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 Isla de la Sol, where we did a short hike to the top
for more great panoramas of the area.
 |
| Isla de la Sol |
 |
| La Paz Teleferico |
We
spent the better part of a week in La Paz, which is the world's
highest capital city (altitude-wise!). We had some low-key days
there, found some sushi restaurants, a veggie buffet, and delightful fresh-squeezed orange juice on the street. The views were amazing
from the Teleferico system, only 3 years old and a great way to get
around this very mountainous urban jungle.
\
We most enjoyed our free
walking tour with Red Cap Tours. We met at a small park downtown,
which was right outside of La Paz's famous San Pedro prison, where prisoners
families can also live inside with them and come and go as they
please. Until a few years ago Lonely Planet was advertising this as a
place for tourists to go and visit, but of course there were some who
got into trouble, or who were ditched by their guides and couldn't
find their way out again. Although it's illegal to go on a tour here
apparently some still do!
We loved the huge outdoor market, with the
“Choritas” (lady vendors) wearing their big multilayered skirts
and their bowler hats balanced on the top of their heads, and every fruit and veg for sale that you can imagine. Apparently once you become a regular with one particular chorita, it can be extremely offensive if she sees you with something you bought from another vendor that she also sells herself- so much so that she'll sever ties with you, and even your family.
The Witch
Market was also a very cool and bizarre place. Here you could find
mummified llama fetuses, and all kinds of herbs, candies, and goodness-knows-what that people buy as offerings to Pachamama, Mother
Earth. One particular tradition involves offering a llama fetus to
the Earth when you build a new home. Of course huge city buildings
are so immense that llamas don't quite cut it for Pachamama, and so
we heard tales of the homeless being brought to construction sites to
be fed, get drunk, and then buried in the buildings' foundations.
AUGH! (completely illegal obviously) Some might think this an urban legend, but there are some who
supposedly escaped and survived to tell the tale...
Lastly we made it to the central square of the government buildings, where we heard of a president in the 1940s being lynched and hung from a light post right outside the presidential palace, and then of the riots in the early 2000s over oil rights where a gun battle broke out between the army and the police and ordinary citizens. The marks of bullet holes can still be seen on a few buildings and light posts here.
All in all a
highly recommended walkabout.
After leaving our walking tour we were lucky to find ourselves in the neighbourhood of the futbol stadium, and even bought ourselves tickets for the winning team! Bolivar vs. Strongest, and Bolivar won! Goooooaaaalllllllllllllllll!!!! Yet another kookoo soccer experience in South America, with completely wild mosh-pits of fans that never sit down the entire game.
From
La Paz we took our first flight in some time about an hour north into
the jungle. At long last! Rurrenabaque was our rainforest getaway,
where we took a wooden river boat to a 5 day "meditation retreat". There we would go on walks, meditate under waterfalls, and spend time in solitude. We were even on a special diet devoid of taste, sugar, salt or fats. Breakfasts were oats, lunch was quinoa, and dinner was barley. Justttt grains and lemongrass tea. We were there under the guidance of Philip, a young shaman who spent 8 years in the Amazon studying under indigenous shamans learning his teachings. We learned many ancient traditions and songs. It
was a gorgeous place in forest to take walks, swim in the river, spot
wildlife, and of course get in touch with our spiritual sides. ;)
After some much enjoyed downtime we went on a 3 day trip to the Pampas, which is almost like a marshland, with a network of waterways cutting between lush green trees and grasses. This was like a South American safari, and the wildlife we saw was unnnreal. Before we even got on the boat we saw pink river dolphins from shore! Sadly we had a couple of really ignorant SOBs along with us on the trip which made it challenging at times, but since they were mostly into smoking and drinking we often had our amazing guide all to ourselves out on the riverboat.
 |
| Our cabin where we stayed with Fletcha Tours |
 |
| Spider monkey muffins |
 |
| No stitches needed! |
He showed us capybaras, the world's largest rodent (looks
like a huge overgrown guinea pig!), fisher eagles, owls, egrets,
herons, spider monkeys, capuchins, and red howler monkeys. After a
few beautiful sunsets we would scan the reeds with our flashlight for
red eyes reflecting back at us- caymans and alligators. One afternoon
we got to go for a tiny walk on land, and since our guide is from the
Amazon himself, he showed us all kinds of wonders of nature: how a
certain type of ant could pinch and hold on to his skin, and was used
to close wounds- like natural stitches; or how his grandmother helped
his dad with a horrible arthritic knee by applying over 20 fireants
to his knee to bring down the swelling. There was even a certain type
of tiny coconut used for soap and shampoo. Amazing how people can
live in harmony with nature, using when she provides.
 |
| Pink river dolphins! |
In the end
we were thankful for all of the amazing animals we saw, the beautiful
nature we experienced, and that the mosquitos didn't carry us away
after dark.
