March 13th to 17th - Santa Cruz, Bolivia

This week is a time share exchange.  It was the only week that was available and we assumed we needed to see this part of the country and Santa Cruz to complete our tour of Bolivia.  Everyone we talked to asked us why we were going to Santa Cruz.  Apparently even the locals think there is no reason to visit the place.  So this has now become our rest week.  We have a nice place with a pool and the weather is hot and sunny so we will enjoy ourselves even if we don't go anywhere.  However, we are planning to do some touring.

Sunday, March 13th

This morning we slept in, went down for breakfast about 9:30 and then spent the rest of the morning and afternoon on our deck in the shade with a beautiful breeze blowing.  Gillian and Randy went down to the pool but it was too hot and sunny for me so I stayed up in the shade and did some blogging.  My usual time to go to the pool is about 4:00 when it gets a bit cooler and there is more shade.  By then they were done so we spent the early evening back on our balcony then had happy hour with some cheese and crackers and wine.  About 7:00 we wandered down the street to the local steak house but found it was closed so ended up going back to a burger and wings place.  The food was good and the staff was friendly and it was only a few blocks away so that was good.  We did a bit of grocery shopping on the way back to the hotel and the sat around for a while reading or blogging until it was time to go to bed.  Doing almost nothing all day was a great change!!!

Monday, March 14th

The other two were up early but I llept in a bit today.  For some reason I'm feeling a bit dizzy or light headed.   We joked that it was probably too much oxygen now that we're down at only 400 metres instead of up at 4,000 but I don't really think that's the case.  It could be going off of the prednisone that the silly South African doctor gave me to combat high altitude sickness and I guess it could be but I was only on them for two weeks.  Maybe it's just plain exhaustion after nine months of travelling.  Who knows?  All I know is that I took it easy today.  We had some boiled eggs, cheese and bread for breakfast about 10:00 and when the others went down to the pool I sat in the patio in the shade again doing some reading and blogging.  It's definitely not a bad way to spend the day.  Randy and Gillian went out for dinner but I stayed in and had a cheese sandwich.  More blogging and reading and the day was over.

Tuesday, March 15th

This morning was another slow relaxing morning.  About 9:00 we had to really get moving to have breakfast (poached eggs, bread, cheese, juice and coffee) so we could leave about 10:00 and get a taxi to Guembe Park.  The guide on our Bolivian tour recommended we go there and several others mentioned it as well so we decided to go.  The park is almost 60 acres of forest and parkland in a big city so it is unique just for that.  However, it also has a bird aviary with parrots and toucans and other brightly coloured birds, a butterfly park, a butterfly breeding area, a tortoise area, a botanical and organic garden, a museum on evolution of the universe and life on earth, etc.  As well as this side of things it has a number of pools for swimming and some natural pools for kayaking and other activities.  One of the islands in one of the pools is Monkey Island and it had a few monkeys on it.  There were also restaurants, bars, cafes and some small shops.  We got there about 10:30 and spent the first very hot, sweaty hours walking all around the various sites.  They were interesting but nothing special.  My favourite was seeing a toucan from about 3 feet away and having him actually stay put for a picture.  Their shape and colour of their beak just doesn't look real.  It looks like a piece of orange plastic has been stuck there but they are still nice.  My other favourite is the big blue Morpho butterfly.  It is absolutely beautiful but you just cannot get a decent picture of it - and I have tried many times down here in South America.  After seeing all the exhibits we spent the afternoon by one of the pools swimming, relaxing in the shade and having a late lunch.  It was very nice.  The pools were clean and there were very few people around so it was quite quiet.  We left about 5:30 and went back to the hotel, showered, changed and had some drinks and snacks for dinner and that was it for another day.

Wednesday, March 16th

I had another slow start today and woke up with a achy head, jaw, neck shoulders and back.  I don't know whether I just slept wrong or what but I've never awakened to such a mass of aches and pains.  I took a long hot shower, did some light stretching and exercise, drank a lot of water and did a fair amount of groaning but nothing seemed to help.  Eventually I took a couple of Tylenol and eventually things seemed to be better.  We had French toast and cheese for breakfast with coffee and juice and banana, and then we set off to walk to the old city centre.  The front desk clerks gave us directions but thought we were crazy for walking.  Personally, I kind of agreed with them but the other two wanted the exercise.  First we went to find a laundry mat.  The closest one, the one we thought we would use, took three days to get the clothes back so that wouldn't do.  We walked further and found one n the mall that would have it back by tomorrow.  It was 11:30 before we left there and started the walk downtown, which took us one hour with a few quick stops on the way but no detours.  That means it was about five kilometres from the laundry mat.  That's about my normal walking speed.  The other two could have done it faster.

The main square, Plaza 24th of September, is very nice.  There are a lot of trees and benches and there were a lot of people sitting around.  Some of the tables were set up with chess games and some of the older men were playing chess.  Most people were just sitting and relaxing but there were two other groups of people.  One group was protesting something around the main statue but as their signs were all in Spanish we didn't really know what they were protesting.  And protesting really wouldn't be the word for it.  Most of the time we were there the protesters were just sitting around or laying down sleeping.  They were pretty easy to ignore.  The other group was much nosier and more active.  We didn't know all the details again but we believe they were fighting for change to subsidies and/or facilities for handicapped people.  They ad one buy on a wheelchair hung up on the side of the building and two girls suspended in the air as well.  It was an incredibly hot and humid day and they were in the sun so it would not have been a fun time.  Eventually the police, ambulance and fire truck came in to get them down, which was probably a good thing.  The rest of the folks were still there protesting when we left.  Basically we just tried to avoid and ignore both groups.

We arrived at the square around 12:30 and toured around a couple of shops and alleys.  We decided to meet again at 2:00 for lunch and split up to tour various buildings in the meantime.  Well, it turns out that everything is closed form 12:00 to 3:00 so we couldn't do much at all.  We went for a bite to eat and sat for quite a while.  Eventually it was time for Gillian and I to do some touring.  Randy decided just to walk back to the hotel.

The Basilica Menor de San Lorenzo Martir, or Basilica of St. Lorenzo the Martyr who is the patron saint of the church, is on the one end of the square.  It is reasonably new, just 101 years old having been opened n 1915 and celebrating its centenary last year.  It was the home of a very popular Cardinal who is now buried in the church, and it has been visited by a couple of popes:  Francis just recently and John Paul maybe ten to fifteen years ago.  The church is a light brick structure on the outside and looks quite different than the surrounding buildings.  It has a tall bell tower and a tall clock tower and a high main facade.  The designs. Include arched windows, rounded corners on square towers, inset carvings and details, and circular patters in the bricks which looked quite unusual.    On the inside it is long and narrow with only one centre aisle bordered by pillars and an aisle on each side.  The interior is very light in colour except for the pews and the ceiling which are a dark wood.  The front altar piece looks quite unassuming from the back but once you get close to it you see that it is totally drones in silver and the carvings on the silver is really quite intricate.  We went into the museum as well and the artifacts were all religious in nature and from the 15th to 21st century with a heavy emphasis on the 18th century.  There were old paintings and sculptures, religious cloaks and lots of symbols like crosses and chalices with most of them made from silver.  Even the cloaks had silver thread in them, reminding all that the area was rich in silver.  It was a small museum with no English signs so it was good that we had a guide who could explain some of the objects to us.

