Monday, March 7th - Sucre, Bolivia

This was an easy morning for some of us so we got to sleep in.  Those going on the all-day hike had to be up early so we just ignored them.  As it turned out, their hike was great but it was also very long and a lot of uphill/downhill climbing so they all came back at the end of the day very tired and stiff.  On the plus side though, they got to touch and step right into the dinosaur prints, which is more than what we got to do on our little tour that was supposed to be the most impressive find of dinosaur footprints.

We left about 10 a.m. and went by taxi to Parque Cretacico (Cretaceous Park, which is on the site of an active cement company about 5 km north of Sucre.  One section has been closed off to preserve the dinosaur footprints that were discovered a few years ago, and a museum and display area have been built to accompany the site.  We had a tour around the museum and display area and it was interesting and good preparation for actually seeing the dinosaurs.  Most interesting was the timeline with the dinosaurs stomping through this area about 68 million years ago. 

At that time the area was covered in soft clay that surrounded a large lake in Argentina.  The footprints in the soft clay ossified and were covered with layers of sediment until discovered in the 1990's as the cement company was tearing away parts of the mountain and hit layers of limestone that were not suitable for its purposes.  Wind and rain wore away the remaining sediments until the footprints became visible and scientists got involved in authentication of the site.

The whole area is on a fault line so it's interesting that the footprints now run vertically up the steep sides of the gravel pit.  At some point there was a shift in the tectonic plates and the flat horizontal clay bed became a vertical slab and that's where the footprints were discovered.  The large lake in Argentina was pushed into the ocean as the Andes Mountains were formed and South America as we know it now was created.

This park has the largest collection of dinosaur footprints in the world with over 5,000 examples, all on the 1.2 km limestone Cal Orck'o Cliff in the gravel pit.  Fifteen different species of dinosaurs are represented and some of the footprints are 80 cm across.  The largest and most famous footprints involve a 347 metre trail of footprints left by a baby Tyrannosaurus Rex who was named Johnny Walker.  Unfortunately, in 2010, that portion of the cliff collapsed and those footprints no longer exist except in pictures.  

On the plus side though, when that portion of wall collapsed it revealed another wall with even more footprints in it.  Scientists assume there are even older footprints in layers beyond this one.  I guess I shouldn't say "assume" because apparently they have X-rayed the surfaces or something and they do know there are more footprints behind the current ones.  They have applied for UNESCO protection for the site in hopes of raising the money that would be needed to protect the entire site from erosion.  Given the size, that would be difficult but at least they are trying.

The tour that we did first helped greatly when we got down into the pit.  The museum explained the different types of dinosaurs and their footprints so we could distinguish them when we got below.  Outside the museum they had life-size models of the dinosaurs so with those models and the casts of the feet we could tell what we were looking at.  We had to wear hard hats so that was good for a neat picture.  But then who was going to argue when they just told us part of the wall collapsed in 2010.  The path down was very steep with steps in most areas and then some pathways.  The climb up was definitely going to be tougher!

Once down in the pit we got close up views of the footprints.  We could see them from the other side but only if someone pointed them out to us.  Down in the pit they were very distinguishable and you could actually tell which dinosaurs were heading in which direction and how many of them there were.  Our guide was great at telling us their stories and explaining things.  Overall it was a great tour.  My only complaint would be that we didn't have enough time to go through everything in the museum.  Normally you could have gone back there after climbing out of the pit but most of the gang was ready to go so off we went.  

I should mention that the views from the park were fantastic as it was quite high and looking over the hill tops and valleys that surrounded it.  Also, as you walked up the walkway to the main entrance there were date signs telling you how many million years ago things happened.  The distance between the signs represented the different periods and eras in the earth's history.  It took quite a while to get to the appearance of dinosaurs and a lot longer to get to the arrival of humans.  It was a great way to show such a timeline.

Our taxi driver had waited for us - about two hours - so we had a ride back downtown.  It's amazing that the drivers do this and don't charge any extra for it!  When we got back from the park, I took some time to rest and do some picture uploads since most people were out and the Internet was working well.  Others took off immediately to walk to the lookout and/or do some of the museums or other sights in town.  

I waited until I was starting to get hungry and then went on the walk up to the lookout so I could have my lunch at the restaurant just below the lookout.  The walk uphill seemed a bit easier than yesterday but that may have been because I was on my own and could go at my own speed.  Once at the top, I checked the museum to see when tours were.  There was only one left and it was starting in a few minutes so I joined that one.  Lunch would have to wait.

The Museo Franciscano Del Convento La Recoleta was built by the Franciscans in 1601.  It is now only used by the city as a museum.  It has paintings and sculptures from the 16th to 29th century but that part was all closed so we couldn't see it.  We could only see the church itself from the choir loft and it was a narrow high church with white walls, dark wooden pews and side altars, and lighter wood rafters - very clean and peaceful looking.  The choir loft itself is one of the highlights of the tour.  The wooden choir stalls were all individually hand carved in the 1870's with representations of the 26 different martyrs of 1595 Nagasaki, something I knew nothing about.

