Southbound Gnomads

With our flight out of Santiago looming in only two weeks, we knew we had to pick up our pace leaving Cochabamba, and so we opted to fly south to Sucre instead of taking the 11 hour overnight bus. Unbeknownst to us though, Sucre was in the throws of a full out protest over oil rights in the region. Leaving the airport in the minibus, we were told by the driver that there were at least 3 blockades ahead, and we would have to switch into another cab on the other side. Eeesh! What should have been a 30 minute drive into town turned into a nearly 3 hour ordeal- waiting at one blockade for it to open as black stormy skies loomed in the distance, and then an attempt by our next driver to weave through the back streets to find another way into town. With 5 of us crammed into his cab, we had to all get out at one point so he could make it up a gravel hill!  We soon arrived at a back road with a construction zone ahead and piles of gravel that would couldn't get past, and turned...

Eric grooming one of his ladies, Totita On April 20 th  we arrived to the small jungle town of Villa Tunari , about 4 hours north of Cochapampa, east of La Paz, Bolivia for a two-week volunteer stay. We found out about this volunteer opportunity way back in Ecuador, and it had been in the back of my mind ever since. This was my third time volunteering with wildlife, and Brian's first... boy were we in for a surprise!  Inti Wara Yassi  is a wildlife sanctuary that has been operating for the last 25 years, and currently looks after over 100 animals- monkeys, parrots, small mammals, even a puma and an Andean bear! The majority of these animals are victims of the pet trade, where time and time again wild mothers are killed so that their babies can be taken and sold on the black market. They do their best to rehabilitate animals to be released back into the wild, or even released to be semi-wild but still supported by the centre. Here's a n excerpt from their website an...

Sooo Bolivia happened!  Our month there was busy, at times hectic, and altogether beautiful. After leaving Peru we crossed over into Copacabana (be sure to hum the song in your head now... "At the Copa, Copacabana..." which also shares the shoreline of the lovely Lago Titicaca.  This place was Brian's favourite stop in Bolivia, and rightfully so! Gorgeous blue skies, our hostel within view of the lake, and two great hikes in town with stunning views. We climbed up one peak to see an Incan “clock” that was likely used for ceremony at certain times of the year when the sun shone through the stone doorway, and enjoyed the last of our Peruvian beers at the top. Next was another climb to see the sunset over the lake. My bad time management meant we were 10 minutes too late to see the sun dip below the horizon, but the colours were stunning nonetheless. Next day we joined a boat tour to see Isla de la Luna, where we visited an old Incan temple of the moon, and then Is...