We then went to find the Museo do Libertad, which was supposed to be on the square.  It was on one map but not the other and we never did find out exactly where it was.  We did eventually find the Museo de Historian and went through that.  It was in a very nice old colonial building with a big courtyard on the interior.  Over half of the building on two floors was museum space and it covered various things from the important people in the area to household items to musical instruments to funerary urns.  It was interesting to see but it didn't take long as everything was in Spanish and we didn't understand what most of the signs said.

We also took a quick look in some of the other old colonial buildings mainly because we wanted to see them.  There were art galleries in them so we did a really quick view of the artwork as well - too modern for me.  There were other very lovely old buildings on the square.  The city's cultural office is now an art gallery.  The current social club was in a building that used to be very important, and there were also other large government buildings.  All of these buildings look very colonial with two stories and pillars, balconies and some carved/bricked decoration. 

After our touring we found a place to buy some water and then we headed home.  We took a tax though because we were lazy.  Once back at the hotel we jumped in the pool to cool of then happy hour down by the pool.  Dinner was light but it was good - just an empanadas snack from the local grocery store.  Then we had some bananas and ice cream and Oreo cookies and finally it was time for bed.  Another busy day in Sanda Cruz.

Thursday, March 17th 

As this is our last full day here we decided to go back down for breakfast in the restaurant.  We did that around 9:00.  The rest of the morning was trying to get on the Internet, which is almost always impossible for Gillian and I but Randy sometimes gets on, visiting and doing some blogging.  After breakfast Gillian took off to the zoo that is nearby.  There is also another museum there.  I wanted another day of doing nothing but blogging to hopefully get caught up on the Bolivian portion of the trip at least - and maybe also have a dip in the pool.  

Santa Cruz is a city of over two million people and it is a modern bustling city.   It has three ring roads and well laid out spoke streets that are wide and many with boulevards.  The other circular streets are smaller and often one way but the traffic flows easily and there are very few traffic jams, unlike in the other cities we've visited.  Heck, these drivers even stop for pedestrians!  It's a newer city and flat.  It's not in the mountains so that definitely makes it easier.  And it has hot weather all year round which also helps.  Since we've been here it has been hot (in the 30's C) and humid with very few clouds in the sky and no rain - unless it rains at night and dries very quickly so that we don't even notice it.  But for all of that it is more of a foreign city than anywhere else in Bolivia.  Fewer people speak English here and when they speak Spanish they do so very quickly and drop a lot of the endings so we can hardly understand anything.  It is hard to find a tourist information centre or even a good map.  All the shops and museums and other places close for 3-4 hours in the afternoon so they are not very accessible (especially since we couldn't find a tourist place to tell us this!) and all of the museums have signs in Spanish only.  I guess the fact is that very few tourists come to Santa Cruz so nothing is set up for them.  And since nothing is set up for tourist I'd say it would be better to stay away from this side of the country unless you just want some warmth and relaxation.  Heck, even the locals in the west say don't go to Santa Cruz because they don't like it.  And there really isn't much to see within the city.  You have to go hours outside the city to et to any real tourist attraction such as the early missions that were established or the national park.  We decided not to do any of those tours but just to stay put in the city and relax, and that works well for me.  Besides, we saw the top three sights: Guembe, the Cathedral and Plaza 24 September so we saw everything we had to see.  And all of that is to explain why I decided not to do much today.

The pool was lovely.  I got another blog done - Potosi I think - and I did a lot of reading so it was a lovely day.  The others returned during the afternoon and joined me at the pool.  Then about 5:00 we went up to get cleaned up and changed and had happy hour.  Then we went out to go pick up our laundry and have some dinner before heading back to the hotel to repack and sort and get ready for the start of another adventure tomorrow.

Friday, March 4th - Uyuni to Potosi, Bolivia

We were up and on our way about 8:30 after breakfast at the hotel.  We had another private bus and it was very comfortable.  However, in my opinion, the driver was a maniac and drove way too fast and too wildly.  The road of course was through the mountains and very windy.  He was covering the whole road and it was a two-way hi-way so at times other vehicles were hooting at us.  I had to take a Gravol and so did a few others.  I think it was his driving and not necessarily the windy road that caused that problem.

The scenery was fantastic.  At the start we were still in flat dry desert conditions with the rolling hills in the background.  At that point we just had small clumps of grass and small bushes to add to the picture.  Eventually we got into areas of more green, especially when we came near a river or stream.  They might be dry but at least they supported some vegetation.  Where irrigation was used we had fields of quinoa growing.  The plants were very green and sometimes had yellow or red flowers, which we assumed indicated the maturity of the plant, but it turned out to be different varieties.   Then we were up and down hillsides and had more absolutely beautiful views of the countryside.  Llamas and vicuña were seen several times along the way.  There were lots of stone homes and corrals, as well as looser stones in the fences that surrounded the home area.  Most of the homes had thatched roofs but some had tin.  The many small oases that dotted the landscape made for lovely homesteads.  

As we drove we we going lower lower at times and then higher at other times until we eventually reached the city of Potosi, the highest city in the world at over 4,000 metres.  Potosi also used to be the most important city in Bolivia and in the world because of the silver mines - more on that later.  Back in the 15th or 17th century (I'm not sure which be assume both centuries were important) Potosi was supposedly the largest city in the world by population.  While London and Paris only had around 50,000 people (one 45,000 and one 60,000), Potosi had 160,000.  It grew in size for a while but eventually started to decline.  The city itself is now a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

After arriving in Potosi we had a walking tour with Korinna but a couple of us skipped that to do another tour.   We did join the group for lunch though.  The walk to the restaurant was short and the pedestrian street, Padilla, was very nice with lots of little shops along the route.  The restaurant didn't have any of its usual soup, salad and lunch special left so we had to order from the menu which slowed things down a bit.   However, the meal was delicious.  Several of us ordered the trout and it was nicely done and really tasty - one of the best meals I've had since arriving in Bolivia.  While the rest of the group finished their lunch, two of us left to catch the English tour of the Mint Museum or, in Spanish, the Museo Casa de la Moneda.

The Mint was a very important feature of Potosi.  The building we were touring was not the original building but rather the second one which was built when the first one was deemed too small.  This building was huge with many buildings of several storeys surrounding several (five I think) outdoor courtyards, the main one of which had a large fountain in the middle and high curved archways leading to interior doors or passages to other courtyards and hand carved wooden balconies above.  The buildings were brick wth walls several feet thick, some intricate design work in the bricklaying itself to adorn the courtyards, and strong sturdy beams inside leading to a dark wooden trussed ceiling and wooden floors throughout.

The Mint had displays of many of the minted coins from "the old days" and they were quite interesting; so were the processes they went through to do the minting.  The earliest processes involved hand cutting or hammering a piece of silver then pounding it as flat as they could get it before passing it to someone else to hand carve or chisel the designs in it.  Some of these early coins were quite thick and somewhat crudely carved although given that they were done by hand they were also very nice.

