Coroico

Coroico sits at around 1,700 metres on a ridge in the Nor Yungas, the belt of steep subtropical valleys where the eastern Andes drop toward the Amazon basin, and the change from La Paz is the point: three hours down from the altiplano brings you into warmth, green, banana and citrus trees, and cloud filling the valleys below the town in the mornings. Coffee and coca are the crops, with plantations on the slopes and a strong Afro-Bolivian presence in the villages nearby, communities descended from people brought to the silver mines who settled in the Yungas. The town has a plaza, hotels along the ridge with long views, waterfall walks and swimming pools. It is where La Paz goes to be warm.

History

Old Coroico was founded above the river Quri Wayq'u, gold valley in Quechua, and lived from gold mining, until in the early 18th century the settlers looked for a more defensible site and moved to the present one, where legend says lightning on Cerro Uchumachi drove them into a cave that still lies below the church on the main plaza. The town became the capital of the Nor Yungas in 1899 and the seat of a Catholic prelature in 1958, a diocese from 1983, and at the end of 2006 a new highway replaced part of the road from La Paz, leaving the old Yungas Road mainly to cyclists (Wikipedia, Coroico).

What you'll find

• The valley views - ridges dropping away with cloud filling them at dawn.
• Coffee and coca terraces - the Yungas crops on the steep slopes.
• Afro-Bolivian villages - communities in the valleys around the town.
• Waterfall walks - paths to falls and pools from the ridge.

When to go

May to September is drier and clearer. The wet season brings heavy rain, landslides on the roads and cloud that hides the valleys, though the vegetation is at its most lush. It is warm year round.

Good to know

The road down is prone to landslides and closures in the wet months. Mosquitoes and biting insects are present at this altitude. Coca cultivation is ordinary agriculture here and visible everywhere, which surprises some visitors. Facilities are modest.

Nearby

The old Yungas road descends here; Chulumani lies south.

Key facts