro are reported to be carrying dynamite. Avoid any large protest groups and stay out of centre if possible. Zona sur will be much safer.
La Paz continues to the most affected area, however travel in other regions continues to be blocked this week:
>>> La Paz (Blocked)
>>> Oruro (Blocked)
>>> Cochabamba (Blocked)
>>> Potosí (Blocked)
>>> Sucre (Blocked)
>>> Santa Cruz (Some Bloqueos)
Travel today and tomorrow is likely to be difficult. However, there is access to the airport in La Paz is possible as of earlier this morning / last night.
Pando and Tarija are currently not severely affected by Bloqueos.
The one glimmer of hope is that negotiations are rumored to be scheduled for this weekend on Saturday and Sunday, so it is possible that an agreement is reached (although not certain) or at least a temporary halt to bloqueos.
For anyone looking forward to Gran Poder in La Paz, this is also rumored to be suspended by the municipality :(
Current advice is to avoid land travel in the country between most major cities and to seek alternatives such as air travel or waiting for routes to open up for safe travel again.
As always, please share any local updates for safety or travel disruptions to help everyone else.
Let's hope the best for Bolivia! Stay safe!
Quite possibly Latin America’s most beloved comic strip character. Not only is her design super iconic, her character itself is exemplary. Such a great role model.
Hello everyone,
Sharing another update on the bloqueo situation in Bolivia to help travelers navigate this safely.
Yesterday, was a very intense day in La Paz with many marches, bloqueos, and some protests turning into violent and looting situations.
La Paz continues to be the most effected area, but bloqueos are also being reported along main routes in:
>>> La Paz / El Alto
>>> Oruro
>>> Potosí
>>> Cochabamba
>>> Santa Cruz
Some travel in the south and east of the country is possible using alternate routes and transport, but primary bus lines are being disrupted.
One local reports that Tarija is calm and quiet, so this could be a good time to have some wine and wait this out!
AVOID any travel through La Paz and Oruro. There is no movement and food and fuel shortages are becoming more severe.
If you are in La Paz, stay away from Centro and any large demonstration crowds because there have been many reports of attacks and conflicts between protesters, police, and even bystanders.
If you are in another city, and seeking to travel, look into flights or ask directly in the bus terminals if there are any routes open. The bloqueos in other parts of the country and demonstrations are not as intense as La Paz right now but the number of bloqueos is increasing by the hour.
Travel might be possible using some creative routes, but it is not recommended to attempt to cross a bloqueo for your safety.
Its difficult to say when some kind of resolution will happen, but at the moment, it looks like the week ahead will see more travel issues... beyond the bloqueos there are some fundamental issues that need to be resolved, but let's hope for the best for everyone...
Suerte a todos! Stay safe :)
I'm Paraguayan. I'm not an economist, not a lawyer, not a politician. I'm someone who's spent weeks looking at numbers and asking uncomfortable questions. Before going further, I need people who know more than me to point out my mistakes.
The starting point is simple: Paraguay moves billions of dollars in drugs every year. None of that money builds a single school.
The data I started with — all verifiable:
$1.1B
Blow to criminal organizations 2018–2023 from seizures alone. Source: SENAD / Diálogo Américas.
12 tons
Of cocaine left Asunción on a single ship in 2023. Reached Hamburg undetected. Source: Washington Post.
30,000 tons
Of cannabis flow to Brazil and Argentina every year. Value matches Paraguay's entire soybean export revenue. Source: TNI / SENAD.
All that money leaves Paraguayan territory. It never built a single school. It funds cartel wars in other countries.
The question I asked myself:
What if instead of sending that product abroad, we sold it here — to tourists who come looking for it — with lab-grade pure product, medical supervision, taxes going to education and healthcare, without sending a single gram outside the country?
This isn't about legalizing drugs for Paraguayans. It's about creating a Special Economic Zone for Regulated Consumption in the Chaco — similar in concept to the free trade zones that already exist — where experience tourism is legal, controlled, and profitable for the state.
Amsterdam has done it for decades. Portugal decriminalized everything in 2001 and deaths, HIV rates, and incarceration all dropped. Switzerland has provided pure heroin since the 90s. None of them have what Paraguay has: the raw material is already here.
The numbers I calculated — and where I'm most uncertain:
Concept Estimate Basis
Visitors year 1 (conservative) 500,000–750,000 Reference: experience tourism in comparable zones
Average spend per visitor $800–$1,200 Reference: Amsterdam $1,064 per tourist
Annual gross revenue $600M–$900M Visitors × average spend
State revenue $300M–$450M/year Substance margin + special taxes + entry fee
3 festivals/year (Tomorrowland-scale) +800,000 additional visitors Tomorrowland: 400,000 over 2 weekends in Belgium
Full national university system cost $795M–$1.035B 17 departments, Paraguay construction costs $700–900/m²
Full national hospital network cost $582M over 3 years 17 dept. hospitals + 3 regional + 1 national center
Time to fund both systems 5–7 years With 40% of state revenue to education + 40% to health
With these numbers, Paraguay could have a complete free university system and a quality national hospital network — funded entirely by foreign tourists coming to spend money in the Chaco.