Then they had two floors (about the time they moved into this building) where four donkeys would walk around downstairs turning a big pillar turning a bigger horizontal wheel that went up through the floor to the next floor.  There they had four other wooden machines with several big cogged wheels around them and eventually the turning wheels helped press the silver down and make it thinner.  The upstairs machines were large - probably ten feet high and wide - and each operator faced into the centre.  Silver bars were put on the machine and gradually the turning wheels would reduce bar to .5 mm silver.  The one room held three sets of these four station machines with the same number of donkeys below.  From here the thin silver would go to be cut, no longer by hand but by machine and then to be engraved, which was eventually also done by machine.  

The whole process (old and new) was interesting to see.  They had steam equipment and boilers and then electrical equipment as the years passed.  A lot of the original equipment is still on display.  Some of the early machines were made in Spain and shipped over (by sea to Buenos Aires and then by cart from there), like the pressing machines above.  Other machines in later years were US made.  At one point Potosi made most of the coins for South America and made the coins for Spain and other European countries as well.  It was cheaper for the Spanish to send the equipment over, have the Bolivians mint the coins because the silver was there, and then send the coins back.  And that worked well for the Bolivians as they had some good employment for the people.  They did not mint gold here until much later and not for that long.  These days, the Bolivians do not mint any coins here.  Canada mints most of their coins for them but some are also done in two other countries that I now forget.

The Mint, because it was one of the richest places in town, was well fortified and it had its own supply of riches.  We went through part of the art gallery and it was quite lovely, probably housed in one of the executive suites or offices of the old company.  The art work was done by Bolivans and other South American painters who learned to copy the style of painting done by the Europeans as the Spanish brought the European art over and tried to educate them on such things.  The Bolivian works were just as nice as any in Europe and had their own distinct South American flare with a bit more colour and more subtle ties to the earth, as that was their religion before the Spanish arrived.

Now I could leave the Mint at this point and pretend all was fine but, as in almost all colonial periods, all was not fine.  The working conditions in the mines were terrible.  The Spanish couldn't keep enough of the locals working in the mines because they were dying so they had to bring black slaves in from Africa.  Some reports say that over two million workers died in the mines over two centuries, and other reports say the situation in the mines is no better today.  We had the option of a tour down into a silver mine but GAdventures material and our guide both recommended not doing it saying the situation was not safe.  Some of us had been looking forward to that tour but we decided to skip it after all the stories.  Then again, one of our colleagues from the College, sent an e-mail saying not to miss it so who knows what the real story is.  I am; however, assuming the mines here aren't quite as controlled and as safe as the mines back home so I was happy to skip the tour, especially when we only had the one afternoon in Potosi.

After touring the mint we had about half an hour to kill so we had an Ice cream in the main square. This square, whose name I forget, is a lovely open space with lots of seating, a monument in the centre that is surrounded by arches, trees, grass, flowers and lots of people relaxing and enjoying the afternoon.  There was a big white building and a big yellow building just across from the square and both looked like they might be government buildings.  There was also a church on the one side of the square.  It was nice to just sit and blend in with the locals and do some people watching, but that only lasted for a few minutes as we had to go join the others for the next part of our tour.

The Museo San Antonio de Padua or "San Francisco" church was our next stop.  The tours had finished for the day.  The last English speaking tour was at 4:00 and we were not out of the mint by that time.  We were meeting other members of our tour group at 5:00, which was the last entry time to go up on the roof to view the city from above.  

The church is made of a light stone -and has a curved front entrance with minimal adornment and a high square brick bell tower on the side where we entered.  There is a large courtyard in the centre with an arched walkway all around it. There was lots of artwork on the walls as we walked through but since we weren't on the tour I don't know if it was significant in any way.  The interior of the church had big heavy square pillars that rose into high arches about the main aisle.  There were small domes between the arches on the side aisles.  The interior was basically white in colour with what looked like a silver altar piece at the front.  We didn't see much of the church in detail as we just walked through the back on our way to the roof access.

The roof was covered in red tiles and you could see the many domes sticking up on each side of centre aisle.  We climbed up to the spine of the church and walked across the walkway on the top.  It was narrow but okay.  Then we climbed up the tower at the other end - several storeys high and not the most stable walking and climbing conditions but it was a great view of the city, countryside and mountains once we were there.  Potosi definitely looks like a big sprawling city from this viewpoint but you can tell it is well laid out and has many straight roads running through it.  We needed a guide for this excursion which seemed strange before we started.  However, after we were really walking on the roof and narrow walkways and stairs with no railings it was pretty nice to have someone controlling the traffic as people were moving in both directions as the 4:00 tour was finishing and we were starting.  

The temple and convent and crypt at the San Franciscan Church are supposed to be quite impressive as they are from the 16th and 17th c and some of the art is from as far back as 15th c, again from famous Bolivian and other indigenous painters.  I guess I'll have to see all that on another trip.

Potosi has a lot of old buildings in it.  The 15th and 17th centuries were big for the city so I guess it makes sense that there are old colonial style buildings around.  Most of the old buildings are brick and they a re several storeys high.  The streets are narrow in places but the buildings have high wide arched entry ways thought which you can see large courtyards inside.  Many of the buildings have beautiful wooden carved balconies that overhang the street.  There are still many churches in the city but at one time many centuries ago there were over 60 churches and convents in the city so the Spanish Christians obviously had a big effect here.  In some places we even heard about the results of the Spanish Inquisition reaching the Jews and others in Bolivia.  The natives in the area had their own religious beliefs and in many cases the missionaries found a way to meld those beliefs into the Christian beliefs.  Pacha Mama, for instance, was Mother Earth to the locals and highly revered, and that was honoured and became carrying for the earth and all its bounty.  The pictures of the Virgin Mary here in Bolivia all show her with a pyramid style gown and that is to represent a mountain or the earth so the Virgin Mary also became Mother Earth to many.

Anyway, after the view from the top of the church we climbed down and walked back to our hotel where we had jut a short break before having to meet the others for a briefing on the next day of our tour and then we all went out for dinner.  After that it was bedtime.

Saturday, March 12th - Lake Titicaca to Santa Cruz, Bolivia

This morning I was awake early since I went to bed so early but I managed to stay in bed and quiet until about 6:00 as Gillian was still sleeping.  At 6:00 I decided I should at least get up and dressed and try to take some pictures of the sunrise over Lake Titicaca since we were facing east.  When I peeked out the window it looked like it could be a good sunrise but when I finally went out the door to take some pictures it was raining so I went back inside.  I took a few pictures out of the window and then about 7:00 went down to the restaurant to work on blogs down there instead of bothering Gillian in the room.  I got a few more shots on the way down but the sunset just wasn't too impressive.

At 8:00 we had our breakfast and while doing so our plans changed for the day.  The owner of the hostel was heading to Copacabana to pick up some tourists so he wanted to know if we wanted to ride over with him instead of taking the regular boat.  By doing this we got a faster ride and also the opportunity to walk to the Sun Temple and meet him there.  We said yes and soon we were on our way for another short hike.  Oh, we did say goodbye to Charles before we left.  He had finished his breakfast at his hotel and came over before he started his long hike of the whole island.  So now officially we are on our own and the whole group has separated.  Hopefully we will see Charles again someday though.  He is from Eastern Canada and was a great travelling companion, especially since he spoke Spanish.  He saved us in more than one situation.

