Apolo Yungas

by Bennett Hennessey

Yungas BirdersThe road to Apolo travels through the lush middle montane cloud forest of Cotapata National Park. To drive to Apolo, one needs to drive from La Paz, along the east side of Lake Titicaca, and then down into the dry Andes. But inbetween this drive the road climbs up, over and down a wonderful protected middle montane forest full of birds. This forest can also be approached from Apolo within a two hour drive. This is a fantastic forest well worth birding for a few days. Keep an eye out for Oilbirds along the road. The forest can be visited as part of a multiday stay in the Apolo area visiting the Machariapo Dry Forest and the Bolivia Andean Cerrado.

Logistics: See the Apolo section. The easiest way is to rent a car to visit the area, being very independent with sleeping bags, camping equipment and food. With a rental car you can camp and make several stops along the yungas (Cloud forest) road to Apolo. The other option is to drive this main road from Apolo using local transportation.