The basic operational model I imagined:
Closed zone of 15–20 km² in the Paraguayan Chaco. Single access point — private international airport and land terminal with biometric control. Maximum stay of 72 hours per visitor, no exceptions. Monitoring wristband with passive GPS and vital signs — activates only in medical emergencies or when time expires. Substance supply exclusively state-run, from its own laboratory, with full traceability. Distributed medical points throughout. No agencies of any kind inside. Hotel, casino, and venue operating licenses sold by international tender — the state doesn't build the hotel, it sells the right to operate it.
Substances included: cannabis, MDMA, psilocybin, LSD and pure cocaine HCl in a second phase. Opioids and methamphetamine excluded — the dependency profile makes the 72-hour model unworkable.
What I don't know and need someone to explain:
International legal framework. Paraguay is a signatory to the 1961 Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs. Bolivia partially withdrew and renegotiated. Is there a real legal mechanism for a special economic zone to operate outside that framework? Or is it legally impossible without a major diplomatic conflict?
Real demand. My visitor numbers are based on Amsterdam references and European festivals. Does anyone with experience in experience tourism think those numbers make sense for a new destination in South America, or am I being ridiculously optimistic?
Precedents that failed. Have similar attempts been made in any country? Why didn't they work? I don't want to reinvent something that's already been tried and destroyed.
The infiltration problem. The biggest operational risk I see is organized crime infiltrating the state supply system itself. Is there an international audit model that makes that manageable, or is it inevitable?
The costs I'm not seeing. What's missing from my numbers? What makes budgets explode in infrastructure projects of this scale in Latin America?
I don't have a party. I don't have an agenda. I don't have funding. I'm someone who looks at the drug trafficking numbers in his country and wonders if there's a way out other than continuing to lose the same war for 50 years.
If this has already been thought through and dismissed for reasons I'm not seeing, I want to know. If there are fundamental errors in the logic, I want them pointed out. And if someone with more knowledge than me thinks it's worth developing — I'd like to hear how.
Sources consulted: SENAD Paraguay, Diálogo Américas, Washington Post, Transnational Institute (TNI), UNODC, InSight Crime, INE Paraguay (2022 Census), Unique Student Registry MEC 2024, Paraguay Ministry of Health PGN 2026, Amsterdam tourism data CBS Netherlands, Tomorrowland financial reports.
Most people don't even realize Suriname is in South America, let alone how to get around the interior or what to eat in Paramaribo. I noticed the online info was either outdated or non-existent, so I built exploresuriname.com to change that.
Whether you're looking for jungle expeditions or just want to know how the bus system works, I’ve tried to cover it all. Happy to answer any specific questions about the country here too!
Last night, military and police made moves to break up bloqueos, and the majority of blockades are now being broken up around La Paz, El Alto, and surrounding region.
There are still some confrontations between police and protesters, especially in El Alto and Rio Seco where there are conflicts over maintaining the bloqueo.
It has also been reported that the government has reached some agreements with the miners cooperative, which could help alleviate the situation.
However other organized groups are still maintaining their protests and attempting to continue bloqueos.
It is still unclear if the military will be able to maintain control of the roads or if bloqueos will be established again, but some travel in and out of La Paz had resumed.
Recently, trucks carrying fuel were able to enter the city making gasoline more accessible at the moment.
IMPORTANT: Avoid areas with active conflict between police / military and protesters as these can be volatile situations. Only attempt to cross areas with previous bloqueos with caution and if there is a steady flow of traffic.
Good luck everyone! Let's hope the best for Bolivia and for the people!
As always, please share any local updates from your area to help others stay informed.
Good Afternoon Everyone!
We are sharing another update on bloqueos in Bolivia based on the latest local reports we have received.
La Paz remains the most severely affected region and any travel by land in or out of the city is difficult, if not impossible.
Oruro and Rurrenabaque also have bloqueos preventing travel from these areas.
The routes between Uyuni - Potosí - Sucre and beyond to Santa Cruz or South to Tarija appears to moving, but of course this can change at any time.
IMPORTANT NOTE: There have been some reports that LPB airport is running out of jet fuel, which could cause other travel delays for anyone hoping to take a flight if the bloqueos do not lift soon.
There is still no indication of negotiation agreements between protest groups and the government, so it is unclear when the bloqueos will be lifted.
WARNING: If you are in La Paz and here any loud bangs don't approach as it could be miners throwing dynamites during their marches. Avoid conflicts between protesters and police.
It is not recommended to try to cross any protest lines, but movement does appear to be easier in the late evenings or early mornings...
As always, please share any local updates from wherever you are in Bolivia (even positive ones!) as we rely on local reports to provide the most accurate information.
Hi! My husband and I are supposed to fly into La Paz at the end of May and climb Huyana Potosi in early June.
