Testimonials

My partner and I hired Marco and Bolivian Journeys for support and logistics only - getting to and from camps, porters to high camp on Illimani, a cook and some food. We were on our own for the actual climbs we did so I can only speak to their logistics support services and our personal interaction in that manner.

We were very pleased with their services and felt that they delivered what we hired them to do. In this I would definately recommend them. Marco was very responsive to all our questions and requests and also very friendly and easy to deal with. Things went very smoothly.

Let me know if you have more questions.

Best of luck Muller.

I used Bolivian Journeys to provide my transport to different mountain locations when I was on a mountaineering trip. This was to several locations and they provided a driver and vehicle on scheduled days/time. I found the company to be quite helpful in the capacity that I hired them for and it was good to have them as a contact point for some mountain beta and as an emergency contact while mountaineering. They are probably one of the better companies in La Paz and their drivers were very helpful. I also used them to organize porter and mules for ferrying gear and load from the drop off point to base camp. Again, I did not experience any problems with this service. If I was going to Bolivia (which is one of my favourite mountaineering places), I would not hesitate in using their services again.

Cheers, Karen.

We had a great trip to Bolivia and Marco at Bolivian Journeys gave us first rate service. We used Marco for supplies, transportation and mules. After seeing how he runs his business, I have no doubt that his guides would do a fantastic job. He provided us with tents, gas, transfers to and from the La Paz airport, transportation to the Sajama area, mules from basecamp at Parinacota to basecamp at Sajama and then mules back to the village of Sajama as well as transportation back to La Paz . Everything was perfectly on time. He also gave us an incredible amount of advise and instruction at no additional charge. Some additional advice. Marco has a beautiful wife and little girl (who must be about 6 yrs old now). They can’t get many of the things we take for granted in the US . He didn’t ask us for anything in particular, but we took a bunch of Mickey Mouse stuff for his daughter and some stuff for his wife as well. They were incredibly grateful and I think it made Marco go the extra mile for us in everything we asked.

Brook.

Bolivian Journeys did an excellent job helping me and two clients get around Bolivia. All services were timely and catered to our needs. A very professional company that I would use again.

Thank you, Art Mooney.

I'll be brief, and if you want more follow up. Nut shell: I would definitely recommend them.They are certainly a hard working, legitimate, well orgainized outfit. But nothing fancy (which I actually liked: get a bit more of the local color by going with a Bolivian outfit. If you really want 1st class, I imagine the way to go would be with a US outfit that has the fancy web site and conduits groups to there). The owner Marco Soria is a really nice guy who communicates well (excellent English). He was the top guide but had pretty much become the manager by our trip. Our mountain guide, Hilarion, was great.... extremely good attitude, perfect for mountaineering.

We were hit by a local storm just after having set up base camp ~17500 feet on Illimani. Nothing tenuous.... in a high pasture). It snowed and was extremely windy. Kind of a freak thing (good thing we werent up higher..... and It cleared out completely the next day). The tent they provided we anglos was the "advertized" top brand expedition tent and was ok.

Bill Kells.

I have only used Bolivian Journeys and I can say that Marco Soria, the owner of Bolivian Journeys, is VERY good. He is a very accomplished mountaineer, and knows the current conditions of all ranges in the country, even the Apolobamba where nobody ever goes. We were originally going to do a custom program to attempt Shulze and Illampu... but when we were there Marco suggested that the snow conditions were so unstable in Sorata that he suggested we stay south. He has a lot of experience designing custom programs and he will work with you (we acquiesed and decided to stay south which worked out fine for us.... the snow conditions in the Condoriri area where a little sketch as well. I think he advised us well... I need to go back however!).

Marco Soria does still do guiding himself so far as I know, but he has also a number of guides he can call on. Our guide was a young guy named Hilarion. He was much more professional than another guide I had in Ecuador in 2003. I don't have a lot of experience hiring guides in Latin America, but I would say Hilarion did a great job. We used him mostly for his knowledge of the routes... that and acclimatization are the number one reasons to hire guides I think. Hilarion was certainly in awesome physical shape, and he knew the routes on all the peaks we climbed like the back of his hand. This is very useful, especially if you plan to do Illimani, Ancohuma, and/or Cabeza de Condiriri... the routes on all these peaks are confusing.

If you haven't already, you should contact Marco, he speaks good English (if you don't speak Spanish) and he can give you a better idea of the guides he has at his service this season.

Jason.

My friends and I went to Bolivia in June 2007 and climbed in the Condirri and on Huyana Potosi. We climbed unguided and used the services of Bolivian Journeys to organize the following logistics.

  • 1. Transport of climbers and gear to/from La Paz airport.
  • 2. Transport of climbers and gear to/from the Condirri and Huayna Potosi.
  • 3. Transport of gear on mules to Condirri base camp.
  • 4. General advice and support on booking hotels, booking day trips to Lake Titicaca, Chacaltaya, Tiwanaku, and booking mountain biking on the "death road".

Marco is a nice guy, speaks perfect English, has a lot of knowledge of the mountaineering in the area, and he was most helpful in organizing what we needed. For example, early one morning I noticed him hanging about outside our hotel to ensure that our driver arrived as scheduled. We had a great fun in La Paz!

Best Regards, Brendan Daly.

My buddy and I used these guys for a climbing trip this July. We used them as our transportation service and provider of our porters and muleteers. We climbed in the Condoriri Group, Huayna Potosi and Sajama. The service was excellent, punctual and ran relatively smoothly given the environment. All vehicles arrived on time and got us to where we wanted to go. Pick ups from the climbing areas were also on time. The porters and muleteers provided were all friendly and punctual. Marco the owner of Bolivian Journeys was great to deal with offer suggestions on routes and other climbing areas very knowledgeable. I would climb with them again. If you need any other info give me a shout. Bolivia as a whole was awesome the Andes were spectacular, beautiful routes with lots of options. Have a good time.

Guy Higgott.

Guidebooks References