Experience acquiring a Bolivian tourist visa as US citizen

Since many of our readers want to know about visa requirement to go to Bolivia, I thought I should share my recent experience entering the La Paz airport. You can review the requirements for a US citizen requesting a tourist visa here.  You’ll need a passport, application form (available on the website above; print one to [...]

Back from Bolivia

We arrived back in Chicago from Bolivia yesterday. We had no problems leaving the country. Javi and I had overstayed our 30 day period by a few days, but we were not asked to pay a multa. We explained we were visiting family and the official nodded and stamped us out. I have heard stories [...]

Masks, Public Health Tents, and Sweeping Closures

That is what swine flu in Bolivia looks like (here called Influenza A). About 100 cases have been reported here, mainly in Santa Cruz. There is a full-blown panic here that to a certain extent overlaps what occurred in the U.S. yet with local particularities and concerns. Overall, it appears that the impact here is [...]

Bolivian officials = helpful, polite, efficient. AA reps = FAIL

That’s right. The title is not a typo. Getting through customs in Bolivia was (relatively speaking) a breeze. Dealing with American Airlines was awful. Our itinerary had us flying out of Chicago at 7 PM, landing in Miami at 11, overnighting in Miami, and taking the afternoon direct flight to Santa Cruz. At ORD, we [...]

Visa update (in progress)

Many visitors to this site wonder about the visa requirements for entering and exiting Bolivia these days. My brother-in-law recently visited Bolivia with a non-Bolivian friend. He told us that no one batted an eye at his American passport and he was not expected to pay the visa fee (though his passport clearly states he [...]