The walk was through the upper part of the town of Yumani and along the hillside above the lake.  The views again were wonderful and the temperature was perfect with the sun still low in the sky.  We passed a few locals on their way to and from town and there were a few out working in the fields.  It had rained last night so our guide said the people would be out early working the ground.  Our host at the hotel left early with his pick and hoe.  As we had our breakfast there were also a lot of donkeys wandering up and down the path past our window, which was pretty neat to see.

Our path was pretty level and easy to walk.  There were some steps but not many until the end when we had to get down to lake level to catch our boat.  On those steps down, which were rather uneven but certainly doable, I had to occasionally get help from Gillian and/or Luisa and they were very accommodating.  At the bottom we had the Sun Temple where the Incas marked the solstice and the start of the new year from their ancient perspective.  The building is made of stone and there is very little of it you can now get into.  From the lake side, which is on the east, they had the window which the sun would shine through a precise angle on to a table on June 21st.  It always amazes me how precise some of these ancient civilizations were.  Because of the age of this temple and the fact that it has not been protected over the centuries, we could not see the table or how the interior worked but I have seen it before in other locations and it is quite amazing.

We continued down the path to the boat dock and a boarded our boat.  There were only two other people and the owner/pilot on board so it was a lovely ride to Copacabana.  The others went up on top to get a better view but I just sat outside at the back and that was perfect too.  The sky was a bit overcast but there was very little wind and when the sun came out from behind a cloud it was very hot.  At one point we thought we might get rained on but it was no more than a few drops and then we were back to sunshine.  If the rain during rainy season mainly just comes at night then I think it's a pretty good arrangement.

The scenery was beautiful with the beautiful blue sky, lots of white (and darker) clouds, the green terraces or rocky hillsides on the islands and mainland, and the darker blue of the water.  It was a lovely ride over and Copacabana looked beautiful as we arrived.  We got back about 11:00 and decided to go for coffee, which we lingered over for a long time.  Then we had lunch at the same place overlooking the lake about 12:00.   The shoreline was much busier today and we assumed that was because it was a weekend and the locals were out enjoying the lake.  There were people paddling in kayaks and in large swan boats, and even people on noisy jet skis.  It would have been nice to spend some more time here but we had to go catch our bus back to La Paz.  By the time we paid our bill, walked half way up the hill to get our bags that were in storage at the last hotel, and then got further up the stairs to catch the bus, the bus was ready to go.  I got there first (since I didn't have any extra luggage) and had the ticket so told them they had to wait for three more people who were just coming.  The other three jumped on the bus and we were off on our way so it was definitely close.

The ride back was again full of beautiful scenery as we climbed up over hills and back down and followed the lake for hours.  We had to do the ferry crossing again so we all got out and got on the little boats to ride across while the bus went on one of the low flat ferry beds.  They definitely don't look safe but trucks and cars and buses keep going across continually.  There were lots of the flat-bed ferries waiting on both sides so I assume at some times the traffic gets very busy.  

While Copacabana is four hours from the lake, he first part of the lake can't be very far from the city of La Paz because it seemed like we were beside the lake for most of the drive back.  The last hour or so is definitely in the city and it was very slow going.  I don't know whether one of the main roads is under construction or what but the route is very rough with lots of detours and many total stoppages at busy "mini bus" stops that are just incredibly hard to get a bus through.  There was a main market area with lots of entertainment up in the El Alto area near the airport.  I don't know what the occasion was but the music was loud and there were lots of people around.  The view of La Paz from El Alto is always amazing as the city just seems to sprawl across the horizon up and down hillsides in every direction.  The high snow-capped mountain, whose name I forget, was very clear in the distance as we drove along.

Once back at our hotel in La Paz, we simply retrieved my bag, repacked for the airport and caught a taxi.  We were early but because it was rush hour we decided we should just go.  Checking in and clearing security was really fast so we had an hour or so to relax at the airport and have some dinner.   Our flight left precisely on time at 8:50 and it was a very quick and relaxing one-hour flight to Santa Cruz.  Just getting off the plane felt different - down to about 400 metres in elevation and temperature about 25 degrees.  Although we don't have much planned for our stay here, we all think we're really going to like a few days of warm weather and lower altitude. 

We got to our hotel, for which is really a time share that I exchanged my unit.  It seems nice and our unit is certainly big enough.  We have a living room, dining room, kitchen and bathroom in the main area and then two bedrooms: one with a king size bed and one with two doubles (well, they are supposed to be doubles but they are more like singles) each with ensuite bathroom.  It's a bit of a strange place though in that there is no housekeeping for the week and no change of towels or linens, which is unusual for timeshares.  Heck, not even more toilet paper and there's only one roll in each bathroom.  And it came with place settings for two even though six people are allowed in the unit so we had to get more delivered, but one was all they would do.  There is a kettle and a couple of pots but no frying pan.  There is a pool, exercise room, sauna and steam room but you have to pay to get towels.  Normally they are included.  I'm not sure this place does much trading of units.  I'm thinking they usually just get their own owners and they bring their own stuff with them.  Regardless, I'm sure we will survive just fine.

We got settled in and sat around for a bit but then it was midnight and we were ready for bed.  I read for a while but quickly fell asleep and didn't wake up until 8:30 so it was a great night's sleep.  I guess I enjoyed not having twenty pounds of blankets on my bed for a change - just a sheet and light bedspread.  

Friday, March 11th -Lake Titicaca, Bolivia

We were up just before 7 this morning and dressed and ready to go to breakfast by 7:30.  We were only taking our day backpacks with us so other luggage was left at the hotel when we left at 8:15 to walk down to the lakeshore to catch our boat to the Isle de Sol or Sun Island in Lake Titicaca.  The boat had an upper open area and a lower enclose area and we opted for the back row of the enclosed area as it was warmer.  The back row was in case one of us, probably me, needed more fresh air than what was available inside.

The ride to Sun Island was to be 1.5 hours and there were several boats leaving at the same time so it kind of looked like a convoy or race across the lake.  The lake itself was relatively calm as there was no wind.  The sun was shining and hot, and there were lots of fluffy white clouds in the sky and only a few dark storm clouds so it looked like a perfect day to explore the island, much better than yesterday which was cool, cloudy and rainy at times.

The scenery along the way was fantastic.  For the first while after leaving Copacabana there were no islands close but in the distance wee could see a lot of the shore line including parts that were in Peru.  As we approached Sun Island the coastline was beautiful.  The water was a beautiful shade of blue.  There were sea gulls, many with black faces, and coots around the shoreline which was rocky in most places.   Some of the rocks went high up on the hillside and other times they were just along the shoreline.  In many places there were terraces up the hillsides and there were crops planted resulting in various shades of green all over the hillside.  There were eucalyptus trees in various places and rock walls and dividers along the way.

There were individual homes on the hillsides as well as several communities.  We first stopped in the south of the island at Yumani to let some people off who were just visiting that point.  Then we moved northward and made several stops at small communities, one was Challa but I don't know the others, along the way to drop off locals and supplies.  Eventually we made it to the north part of the island which was where we were getting off in Challapampa.    From here Randy and Gillian and our guide Luisa were going to walk back to the southern town of Yumani where we were staying for the night.  That was to be a 12 km 3-4 hour hike up and down the hillside on rough trails so I decided to not even try it.  I was going to do the one walk at the north end and then go back to the boat and take it to the southern town of Yumani - a much better alternative for me.