Our flights are booked both coming into and leaving La Paz. The trek is the only thing we have planned.
Looking at the road closure maps, it seems like La Paz to Huyana Potosi is open with no issues, but the news the past 14 hours has been worse than it’s been as we were planning the trip.
Should we still come and do the climb?
we are looking for some travel advice. we had planned to do the last route through peru, bolivia and chile of cusco -> puno -> copacabana -> la paz -> uyuni -> san pedro, but with the blockades in la paz, and the fact we have a flight out of santiago as a solid deadline to the trip, we have decided we need to change routes
what are our options for getting from either cusco or puno to either uyuni or san pedro? ideally we want to travel by bus and are happy to have a couple of stops along the way, but are willing to explore flights if those are the only option
our bus driver suggested going via Tacna but can’t easily see what our route out of there would be. we are arriving in cusco next week if that is relevant
any advice would be welcome
I have 6 days (full days, I’m not counting travel days) to spend in Brazil and really want to see both Salvador and Rio.
Any recommendations on how much time to spend in each? 3x3, 4x2 etc?
A little about myself, I’m a mixed black American (mom is African). Have always been fascinated in Brazilian culture in general. Salvador really appeals to me especially because of the Afro-Brazilian history.
But, also, I’ll be coming from an ice climbing/mountaineering trip in Bolivia. So, it would be fun to also just party and enjoy easy access nice beaches with reasonable safety (by Brazilian standards, I know you have to plan a little for this no matter what). I gather Rio is better for this?
Thanks in advance!
Hi everyone!
Just back from the Amazon and sharing some impressions, because our plan completely fell apart but it turned out really great - maybe it'll come in handy for some of you!
Originally we were supposed to fly to Bolivia, to Madidi National Park and then the Pampas (the swampy lowlands near Rurrenabaque). Unfortunately Bolivia has had road blockades going on for weeks now (a political and fuel crisis, long story), and getting there became practically impossible. So we decided to enter the Amazon from the Peru side instead, and it turned out to be a bullseye!
From Peru there are basically three main entry points into the jungle.
The first is Iquitos in the north, the only city in the Amazon you can't reach by car, only by plane or boat. You sail straight into the Amazon river itself.
The second is Manu National Park, and that's probably the best choice if you have more than a week. Logistically it's a bigger project. You can technically only access the first zone, but most of the flora and fauna live deeper inside (in the research zone, where you also pay extra for a permit).
The third is Tambopata Reserve, accessed from Puerto Maldonado (a one-hour flight from Cusco or a 10-hour overnight bus), a great option if you have less time.
We chose Tambopata because we'd already been much deeper into the jungle in Borneo and didn't want to spend several more days just on the road (we're on a multi-week trip and had a few other "highlights" planned :)). Tambopata can be experienced in different ways. You can stay at a lodge (a relatively comfortable option, with electricity (sometimes only for 2-3 hours a day), screens on the windows, and meals taken care of). You can also go for what's called a deep jungle experience, expeditions with local guides where you sleep in a different spot each night, in a hammock under a mosquito net, cook together, and wash in the river. Great option for the more adventurous! 🙂
What you can see: capybaras, macaws at the famous clay lick where hundreds of them gather every morning to lick the clay off the riverbank (a complete visual madness!). Plus monkeys (capuchins, howlers, spider monkeys, the howlers howl so loudly you wake up at 5am thinking it's lions), caimans, giant river otters (you can find them around Sandoval Lake!), toucans, sloths, snakes, and also jaguars (if you're a bit lucky, or not :)).
The best time to go is May-October (dry season).
Get your yellow fever shot in advance (they don't always check, but better to have it).
Malaria risk in Tambopata is relatively low but not zero.
Use only DEET 50% repellent, anything weaker won't cut it, tested on my own skin!
Long, light-coloured clothes, ideally ones you won't mind throwing away when you get back, because you might not get them clean 🙂
Anything you don't want soaked, pack in zip-lock bags, because the humidity is such that everything seeps through!
PS. Bolivia is on hold for a better moment, but the Peruvian Amazon turned out to be a perfect plan B. That's the charm of travel, sometimes you just have to detour and end up with something you didn't expect (in a good way! :)).
📍 Tambopata National Reserve, Peru
I’m seeing a mix of info online, and seemingly the official websites are t accurate.
We’re planning to travel from Salta to Uyuni by bus on 11/5 - doing a tour in Uyuni after this for 3 days, then travelling Uyuni to La Paz 16/5 (roughly), ~ a week in La Paz, then La Paz to Cusco 22/5. We are doing the Salkantay hike on the 25th, so won’t have much time to play with if we’re stuck. We were going to bus, but very happy to fly La Paz to Cusco if need be.
We can go from Uyuni to Chile if La Paz isn’t an option, but we would love to see La Paz if possible!
I know it’s still a week or so away, so might be hard to tell right now. However, does anyone have any info on these routes at the moment?