The tour was in Spanish so I didn't get too much of it.  The courtyard was very nice with some beautiful roses and other flowers, and just outside the courtyard overlooking the city they had an ancient cedar tree, apparently one of the few remaining in Sucre.  We were allowed to see only a few rooms within the convent:  a wine storage area and some living quarters.  The first was pretty typical of any wine storage area in a convent but with clay pottery, glass and wooden casks.  I don't remember if we also saw the wine making facilities but I think not - perhaps they did not make the wine at the convent.  The second was even smaller and more austere but then I guess living quarters are supposed to be like that in a convent, even for those of importance.  

Because of all the closed areas the tour really wasn't worth the price, and the lack of English made it even more so.  Personally I thought it was a waste of time but maybe that was because I was getting rather hungry by then.  On the plus side, it was a short tour so it didn't push my lunch back too far.  I went down to the little cafe below the lookout and sat outside in their garden overlooking the city.  I had an appetizer plate that I assumed was for one but it turned out to be rather large with dozens of olives, lots of pita chips and various cheeses.  It was good but I definitely couldn't eat it all.  Besides, the leftovers would be perfect for happy hour later on.

My next stop was on my way down the hill.  Just in the first block down was the Textile Museum (Museo de Arte Indigena).  It was really a lot more than just textiles as it had a lot of displays on the local indigenous people: dress, music, ceremonies, textiles, etc.  It was very well done and very interesting.  The labelling was all in Spanish but they had a book for the English guests and it was about 30 pages long of non-stop typing.  It was a lot of reading but very interesting.  I got through everything but had to rush a bit at the end as it closed at 6:00.  There was no time for shopping in their little shop, which was actually too bad because they had a lot of neat things.  However, I would not likely have bought anything anyway.

I walked back down to the hotel and just made one stop along the way.  Another of the big churches was open so I went in for a visit.  It was very nice with a lot of fancy decoration.  It was only about a block from the hotel but I don't remember the name of it.  On other occasions when we went by the church it always seemed to be busy and crowded, and the music coming from it was loud so it seemed like it might be a church with a strong youth program.  I certainly couldn't tell from my visit as it was very empty and quiet when I was there.  

Back at the hotel we all gathered for happy hour in courtyard at 6:30.  The hiking folks had just arrived back and others were slow to arrive but once gathered we visited for quite a while and had some delicious snacks including my olives, cheese and crackers.  Our tour guide brought a bottle of Bolivia's special drink which we all tasted.  It was good but nothing to exciting in my opinion.  Of course I don't drink much so it would have to be quite awesome to get my attention - like the South African Amarula, which was absolutely delicious.

It was quite late when we headed out for dinner so we went to the Joy Ride restaurant. This was the same place where we booked all our tours but upstairs they had a restaurant.  Who knew?  It was busy but we had a table and had a great dinner about 9:00.  We didn't get home until about 10:30 and I'm sure I was sound asleep by 11:00 as it had been a busy day and we had another early morning coming up as we return to La Pas.

Sunday, March 6th - Sucre, Bolivia

This morning we were up early to take a bus to the Tarabuco Market, which is supposed to be quite amazing and is only held on Sunday.  Tarabuco is about drive 65 km from Sucre with driving on some good and some not-so-good roads.  As a result it took us a couple of hours to get there.  The weather was "iffy", threatening to rain. but really not doing much more than being cloudy and overcast.  However, apparently there had been some rain and this meant that the market was much smaller than normal as people obviously did not want walk miles to bring their goods to market or to buy stuff.

The village of Tarabuco is small (less than 3,000 people) and in an area of rolling hills.  It is built around the main square, as are most towns.  The church is on the main square, as are other important buildings but they are all quite small.   Only a few buildings are two storeys high.  Most are just one story.  The church itself is white on the outside and shite on the inside with wooden pews and ceiling rafters that made it look very clean and crisp.  Off of the main square there are small streets, all on a grid system and all full of vendors.  Many had bright awnings of red, blue, yellow, green and other colours.  I didn't know whether that was a regular thing or whether they were just used on days of rainy weather.  I'm guessing it's  used all the time because the sun would be really hot so the tarps would provide shade as well as cover from rain.

I'm sure you could find anything you wanted in this open-air market.  It was spread over many blocks and went into some open courtyards and some covered areas.  I'm sure if you couldn't find what you were looking for, someone else would be able to tell you where to go to find it.  There were lots of clothes (pants, shirts, jackets, shoes, socks, underwear, hats, etc.), household goods (paint, plumbing supplies, furniture, appliances, dishes, etc.), food (vegetables, fruit, meat, eggs, dairy products, spices, etc.), toys, farm supplies, animals, books, candy and much more.  