At the north point they bought a sandwich for their lunch and I had a banana for 1 Boliviano (20 cents).  We used the facilities and set off on our first tour.  There are archeological ruins on the island as this is one of the first places where the Incas lived and some of the ruins still exist.  The path we were walking on was in fact part of the original Inca Trail.  The Labyrinth are located in the area and that was our first destination.  Well it was supposed to be.  After walking for over an hour I decided I was going to turn around and go back down or I was going to miss my boat.  The others continued on and saw the ruins and did their hike but I had to give up on the ruins as well.  However, the views along the walk way as far as I went were fantastic.  I have to admit that I was trying to get to the ruins as fast as possible so on the way up I was only looking at the path and where I had to step to get up to the sight.  On the way down I had a bit more time so relax and enjoy the views which were absolutely spectacular.  Of course I had to stop to do that since the walking was still hard!

We started on one side of the island, walked across a narrow peninsula to a beautiful bay and then across another peninsula to the other side of the island.  The water was clear and clean and a lovely shade of blue.  The hills were green and fresh with crops and wildflowers along the way.  This is the rainy season so there everything looked very green and there were many tiny streams running down the side of the hillside and across the path.  There were donkeys, pigs, chickens and sheep in the pastures as well as some of the people looking after them both young and old.  There were stone walls between fields and along the terraces, and a few houses along the route but more so closer to the town.  

The path was a mix of small cobblestones and larger rocks and in places there were stone walls along both sides of the path.  Sometimes it was level and sometimes it was quite steep.  Sometimes there were stone stairs to climb, some of which I found just a bit too high for my liking, but basically the trail was doable.  Of course you are at an elevation of over 4,000 metres so breathing is difficult for everyone.  Even the locals who quite literally run up and down the trail dozens of times a day do huff and puff a bit, which is nice to hear since I'm really huffing.  

This island is considered by many to be the original home of the early or pre Incas.  The terraces on the hillsides and the paths that we were walking along are from that period.  Well, they were originally.  Some parts of them have been washed out or worn away and have since been replaced but you can still say you are walking on part of the original Inca Trail, which is pretty amazing.  The ruins, that I didn't make it to, were also from the Incas and they were small but quite spectacular from what I hear.  I later found out that the route to the ruins was 4 km so I probably made it 3 km before turning around so a 6 km trek up and down the hillsides isn't bad for me.

Back in at the town there was a lovely beach and there were lots of people camping there.  Apparently the town doesn't charge anything for people to camp there so it's quite a popular place.  Although small, the town has lots of small shops mainly to serve the tourists who all need food and drink.  Water and pop and other drinks were definitely more expensive than on the mainland.  Everything has to be brought over by boat and then carried by donkey to its final destination so it is expensive.

I went down to the boat dock and relaxed for a while before it was time for my boat to leave.  No one is in a real rush so I wasn't too surprised when we were almost a half hour late in leaving.  I was going to sit up top for this short journey but when I got on the boat and saw how rickety the stairs were to get up top I figured I should just sit in the back row again and take pictures from there.  The scenery was the same as on the way up but just in the opposite direction.  The only real change was that the snow-covered Andes mountains were now visible and absolutely beautiful on the one side of the lake.

When I arrived at the dock at the north end I saw Lily and Albert waving at me from a restaurant so I went up to join them.  I had also met them on the path back down from the ruins.  They were on a different boat so slightly ahead of me on each stage.  They were having their lunch but since I was waiting for Randy and Gillian to finish their hike before having lunch, I just had a Sprite.  Eventually they were on their way again with their guide and I started up the trail to find our hostel for the night.  The starting point was clear as it was a wide stairway between two Inca statues so I knew I was on the right track.  Most of the town is up above and this is the main route for those who are walking.  The donkeys carrying the goods up to the village use a longer but more level path to get to the top.  Part way up I was thinking that maybe I should have been using that route too.  The stairs were uneven and straight up so it took a lot of stops to make it to the top.  However, everyone else was having to stop a lot too so I didn't feel too bad.  We just all kept stopping in different places and passed each other frequently as we moved on.  There were beautiful flowers on both sides of the path: daisy-like flowers in all kinds of colours, pink gladioli and a lot of others I couldn't identify but certainly appreciated, if only as an excuse for a break to catch my breath on the way up. 

At the end of these stairs there was a small crowd around a water source.  There were three taps that came from three streams and supposedly each stream tasted different.  Personally I didn't try it but once again Lily and Albert were there and they said they tried all three but couldn't tell any difference.  As we were pretty sure we were not going to see each other again we said our final goodbyes.  They were on their way back to La Paz and to home.  Now there is only Charles left with us from our tour group and we leave him tomorrow when we leave the island and move on and he spends a couple of days relaxing and enjoying the hikes around the island.

I continued my trek up the hillside.  I was no longer on stairs but on a rock path.  There were still lots of people and some animals - mainly donkeys.  There were more locals in this stretch and fewer tourists but there were still some of us all looking for our accommodation I think.  I made it to the church, a small stone structure but very nice and set in a lovely stone-fenced courtyard.  At that point I had two choices so I decided I should ask a local.  I showed them the piece of paper that Luisa had given me and they pointed me further up the hill.  Luckily it wasn't too far until I saw the sign for Hostelleria Las Islas.  When I looked up and said, "I made it", the two people standing there said "Luisa's guest " and I said yes and was shown to my room.

Everything is on a hillside here so our room which faces the lake has a beautiful view of the lake, the islands, the mainland on the other side and the incredible snow-capped Andes mountains.  I had just pulled out my camera to take a picture from our large picture window when someone came to tell my friend was here, and I looked out the window to see Charles on the deck below.  It turns out his hotel, which he booked separately, is right next door.   He and I bought a drink (beer for him, water for me) and we sat on the deck and relaxed and enjoyed the view while we waited for the others to appear.  About an hour later I looked up and recognized Gillian coming along a path so I whistled, yelled and waved and she saw us.  They arrived shortly thereafter so we spent even more time enjoying the view and talking about the island.

The trek was apparently 12 km long with a lot of up and down over rough passages.  The views were incredible, as expected, but I think the walk was a bit more challenging and longer than they had expected.  That of course made me very glad that I had not joined them as they are both better hikers than I am.  I didn't think I'd be able to make it  in the time frame that had been discussed - 3 hours.  In the end, they took longer than that too - more like 5 hours.  I would probably still be out walking at dark if I had tried it.   However, they did assure me that they had lots of rest and picture stops and a long lunch break sitting on a rock overlooking the lake.

We took a break around 5:30 to get cleaned up and then got back together to have dinner at 6:30.  Lunch was included with our tour and since we never had time for lunch, this dinner became our lunch and was paid for by the guide, which was a real bonus.  They always have a soup to start and it is always delicious.  I had the trout for the main course and it too was delicious.  I think I've had it about six times in the last week and it has always been good.  We managed to stay in the restaurant until after 8:00 and then we went to our rooms.  Some of us were asleep pretty quickly after such a busy and wonderful day.  I think I stayed awake until 9:30.  They have no heat in any of the rooms in Bolivia so you have many heavy blankets piled on your bed.  It was pretty nice to snuggle down under the covers and go to sleep.  Well, actually it was too hot so I had to remove one of the doubled blankets but then it was fine and I slept very well.