Goodbye to Rurrembaque with flight back to La Paz, another long bus ride east to Cochapampa, and then 5 hours down the Andes and back in the Amazon, to the wee town of Villa Tunari. Time to park it for volunteering, but more on that next entry. :)
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 Isla de la Sol, where we did a short hike to the top
for more great panoramas of the area. 
We most enjoyed our free
walking tour with Red Cap Tours. We met at a small park downtown,
which was right outside of La Paz's famous San Pedro prison, where prisoners
families can also live inside with them and come and go as they
please. Until a few years ago Lonely Planet was advertising this as a
place for tourists to go and visit, but of course there were some who
got into trouble, or who were ditched by their guides and couldn't
find their way out again. Although it's illegal to go on a tour here
apparently some still do! 
The Witch
Market was also a very cool and bizarre place. Here you could find
mummified llama fetuses, and all kinds of herbs, candies, and goodness-knows-what that people buy as offerings to Pachamama, Mother
Earth. One particular tradition involves offering a llama fetus to
the Earth when you build a new home. Of course huge city buildings
are so immense that llamas don't quite cut it for Pachamama, and so
we heard tales of the homeless being brought to construction sites to
be fed, get drunk, and then buried in the buildings' foundations.
AUGH! (completely illegal obviously) Some might think this an urban legend, but there are some who
supposedly escaped and survived to tell the tale... 
After leaving our walking tour we were lucky to find ourselves in the neighbourhood of the futbol stadium, and even bought ourselves tickets for the winning team! Bolivar vs. Strongest, and Bolivar won! Goooooaaaalllllllllllllllll!!!! Yet another kookoo soccer experience in South America, with completely wild mosh-pits of fans that never sit down the entire game. 
From
La Paz we took our first flight in some time about an hour north into
the jungle. At long last! Rurrenabaque was our rainforest getaway,
where we took a wooden river boat to a 5 day "meditation retreat". There we would go on walks, meditate under waterfalls, and spend time in solitude. We were even on a special diet devoid of taste, sugar, salt or fats. Breakfasts were oats, lunch was quinoa, and dinner was barley. Justttt grains and lemongrass tea. We were there under the guidance of Philip, a young shaman who spent 8 years in the Amazon studying under indigenous shamans learning his teachings. We learned many ancient traditions and songs. It
was a gorgeous place in forest to take walks, swim in the river, spot
wildlife, and of course get in touch with our spiritual sides. ;) 
After some much enjoyed downtime we went on a 3 day trip to the Pampas, which is almost like a marshland, with a network of waterways cutting between lush green trees and grasses. This was like a South American safari, and the wildlife we saw was unnnreal. Before we even got on the boat we saw pink river dolphins from shore! Sadly we had a couple of really ignorant SOBs along with us on the trip which made it challenging at times, but since they were mostly into smoking and drinking we often had our amazing guide all to ourselves out on the riverboat. 
He showed us capybaras, the world's largest rodent (looks
like a huge overgrown guinea pig!), fisher eagles, owls, egrets,
herons, spider monkeys, capuchins, and red howler monkeys. After a
few beautiful sunsets we would scan the reeds with our flashlight for
red eyes reflecting back at us- caymans and alligators. One afternoon
we got to go for a tiny walk on land, and since our guide is from the
Amazon himself, he showed us all kinds of wonders of nature: how a
certain type of ant could pinch and hold on to his skin, and was used
to close wounds- like natural stitches; or how his grandmother helped
his dad with a horrible arthritic knee by applying over 20 fireants
to his knee to bring down the swelling. There was even a certain type
of tiny coconut used for soap and shampoo. Amazing how people can
live in harmony with nature, using when she provides. 
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