The streets further away were filled with vehicles of all sorts and some were already leaving.  Small trucks were packed solid with animals and produce and then a lot of people.  It was interesting to see these full vehicles moving through the street.  In other places, including by where our bus parked, there were many donkeys just standing around waiting for the masters to return so they could be loaded up and head home.

I wandered up and down the streets for over an hour and watched the locals.  Some of the local costumes are very unique including the small black hat (mix between bowler and cowboy hat) that the women wear on the top of their heads, colourful shawls and ponchos, and the black capes and helmet-shaped hats that the men wear - something that goes back to when the locals defeated the Spanish centuries ago.  It was interesting to see all the different outfits and also to hear/watch them bartering over their goods.  I didn't buy anything but some of the group did.  I spent some time talking to the lady at the tourist office in the main square, asking her what else we should see while in Bolivia.  She was very helpful.  She was also the one that explained that today's market was so small because of the weather.  Normally, when the weather is clear, it is at least twice this size according to her.

We left Tarabuco a bit earlier than a normal tour as some of our group wanted to go horseback riding and we had to be back earlier for that.  No one minded though as I think we were all through wondering the streets of the market.  We made it back to Sucre well before the horseback riding tour departed but, instead of getting back by dark, they didn't get back until after 9 p.m.  I'm certainly glad I didn't go on that tour!

Four of us went down to the corner cafe for lunch and it was very good.  We had no set plans for the afternoon so it was a very relaxing lunch.  After that we headed off to the Mirador Recoleta, which is a view point overlooking the city.  We only had about ten blocks to walk but most of them were up hill so it seemed like a long ways.  The others were way ahead of me, which is normal when going up hill, so when I came to the road I was sure we were to turn on, I turned.  In the end I beat them there because they took a slightly longer route and didn't turn until after the view point and had to come back down.  I may be slow on the uphill climb but, because I'm so slow, I definitely don't go any further than needed to to get somewhere.  That sounds smart to me.

The museums were not open as it was Sunday but there is a nice little square at the top and there were lots of kids around the area.  The old church at the top is a beautiful clean white symmetric building with two high towers.  The view point across the square from it is covered and has many pillars with high arches.  The church looked beautiful when photographed through one of the arches, across the square and against the green hills behind and the blue sky (when it was blue).  The white buildings of the original church extend all along the back and down the one side of the square.  At least some of the side section appears to be part of a university campus now, or was at one point.  Hopefully I'll be able to make it back for a tour of the church / museum tomorrow afternoon.

The view was fantastic and you could see all of the city, which seems to be in a valley very much like a shallow bowl.  The streets and buildings all disappear into the centre of this bowl and then come back up on the other side amongst the green hills.  The red roofs are virtually all you see except for occasional strips of white that appear below the roofs.  In a couple of places you do get a patch of green where there is a park or square of some kind and no buildings.  The streets are cobblestone in most places and there are generally sidewalks, albeit not to wide in places and sometimes not to level.  The white houses on both sides of the street make for a very clean picture and generally speaking there is no garbage to be seen anywhere.  There are of course exceptions but most of the time the street views were very pristine.

The streets are of course very hilly in places such as on our walk down from the lookout.  It was easier than I expected but still rather hard on the knees in the steeper parts.  We walked back down to the main square and I decided to leave the group there and head back to the hotel since I would have time tomorrow to do more sightseeing.  They went on about an equal distance in the opposite direction to get to another park, which they really enjoyed as it was incredibly busy with families out enjoying themselves on a lovely Sunday afternoon.  It probably would have been fun but I was just fine taking a break instead.

Tonight the same group headed out to a dinner show at Origenes Bolivianos.  The restaurant/theatre was not too far from our hotel and it was basically on the level so just a nice walk there and back.  We arrived early but that gave us time to enjoy the view of the city at night from their location.  The meal was very good.  I can no longer remember exactly what the meal was but it had several parts.  We thought much of the meal would be served before the entertainment started but in fact they didn't serve anything before the show started so we were there really early.  The young man who served us at lunch time also works at this dinner theatre so he had reserved us the best table in the place and it was really good - second row centre (no one in the first row centre).

The group was very energetic and the dances were very interesting.  They didn't explain too much in English but we did have a program we could follow along with if the lights were ever up enough so we could see.  But then we were quite sure that they really didn't follow the listed order so that made it a bit confusing too.  Some of the dances went back to colonial times when the slaves were still in chains and treated poorly while those in power did very well.  They did dances from many different areas of the country and they covered everything from farming to courting to mining to paganism to family life to revolution.  The dances were very lively and the costumes were varied depending on the meaning of the dance but most of them were fantastically colourful.

After dinner we walked back to the hotel and that was the end of another great day in Bolivia.