Thursday, March 10th - Copacabana, Bolivia

We were up early this morning to catch 6:45 bus to Copacabana and Lake Titicaca.  The bus picked us up at the hotel and then we spent a good hour driving very slowly through the streets of La Paz to get to the bus station, which was our final pickup.  Traffic was very heavy so the going was slow but also the people we were picking up were all late.  At one hotel we waited for twenty minutes because apparently the hotel clerk had told them the bus was always late so they might as well go have breakfast so they did.  And they decided to finish their breakfasts before coming down to the bus.  Since it was a large group the bus just had to sit and wait.  To say the very least, I was not impressed.  We were one of the earliest ones picked up and we didn't get breakfast.

Once we left the bus station there was another long drive of at least an hour just trying to get out of La Paz.  Traffic was bad but there was also a lot of construction and the detours slowed things down.  It was used and bumpy and not a very pleasant ride but we did get to see a lot of the city that we'd never seen before.  And as it was still early morning, there were a lot of people out and about waiting for buses or taxis or setting up their street-side or market businesses, or having a bite to eat from one of the already open businesses.  And the ladies were all in their traditional costumes of big full knee-length skirts of pink, green, yellow, blue, red or any combination of colours, plainer tops and then colourful warm shawls.  And almost all of them wore a hat as well.  Some were wide-brimmed sun hats but some were the small bowler-style hat sitting precariously on the top of their head.   These hats are specific to one area or tribe and I have no idea how they keep them on but they do, and the hats seem perfectly useless as far as sun screen is concerned because they just sit on the top of the head and have very small brims.   They are definitely just more decorative.

Eventually we were out of the city and travelling on a reasonably good highway through the hills and valleys above the city.   There were many fields of crops: potatoes, quinoa, etc.  In some fields there were a lot of workers, mainly female, all working together to harvest the crop.  I assume they later move to a different field and harvest that one as well.  The fields are not big and the work seems to be done communally, which is nice to see.  It is also nice to see how they use so much of the land by having smaller irregular shaped fields that can occupy all the space available in the valleys and up the sides of the hills on terraces.

Before very long we saw the lake in the distance and then gradually closer.  The views of the shoreline were quite spectacular. Around every curve you wanted to take another picture of the lake, the shoreline, the hills and valleys leading up to it and the islands in it.  Lake Titicaca is the highest navigable lake in the world and it seems huge, although it is much smaller than most of the Great Lakes.  You seem to drive along the lake for hours to get to Copacabana and that is on the Bolivian side.  From the Peru side I remember driving along it for a long time before hitting our destination there.  Then when you get to your destination on shore it takes hours on the water to get to where you are going.  It looks huge when you are on it and there are lots of islands, natural and man-made floating reed islands, that make it seem even bigger.  The hills along the shore line and the higher Andes mountains behind also help to make it seem larger.  The actual size is 8,400 sq km.

But I am getting ahead of myself.  As we followed the shoreline along we had the lake on our left.  Then as we drove further along the lake was on our right.  It seemed to keep jumping around, which was a bit confusing, until our guide told us that the one was the big lake and the other the little lake.  Technically it is the same lake but at the this point there is a peninsula that almost separates a small section of the lake, the little lake, off from the rest of the lake, the big lake.  When you look at it on the map it becomes much clearer.  The closest a part of the lake is only 40 km from La Paz but then it is a long windy road along the lake and out the peninsula to Copacabana.

Before getting there though, you come to a point where you have to take ferries across a narrow straight to keep following the road.  All of the passengers get off the bus and take a small boat across the straight, a trip that takes about ten minutes at most.  It's a very calm stretch of water so a very calm ride.  The boats are pretty basic and I didn't exactly see a lot of life jackets readily available although there definitely were some way up at the front of the boat where you would never get at them if you needed them in a hurry.  However, there are a lot of boats ferrying back and forth all the time and the shore is not far away so I think you're pretty safe if anything happens.

Meanwhile, the bus goes across the straight on a different ferry.  Wooden flatbed ferries carry one large truck without the cab or one bus or a couple of smaller vans.  As a vehicle drives on to the wooden planks that cover these ferries you'd think the flatbed was going to tip right over.  And they do a lot of rocking back and forth while they are crossing the water so they look very precarious.  We were quite happy to be off the bus and on our little boat for the crossing, especially as we watched the guys on shore bail a lot of water out of the ferries once they were back on shore.  Once the bus was off loaded and back on the road we all piled in and went on our way.

The crossing was from San Pablo de Tiquina to San Pedro de Tiquina (St. Paul to St. Peter) and at that point we were very close to the Peruvian border.  There is actually even an immigration check point just to make sure you have your passport to continue further.  However, it is just a check point and not an actual control stop so if you didn't have your passport they would just warn you that the border was close and you couldn't go any further in certain directions.  Since we were going to Copacabana and the Isla de Luna we were going to be in Bolivia the whole time so we were okay.  At the crossing we were still high at 3,810 metres above sea level.

Eventually, after almost five hours on the bus, we arrived in Copacabana.  The bus stopped about one long block up from the water.  We got our bags and walked down about half of the block to our hotel.  They had had a storm the night before and with the cooler temperatures they got some hail and snow.  Some of it could still be seen on the side of the street.  However, it was warm when we arrived about noon so the snow wasn't going to last long.  We checked in and went down the street to a restaurant right on the waterfront for lunch.  I had trout again and it was delicious

The waterfront has quite a large area before the street and buildings start.  There are a lot of boats in the harbour, both larger ferry boats for passengers and smaller fishing boats.  There are also lots of small crafts like swan paddle boats, sailboats and kayaks for the locals and tourists.  On a Thursday at noon there were not a lot of people out on the water but it was a pretty nice day.  And there are lots of restaurants and bars right along the waterfront with lots of seats overlooking the look so you would have no trouble finding a great location for meals or drinks or sunset.

After lunch we went for a walk around the town to see the major sights.  The pedestrian street was interesting and one of the busier places in town.  Copacabana is obviously a tourist town as most of the businesses were restaurants, bars and souvenir shops - lots of colourful materials and clothes and alpaca sweaters, socks, gloves, hats, etc.   We were up and down this street many times in the next few days.

The main square was pretty quiet but very nice.  The 15th century Cathedral was on the square and it had a very large courtyard for gatherings as the natives preferred outdoor services while the Spanish were used to indoor services.  The stone fence around it had an Arabic style to it with high shaped arches and brick geometric designs.  We wondered about that for a while but eventually figured out that the early Arab influence in Spain probably came with the Spanish to Bolivia.  We went into the church but did not stay long as there was a small funeral going on at the front.  However, I have to say that from the back, while it seemed Ike a plain white church the front altar piece looked amazing.  It was gold and filled the whole front of the church so it looked very rich and beautiful. 

Outside the church boundary and in front of the square there were a number of stalls selling champaign, colourful decorations,  flowers and all kinds of other things that didn't seem to go together in our opinion.  However, our guide explained that people would come to the church to have their vehicles blessed by the priests so the family would have safe travels.  They then sprayed champaign on the car, decorated it with colourful streamers and flower petals and eventually drove away happy.  As we looked at the road around the area we could see the remains of the decorations and later on we did see some decorated cars driving around town, especially on Saturday.  The colourful decorations often depicted the country they were from as the streamers were done in the colours of the countries' flags: blue and white for one of the other countries, red and yellow and green for Bolivia, etc.