Saturday, March 5th - Potosi to Sucre, Bolivia

This morning we were up, packed, had breakfast and were on our way by 8:30.  we had another large comfortable bus with lots of room and this driver was much better than than the previous one so I survived quite well on the three-hour trip to Sucre.   We were still driving through the mountains and getting some good views but we were gradually getting a bit lower over the drive.

We arrived in Sucre around noon.  We checked into our hotel, which was a beautiful old hotel with two lovely courtyards with our rooms on several storeys around the one courtyard.  The breakfast room was large and opened into another room.  These definitely looked like high ceilinged ballrooms or large dining rooms from a past era.  The lobby and waiting rooms had beautiful old furniture and we felt quite out of place in our attire.

There were a lot of activities planned for Sucre as we were staying here three nights.  Yippee - no need to pack up each day!!!  Sucre is the capital city (or one of two along with La Pas - I never did quite understand that part) and has a lot of sights to see.  Some of the group were going hiking for a whole day.  Some were going rock climbing, some horseback riding and some to see the dinosaur tracks.  There were lots of other options like quad bike and motorbike tours.  Only the hang gliding was not available and I can't remember why.  Most of the time we would just be touring around the city.

Our first order of business was hustling down to the restaurant we had reserved for lunch.  We were sampling a local traditional dish and normally the restaurant is so popular that it runs out of these dishes by about 10:00 a.m.  We had phoned ahead so they knew there was a whole group of us coming and they were saving them for us - but we had to hurry to get there before they closed.  

Again the building was a beautiful old colonial building with a big inner courtyard.  Some of the tables for the restaurant wer set up outside in the courtyard and that looked very inviting.  However, we were ushered up to the to the second floor and into a large ball room.  We were the only people there but that did not ruin the beautiful room with its high ceiling and windows.

Our guide had ordered us both chicken and beef saltinias (spelling?) and they were delicious.  They are like empenades and also like meat pies so a light pastry folded upon itself into a semi-circle and filled with meat, potatoes, vegetables and gravy.  They were delicious but they were also a bit hard to eat as you pick them up with your fingers and eat them but the hot gravy, especially in the beef one, wants to run out of the pastry faster than you can put it in your mouth.  They are not very big but one of each was more than enough to fill everyone up.

After lunch we went on our walking tour of Sucre and from the restaurant we went first to the main square, Plaza 25 de Mayo.  This square is large and beautiful with lots of trees, grass, walkways and places to sit.  There is a statue in the middle and, although I don't remember for sure, I'm guessing it might be to Sucre who was one of their heroes and their second president.  There were wide streets all around the square and beautiful buildings beyond that.  Most of them are large and white and very crisp and clean looking, and several of them were government buildings.  There was of course a church on the square as well.  Most of Sucre is full of white buildings with red tile roofs.  It is often referred to as the white city, although from our next view it should have been the red city.

The Museo MIrador San Francisco at the Iglesias San Felipe de Neri (another church) was our next stop.  It is a beautiful church but we again just had a quick look on our way past on the way up to the roof.  The monastery was founded in the 16th century and now it is also a school so there was lots of activity in the big gym/auditorium area as we passed by.  The climb to the roof and over it was very easy and there were great views of the city and the surrounding countryside in all directions.  And from this vantage point what we mainly saw was red tile roof so, as I said earlier, the city looked more like a red city than a white city but you could see a lot of the white too.

Some people continued on the walking tour and went to the market and other places but a few of us wanted to go to the Museo Casa de Libertad or Historical Museum.  This was our only chance to see it as we were scheduled for an all-day out-of-town tour on Sunday, the museum was closed on Monday and we were leaving on Tuesday.

The Libertad was in a beautiful old building again built around a large courtyard.  There was a guided tour available in both Spanish and English and our guide did a great job of explaining the history of the country and what we were seeing.  In the ceremonial hall there were pictures of all the presidents around the room.  Our guide told us some great stories about the presidents.  I won't remember many of the details but Bolivar was the first president and we had already heard about him many times before and in many places as he was a liberator, or at least an inspiration, for a lot of South American countries.  Sucre was the second president and he too was popular throughout the continent.  Interestingly, both of them were from Venezuela.  

There were many presidents and the guide joked about the country's bloody past.  She told us how many presidents were assassinated and I think that was 36.  One only lasted 4 days.  Some lost power in military coups.  Some were dictators.  No one seemed to last very long but she added that the situation did seem to be getting better.  Their current president is number 80 and Bolivia has been a round for 180 years so the average term is just over two years, which isn't that long.  The guide said in some years they had three different presidents and a couple of years they had four different presidents so it's not exactly a secure position to hold.  The current president is in his tenth year so he seems to be breaking the trend.

Also in the museum were some old paintings and some old artifacts of an historic nature.   They didn't mean much to me but the stories that went with them were interesting.  The history room was interesting, especially the maps showing how big Bolivia once was and how, through various wars and treaties, they ended up with the much smaller land-locked country that they now have.  It was interesting once again to see the "new" flag on display.  Apparently the current president thinks the new flag is a good idea but the people themselves seem to be less enthusiastic about it.  It is every colour imaginable but mainly the strong red, yellow, green, red, blue, etc. All in overlapping circles so it is very bright.  The old one is always beside it so I think the new one is for internal use only to depict the many different tribes represented in the country.

The building was originally built in 1624 as part of the Jesuit chapel and university.  The walls are a good three feet thick and there are ornate wood carvings on the doors and and window shutters in the various rooms.  There is still a lot of old furniture in the space and the original choir chairs, which are also very ornate.  The original Act of Independence was written and signed here and they have a copy of it (at least I'm assuming it is a copy) on display behind glass.  Several of the halls are still used today for municipal or national ceremonies.  They are impressive halls so any ceremony would be very beautiful.

I think I saw everything there was to see but I'm not totally sure as they were closing and I had to leave.  I found my way back to the hotel - not too hard since it was just across the main square and down the street half a block - and joined the others for dinner.  I no longer remember where we went for dinner but I'm sure it was great.  

Tuesday to Wednesday, March 22nd to 23rd - Rurrenebaque, Boliva to Orlando, Florida

Tuesday, March 22nd was definitely a different day.  We got to sleep in a bit and then we finished our packing and went back down the street to the bakery for breakfast.  There we met several others we had met on our jungle/pampas tour.  Some of them had been booked on the early flight but it was delayed a couple of hours so they were still in town.  Others were flying out with us or later.   

After breakfast we went back to our hotel, relaxed for a bit and then caught a cab to the airport only to find out that our 12:30 flight was delayed and we weren't on it anyway.   Apparently weather problems caused a cancellation yesterday and they were still trying to catch up.   They put last night's passengers on the first flight of the morning and then those who were supposed to be on the first flight went to the second flight and so on.  Because they had no way to get in touch with us we were  pushed back to 4:00 but they said it should be leaving by 3:00.  We decided to just stay at the airport and spent the afternoon at the snack bar or cantina outside.  The airport only had one general waiting area and one departures lounge and not a lot of conveniences.  There were bathrooms outside but you sometimes had to shoo out the dogs that were sleeping there before you could use it and there wasn't a lot of water for washing your hands.  Once I had to shoo the pigs away.

The little shop sold mainly coffee and snacks but they did serve a lunch that looked quite good.  Unfortunately, I waited too long and lunch was over when I ordered so I had a sandwich which was tasty.  And I'm glad I had it because by the time we got on the plane and flew to our hotel in La Pas it was close to 6 p.m.  My bakery breakfast would definitely not have lasted.  The plane was full of course, which is only about 20 people - one aisle with a seat on each side, but it was a great flight.  From Rurrenebaque at 400 metres above sea level to La Pas at 4,000 metres above sea level involves going over some beautiful snow-capped mountains and it was a beautiful day to see them.

Once back in La pas we caught a taxi downtown to our usual hotel, Las Brisas.  Gillian had booked a room as her flight was not until the next morning.  Randy and I were heading for the airport about midnight so we were just hanging out in the lobby and in GIllian's room until that time.  The big surprise was that the guide we had for our tour of Bolivia was back at the hotel with another GAdventure group so we got to have a short visit with her before she ran off for dinner with her group.

Because I had three connecting flights and was ending up in the U.S. I wanted to get online and get my seats and boarding passes and fill out all the required documents.  Well, luckily I did want to do this because the airline said I did not have a ticket.  Randy went online and they said he had a ticket so, since we were both on the same flight out of La Pas, I knew something was wrong with my reservation.  Randy has Skype on his computer so I called Aeroplan (my flight was on points) and sure enough I did not have a flight.  Their records showed some sort of an error with issuing the ticket but apparently it had never been corrected.  The lady was very helpful and put me on hold for a while as she had to talk to someone else and eventually they had me all booked on the same flights as originally scheduled so no need to change plans.  I was impressed with how quickly and pleasantly they solved the problem.

We went next door to the British pub for dinner and had a great meal.  I had to order a piece of cake so Gillian could put a birthday candle in it for me and then we all shared it.  The waitress then brought over a B52 which she lit as my birthday drink.  It was quite delicious!  It was a good last evening together for the three of us and a great way to start my birthday celebration.

About midnight we said our goodbyes.  Gillian went to bed to get some sleep before her morning flight and Randy and I headed to the airport.  We were there in lots of time but the flight left on time and it was a good flight so I managed to get a couple of hours of sleep.  In Bogota, Colombia, Randy went off to start his Colombian adventure and I continued on to Panama City and then Orlando.  All of the flights were good and the waits in between were not too long, but because they were daytime flights, I certainly didn't get much sleep.  I did watch the new Star Wars movie though so that was good.  And of course I ate a little.  First class on these flights wasn't as fancy as on the Africa to South America flight but it was still okay.