We then continued walking and went through the main market area.  There were outdoor stalls and indoor stalls that seemed to sell everything including fruit, vegetables, meat, cheese, fish, nuts, etc.  The popcorn here is huge with one piece sometimes being two inches long.  But then their corn kernels area also three to four times the size of ours so I guess it's all relative.  Even the lima beans seemed huge, and the avocados and the squash.  Only the peaches seemed to be smaller than we would get.  They seemed to have everything we would see in a market: potatoes, sweet potatoes, carrots, corn, beans, peppers, garlic, lettuce, tomatoes, cabbage, squash, onions, cucumbers, various greens, egg plant, bananas, apples, pears, watermelon, pumpkin, apricots, grapes, papaya, oranges, and a few others that I didn't recognize but had heard of.  They also had all kinds of nuts that looked delicious.  Everything in the market looked delicious except for the meat which isn't refrigerated so really didn't look all that appealing just laying around on the tables.

From there we decided to hike up the hill for a view of the city.  The way is really a religious route and represents the Stations of the Cross (Calvario).  People make pilgrimages to this site with some of them walking for three long days from La Paz and then climbing up the hill once they get here.  I knew I was going to have enough trouble just getting up the hill, which was at 3,973 metres above sea level.  I can't even imagine walking all the way from La Pax.  As we got to the start of the walk we ran into Lily and Albert from our tour.  They were just on their way down.  On the way up there were some pretty funky chickens that looked like they had stuck their feet in an electrical socket as they had feathers sticking out in every direction including around their heads.  We thought the first one was just having a bad hair day but then we saw more of them and knew it had to be just a different type of chicken than we were used to.  

At the top there are two hills: St Barbara on the right and St. Christopher to the left.  St. Christopher continues the Stations of the Cross while St. Barbara is lower and more of just a lookout.  We continued up to St. Christopher.  The walk was easy for the rest of them but a bit tough for me as there were uneven and high stairs to climb.  I eventually made it though and the view was certainly worth it.  From the top you could see the whole bay, the city of Copacabana and surrounding valley and hills, across the one part of the lake to Peru and out into the bigger area of the lake to the Isla Del Sol and other islands.  With the sunlight filtering through the clouds the lake in some directions looked quite great and flat but in other directions it appeared a brilliant blue against the green and brown hillsides.  The view was quite spectacular but we did eventually have to go down.  Luckily I had some help on the way down because I don't do well with deep steps going down either.  Luisa and Gillian were very helpful offering a hand or shoulder to lean on.

Once down at the bottom Luisa went her own way and the four of us (Charles was still with us at this point) went to a spot on the water to have happy hour and watch the sun go down, although we really didn't think there would be much of a sunset since it was so cloudy.   Luckily we were mistaken and the sunset was actually quite beautiful and lasted for some time. We left there and wandered over to the pedestrian street to find a place for dinner and ended up in a sports bar watching the Bolivian team playing soccer/football against Argentina.  I had trout again and it was delicious.  After dinner we went back to the hotel to bed and that was the end of another great day.

Wednesday, March 9th - La Paz, Bolivia

We definitely slept in and once we were up we had to rush to get to the breakfast area before breakfast was finished.  A few people came in while we were up there and it seemed that everyone was taking it easy this morning, the first day free of a tour wake-up call.  We lingered over breakfast, said goodbyes to some more of the group as they were leaving later in the day, and eventually started making plans for the day.

Our first stop was at the travel agent down in the lobby to see if we could book both a tour to Lake Titicaca and a tour to the Amazon.  I think that probably took us about three hours in total but by the time we were finished Gillian, Randy and I had both tours booked.  We went for a three day, two night tour of Lake Titicaca with a night in Copacabana and a night on Isla Del Sol as well as a three night, two day tour of the Amazon to end our Bolivian holiday.  We also booked our flights to and from Santa Cruz for the 12th to 18th and our flights to and from the Amazon.  All we have left to book are three nights of accommodation around the Amazon tour: the nights before and after the Amazon tour in Rurrenbaque and the final night in La Paz before we all fly out on the 23rd.

 

After finishing the bookings we went out for lunch at the little coffee shop across the street.  It was a very small place with very few seats but it was obviously popular and the food was great.  Charles is still with us today so there were four of us at this stage - quite a change from the sixteen all the time on the tour.

I then took some time to go back to our room and repack for the next tour and rest a bit.  Gillian went to the Coca Museum which she had not visited when we were in La Paz earlier.  Then we met Charles and a couple of others from the tour who happened to be still around the hotel for dinner.  We just went next door to the British pub and had some wholesome British food.  I couldn't decide between the shepherd's pie and the chicken pot pie but went for the latter and it was great.  It wasn't a very Bolivian end to our tour but it sure was delicious.  After dinner we simply went back to our rooms to get to sleep early as we had a 6:45 departure in the morning.

Tuesday, March 8th - Sucre to La Paz, Bolivia

Well, this was certainly an exciting day.  Not!

Today we were leaving Sucre and flying to La Paz.  We had breakfast at the hotel and checked out about 8:30 and headed for the airport.  We all got checked in, cleared security and went to the boarding gate.  We waited and waited and finally our tour guide found out that the flight had been cancelled for technical reasons.  She then went to work trying to get us on another flight to La Paz.

Once we had our new flights all confirmed everything seemed settled.  We would have to fly from Sucre to Cochabamba and then to La Paz but at least we would get there.  This was more important to some of us than to others as this was the last planned day of our tour and some people were flying out very early in the morning.  But everyone was rebooked on the new flights so all was well.  And the whole group is pretty well mannered and not easily ruffled (frequent flyers obviously) so no one was too perturbed by the delay and extra flight.

We waited a bit longer than expected but eventually our flight to Cochabamba was called and away we went.  The flight was very short and soon we were there.  We had to claim our luggage and go out and check in again for our next flight but that was okay.  It was actually good because it gave us a chance to get some fresh air and it also gave us the opportunity to see in the distance the large statue of Christ that dominates the city.  This statue is even taller than the one in Rio de Janeiro which is so famous so it was good to see it.  However, it was so far in the distance that if our guide hadn't told us what it was we might not have recognized it, and most of us didn't have cameras that would actually make it look like anything other than a fuzzy blob.

Once checked in we went through security again and to the gate to board our plane.  Once again we sat and sat and then suddenly everyone else in the room seemed to get up and get in line and everyone got quite loud and unruly.  Security came a couple of times and tried to calm down a few very loud people.  Since we didn't know what anyone was saying we didn't really know what was going on so our guide had to go up and try and sort things out again.  It seems that another plane had been cancelled and some of the people in the room had been waiting a long time and they decided they should be the ones to fly out on the currently available plane even if it was ours and not theirs.  They didn't seem to care how many of us had been waiting all day and been rescheduled.  Eventually the airline made the decision to let everyone else go first and hold us back for yet another flight.  I can't imagine that ever happening in Canada but, as I mentioned before, most of us really weren't in a hurry so we really didn't care.

Eventually we did get on a flight and arrived in La Paz about 6 p.m.   We were originally to arrive around noon so it was a rather wasted day.  Because we were so late, some people did not get to do the last bit of touring in La Paz that they were hoping for and others did not get a separate tour booked to do something the next day.  However, those who had to catch international flights were there in time so that was the main thing.

The whole group gathered a bit later to go off for our final dinner.  The restaurant was quite a ways away.  It was an Italian restaurant and we had the front section to ourselves.  The meal was excellent and it was a great way to end the trip.  It was only an eleven day tour with day one just being arrival and day eleven being departure. But the the nine days in between were fantastic.  The time went very quickly and yet it was full of a lot of great memories, people and pictures.  Bolivia is definitely a beautiful and diverse country.  We only saw part of it but it was an amazing part.

Once back at the hotel we said our final goodbyes to some of the people who were flying out that night or early the next morning.  Then we went to bed and for the first time in a long time didn't have to set an alarm.  It might have been a bit sad knowing the tour was over but it was a wonderful feeling knowing we could sleep in.

Thursday, March 3rd - Uyuni, Bolivia

Despite not getting much sleep because I just couldn't get comfortable, I was awake early and decided to get up and go for a  walk around the lagoon.  Breakfast was not until about 8:30 and we weren't leaving until 9:00 so I had a good hour to walk around before I had to be back.  

It was cool and crisp outside so I had my alpaca hoodie on and my rain jacket but once I was out in the sunshine it was beautiful.  The sun had just risen and it was shining on the hills and snow-capped mountains on the other side of the lagoon so they appeared to be glowing.  The lagoon itself was perfectly calm and the reflections in the water were perfect.   And just to top off a wonderful view there were many beautiful pink flamingos in the water and some llamas down by the shore.  There wasn't a sound except for my footsteps and the fluttering of flamingo wings occasionally so it was an absolutely perfect morning.  It was a very peaceful setting and a great way to start the day.

I wandered from the hotel down toward the end of the lagoon and got some wonderful pictures.   On my side there were green/yellow tufts of grass to start the picture.  The snow-capped mountains and the multi-coloured hillsides were the backdrop against the clear blue sky with just a few fluffy white clouds.  And all of these were reflected in the calm clear waters of the lagoon, which would have been perfect enough for a picture.  But then the beautiful stately flamingos just added to the tableau.  Most of the flamingos were pink of some shade with some being almost red but some of the younger ones were a lighter colour or even a greyish white.  They will turn pink as they get older.  They were all beautiful but not necessarily so easy to take pictures of as they almost always had their beaks in the water trying o find some breakfast.  The Andes flamingos are pink but have black at the end of their tail and wing feathers.  The Chilean flamingos are bigger and the James flamingos smaller.  I have trouble distinguishing the three different types but I know they are all beautiful.  

There were only a few people out at this hour of the morning and that was nice.  As I headed back to the hotel I met a few others who were on their way out for a quick stroll.  I was glad I'd had so much time on my own as it really was a beautiful and peaceful setting.  By contrast, as I returned to the hotel, the buildings looked so totally out of place.  They looked very Bolivian in that they were red, yellow, blue, orange and any number of bright colours, which always brighten up the surrounding landscape, but here on this morning they just seemed out of place.  The buildings were a mishmash of sizes and shapes and just all strung together in one long strip.  On their own they looked quite unique and lovely and a great contrast to the desert.  However, they really did seem slightly out of place on such a beautiful calm serene morning.

  

After breakfast we climbed into our 4x4's again and started our final journey through the desert.  The scenery was as stark as the day before and as beautiful.  The desert is nothing but sand/rocks/gravel with little vegetation since there is little precipitation, which of course is what makes it a desert.  There are still rolling hills nearby and snow-capped mountains in the distance.  It seemed like on today's journey we were going up and over more hills instead of just driving on the flat but I'm not really sure it was was any different or if the views were just different presenting the illusion of more ups and downs.  Regardless, it all still seemed beautiful to me.

We stopped at Canapa Lagoon in the morning.  This was another beautiful lagoon with some great reflections of the surrounding mountains and lots of flamingos.  As Karina was with us, she was able to help us identify which of the flamingos belonged to which group.  And here at this lagoon we apparently had two of the types: James and Andean. 

Somewhere on our journey and maybe before the Canapa Lagoon we stopped to see an active volcano.  Volcan Ollague is a snow covered peak 5,865 metres high.  We were still quite a distance from it but, as it was a very clearly day with a bright blue sky, you could see the steam rising above the snowy edge to the left of the cratered peak.

We stopped for lunch at the Rock Valley, which is a large area covered with lots of volcanic stones that are piled in various ways to make many different shapes.  While lunch was being prepared, members of the group went off climbing all over the rock piles.  I went some places but generally more on the level and to photograph the different piles instead of climbing them, which I would never be able to do safely.  At one point when I was up high enough to see, I could see that he rock formations went on for miles in every direction.  They made incredible shapes like whales, people, animals, etc.  And all of them were created by the wind and rain wearing down the original rock creating holes and curves and wonderful designs.  After climbing around for a while we all gathered by the vehicles to have some pasta which was really good.

From the rock piles you could look way down into a valley with more green than we had seen in the last few days.  From there we drove through more hills and passes and on to San Cristobal again for a quick break.  This was the very new town that had been built when the mine moved everyone away from the original town so the area could be mined.  Being out in the desert it is a very dusty city that I imagine would be quite dusty all year round.  We saw many little dust storms or dust devils over the last few days and I imagine they get worse when it's not rainy season, which it is now - hard to realize considering how dry it has been on our trip!

We passed an area where quinoa was planted and all three types (stages?) were being grown: red, yellow and black.  Apparently the black version is the more healthy and more expensive version.  I didn't even know there were different kinds.  I guess I'll have to see what types are for sale when I get back to Canada.

Before going to our hotel in Uyuni we stopped at the train cemetery which we were supposed to have visited the first time we were here but we just didn't have time.  It's quite an interesting display just stuck out in the middle of a dusty piece of the desert.  The single train track runs as far as you can see to the horizon in two directions (SW to NE I think).  At one point because of the importance of nearby Potosi and its silver mines, these rail lines used to be very busy and there were lots of train cars in use.  Now these engines and other cars are simply decaying in this train cemetery.  The engines were mostly made in the USA and they probably covered a century of trains but I really wouldn't have known that.  They all looked old to me but when seen all together they did look impressive.  Some of the best preserved engines were put in proper museums so these are really just the leftovers that no one wanted.  There were two rows of engines and cars on two small sections of track and between them there were smaller railway items like hand cars.

Once back at our hotel we said goodbye to our drivers as our dessert and salt flat tour was over.  Those three days went very quickly and were probably some of my favourites from all of this year's travel.  We got our stored luggage and went to our rooms and had a couple of hours to relax before happy hour.  Relaxing for most of us meant washing or at least rinsing out all our clothes to get rid of the dust and sand of the last three days.  Luckily there was an open deck upstairs and a long clothesline with clothes pins so we could hang everything to dry.  And being a hot sunny day in the desert with a nice wind blowing it only took about 30 minutes for everything to dry.  As an added bonus, when I went up the last time to take the last of our things down, I was treated to a beautiful sunset over the town and desert.

The whole group gathered down in the lobby for happy hour and then we walked over to a nearby restaurant for dinner.  After walking back to the hotel after dinner, it was simply time for bed in a nice hotel and I think we all slept well.