I arrived in Orlando a bit early, got my bag and cleared customs about 4:30.  I then checked e-mails and let Don and Max know I had arrived and would be waiting outside for them when they arrived.   They picked me up about 5:30, as expected, and we headed toward Zephyrhills.  We stopped at the Olive Garden for dinner and there were eight others (Ed & Rita, John & Ardele, Pat & Diane, Gary & Gay) there to join us for my birthday dinner.  It was great to see everyone and the first time the four Brooks siblings had been together in three years.  We had a great dinner and then went back to Forest Lake Estates where Rita had birthday cake ready.  It too was delicious!

By 10:00 I was totally ready for bed, having only had a couple of hours of sleep the night before.  It had been a great travel day and a great birthday but I was exhausted.  And now that I'm in Florida I feel like my long trip is over.  I guess that means this place is starting to feel like home.  I probably won't be back in Kelowna until the end of May or beginning of June but for the next two months I will be with family and friends in familiar places.   As a result, this will likely be my last post for this trip.  Kind of neat to end it on my birthday and with family!

Saturday to Monday, March 19th to 21st - the Jungle, Bolivia

We were up early Saturday morning and had our bags repacked so our back packs were all we were taking with us.  The hotel in Rurrenebaque was storing our big bags.  We walked down the street about 7:30 to go to the bakery across from the tourist shop.  It (the bakery) was amazing.  The smells alone were wonderful.  They had all kinds of pastries and breads and things like quiches and flans.  I had a quiche which was really tasty and finished by sharing a croissant with chocolate in the middle - a wholesome and delicious breakfast.

We were to depart at 8:30 according to our brochure but we sat and waited for an hour.  Then, once six of us were loaded in the 4x4 and our luggage was stored up above, we discovered we had to go to the airport to pick up two more customers who were just flying in so it was really about 10:45 before we finally started our tour.

The drive was supposed to be three hours long and it was pretty close to that over dirt/stone roads that were incredibly bumpy and dusty.  There was some water lying in spots so obviously some areas had some recent rain.  You didn't want to get to near the edge of the road with either the dry or the wet as the ground just pulled you over.  However, our driver did fine and we arrived at our lunch places safely. Lunch was good but again a lot of food: soup, rice, meat, vegetables, etc.  Their lunches are all huge.

The final portion of the drive was the same as the first.  We were very happy to have our air conditioned vehicle both to keep us somewhat cool and to keep the dust out as our windows were up.  Eventually we arrived at the drop-off point that is just on the side of the river bank.  There are a couple of buildings there, one of which has bathrooms, but the rest just seem deserted.  People sit around in the shade and that's about it.  Well, a few ladies sit at a small table and sell goodies like pop, water, chips and treats, and a few of us did make use of their services.  

And then there are the boats.  I'm not sure how to describe them but they are sort of like wide flat-bottomed canoes.  Two people can sit across on fold-up chairs (just webbed seats and backs) that are fastened to the side and there were four rows of seats.  The driver sits at the back with the motor and there is a baggage storage area behind the back seats and in front of the driver.  That's where our bags went.  Once loaded there is only about six or eight inches of boat above the water so when seated you feel like you are right on the water. However, the boats seemed very stable so I never really felt like we were going to tip over, which is a good thing when you have alligators and piranha in the water and you can't swim.

The ride to our lodge took about 1.5 hours but we took a longer route so we could see some sights.  I'll describe those later because all of our boat trips over the next few days kind of run together and I no longer know what happened or what we saw when.  I'll just summarize them all at once.  

Eventually we arrived at our lodge which was right on the water at the edge of the jungle or pampas (wet grassland area).  There were a lot of wooden buildings and walkways.   We docked, unloaded our boat and were directed to our rooms, or I should say room.  All 8 of us were sleeping in one rooms with 8 single beds jammed into it with about a foot of space between them and mosquito nets hanging over them.  The bottom four feet on three sides of the building was wood but the top portion was screen, which did allow for a breeze when there was a breeze. The fourth wall was wood and had another dorm against it on the other side.

I guess I should mention here that we are in the jungle or one of the feeders to the Amazon, the Yacuma River, and it is really hot and humid.  The temperature was always over 30 degrees Celsius and the humidity was always around 100%.  It is rainy season but they haven't had a lot of rain so the water level is not as hight as it might be.  However, there is lots of water lying around and there are mosquitos everywhere all the time - definitely not my favourite climate or environment.  The days were hot and sticky and I was always wet.  The nights never really cooled down and it was very hard to get to sleep with so many people in the room and so many outside still partying and an absolute inability to cool off.  The only good part was that the mosquito nets were good and kept the mosquitos out quite nicely. 

Our lodge was basically built around a square walkway.  Sometimes boards were missing and there were no railings in places but generally speaking it was pretty easy to get around.  This of course was a good thing since one had to walk along the walkways to get to a toilet or a shower (2 each in two different locations) or to the dining room or to the boats.  Electricity was by generator but only for certain hours and water in the showers was just a trickle.  There was one double sink for everyone to use at one point in the complex.  It too was just a trickle and the drain had no pipe in it but just ran straight out into the river so your feet often got splashed when you washed your hands.  It was an incredibly rustic environment and definitely not one that we were expecting when we booked this trip and heard we were staying at a lodge (lodges sounded fantastic in the Lonely Planet book).  Actually, I even thought we were staying at two different lodges on our two nights so I had it all wrong.  I was not impressed and had to do a lot of repeating "I love the jungle.  I love the jungle" to get through the experience.

Our meals were good though.  We had dinner, breakfast, lunch, dinner, breakfast and lunch in the dining room and they did a great job of making good food for a lot of people.  We had pasta a couple of times, hearty soups, meat, potatoes, rice and lots of vegetables both hot and cold.  For breakfast we had eggs, pancakes, toast (their version of it), and other things that I can't remember right now.  Regardless, I certainly can't complain about the food as it was really good.  We probably could have used more water but then I drink a lot of water all the time and others didn't seem to want it at all.

Now having made this sound really bad, I must say that parts of it were beautiful.  Once we were in the boats and moving we had a lovely breeze and incredibly beautiful  sights.  The water was very calm and with sunny blue skies we had great reflections in the water.   There were so many different shades of green in the trees, bushes and grasses, and then there were flowers too.  I have never seen so many beautiful morning glories all in one place.  They just covered everything else in some locations.

We went to the local bar - just another wooden shack with wooden walkways - for both sunsets and they were beautiful.  The bar is really just a place for all the tour groups to gather to watch the sunset.  It did sell beverages (alcoholic and non) and snacks, and it had benches for people to sit on and relax while the sun set.  The view was really just over a field wth volleyball courts and other sports fields (football I assume) but, because it's rainy season, the field was covered with several feet of water so it offered some great reflections of the beautiful sunsets.  Again I took way too many pictures.

One morning we went out early to see the sunrise.  Our guide was a bit late getting up that morning and waking us up, and some of us were then a bit slow in getting moving, so although we saw the sun actually rise, we did miss some of the most colourful parts of the sunrise.  Our driver also parked right behind another boat so that made for some really hard picture taking unless you wanted the people in the other boat in your shot.  However, I got some good shots anyway and it was a lovely time of the day to be out on the water.

One day we went for a short walk through the pampas (grass).  Our guide pointed out a few things to us but it was a pretty short walk and we didn't see much and probably could have done without the experience, especially since it was only about 20 minutes as some folks didn't go and were waiting for us in the boat.  We had to wear rubber boots to do the walk since there are many wet areas even in the grass.  Finding rubber boots that didn't have holes in them was a challenge.  I thought I had mastered my challenge but with the first step in water, right off the boat, I had a boot full of water about ankle deep.  I didn't really mind the water but I really did wonder what else might be coming in as well.

One of the things that might have entered my boot was what we went fishing for shortly thereafter: piranha.  We tried several shady spots - I think more for our benefit on a hot sunny afternoon than for the fact the piranha might be there.  We probably didn't spend more than an hour in total trying to catch anything with a bit of chicken on our lines that were wrapped around pieces of wood about six inches long (no fancy fishing rods here!), but it was a lovely relaxing time as we listened to the birds singing and the wind blowing through the trees.  We didn't catch anything but we didn't really expect to as one of the other guides said it would be a waste of time with the current heat and water levels.

The best part of that afternoon was just floating down the channels with the motor off. It was quiet and relaxing and you could hear everything around you.  I guess I should say that this was the best part as far as I was concerned.  Others didn't like it at all and got bored so they had to turn on some music on the iPhones or Walkmans or whatever.    Oh well, we can't all like the same things.

So, what did we see as we rode up and down the channels or streams of the Yacuma River?  Well, we saw lots.  I've already mentioned the beautiful flowers, mainly morning glories, that sprang up everywhere and the vegetation that included grass, shrubs and trees both short and tall.  Some of the trees and shrubs had lots of green on them and some were more bare.  We couldn't figure out how they would survive in all this water but obviously they do.  With so many different shades of green and brown and thick at all levels, they made great reflections in the calm water.

We saw lots of birds but I definitely do not remember all the names.  One of the amazing sightings was a pair of toucans.  They are incredibly hard to find and yet our guide spotted them up in a tree.  The sound of our motor scared them though so they took off.  We were just lucky to see them flying away with their big orange beaks.  We also saw little bright green parrots and some bigger incredibly coloured (green, blue, red, etc.) macaws.  Again, these were mainly flying when we saw them.  Some birds were standing or sitting still though.  The herons and cranes were reasonably still if we didn't get on close to them.  The eagles and Hawks were generally high enough up in a tree that we didn't bother them.  There were some cute reddish coloured birds that stayed mainly on the ground but they ran away quickly or flew away awkwardly when we approached.  They were not a large bird but they had long legs and when flying short distances to get away from us their legs looked very awkward and just hung down.  There was another large bird with a great crown or Mohawk on the top of his head.  He was everywhere and I think he was the Paradise Bird or, I suppose, the Bird of Paradise.  We also saw many cormorants and they are so stately looking as they just sit up in the high bare branches.  When they have their wings spread so they can dry their leaves, they look even more impressive.   And we saw many beautiful dragon flies who followed our boat and flitted among us at breakneck speed.  I never did get a good picture of one of them.  They were just too fast for me.

We saw one water snake wiggling across the water.  We tried to find an anaconda in various places but didn't see one so eventually we had to go to a spot near the bar where they had found one the day before in one of their buildings.  It didn't look too scary as the guide was carrying him around for everyone to see but then he was supposedly just a young one only about two metres long.  I'd hate to see an adult one!

In the water we saw lots of turtles - some swimming and some just resting on logs enjoying the sun.  They were definitely not used to hearing the sound of a boat motor and disappeared into the water very quickly as we approached.   The one night we went looking specifically for alligators and found a couple.  They were in the distance, although the folks at the front of the boat didn't think the distance was great enough!  All you could see were two shining eyes and that was enough for most of us given we were in such a low, feeble watercraft.  We did have an alligator and a caiman at our resort and they came around quite frequently.  You'd be walking along the boardwalk and look down and there would be eyes looking back at you.  I think these guys were pretty spoiled as they got fed a lot of food out of the kitchen - probably kept them from eating the guests.  

The three highlights of the tour were probably the monkeys, the pink dolphins and the capybara.   I think we saw three different kinds of monkeys.  Two of them, the big dark red brown howler monkeys that you could hear from quite a distance and some medium size black ones whose name I have forgotten, were up higher in the trees with lots of leaves so it was harder to see them.  The third, the squirrel monkeys, were much smaller and also hung out in very thick vegetation but they stayed lower to the ground and didn't seem to mind having humans around.  In fact, I think they were waiting for us to feed them treats.  People on some of the other boats pretended to be feeding them so they could get close to take pictures but I'm not sure anyone ever actually gave them anything.  They were wild so it probably wasn't worth the risk of being bitten or scratched.  They were cute though.  They were tiny and light brown and looked cuddly like a teddy bear.  They had dark eyes, mouth and hair on the crown of their head so the lighter patches around their eyes and ears really stood out.  While the larger monkeys were only seen alone or with one or two others, these little guys always seemed to have lots of friends around, including tiny babies riding under their mothers' bellies.

The pink Dolphins were apparently pink because of the algae or minerals in the water.  They didn't look bright pink but when they did a flip out of the water you could certainly see the pink colouring.  They were wonderfully playful things and the big thrill was to go swimming with them.  Personally I didn't try it because I can't swim, I didn't know how deep the water was, I wasn't sure what there might be in the water from a general health perspective, and of course there was also that matter of alligators and piranha.  The guide did tell us though, that if you see pink dolphins in the water you can be assured the alligators won't be nearby.  Apparently they swim in different places.  Several people did go swimming and they got very close to the dolphins and did touch them.   The dolphins didn't seem to mind having humans around and were quite willing to share their swimming hole with them.  At times, generally when I didn't have a camera, they were doing flips and rolls but generally they stayed just below the water level and surfaced only occasionally.  They were fun to watch but definitely hard to catch in a photo.

The last animal we saw was a capybara and one of the girls just happened to spot him. The guide turned the boat around so we could go back and watch for a while.  He was as unconcerned about us an anything and just kept eating away.  The capybara is like a large brown furry rat.  In fact it is the largest rodent in the world and can be as heavy as 200 pounds!  It lives on ground but is an excellent swimmer too and goes into the water to find food as it eats grasses and water plants.   This one was half submerged in the water so it's hard to tell how big it actually was but it appeared to be several feet long.  It was great to see at least one although they usually travel in large groups.  We were quite literally only about 15 minutes from our destination as we were leaving so this was our last chance.

We got back to our original departure point, waited about an hour in the shade for our driver to arrive.  He was dropping off another group who were heading out in the canoes and picking us up to take us back to Rurrenebaque.  The road didn't improve any along the way but because one of the group was not feeling well I think he did drive a bit less erratically than on the way in.  Less than three hours later we were back in town and heading back to our hotel where we very quickly had an outdoor shower and jumped into the pool to cool off.  It was wonderful after the hot sticky days without a decent shower.  Eventually we went out for dinner and then came back and tried to reorganize things (especially the dirty clothes) for our flight back to La Paz the next day.

Friday, March 18th - Santa Cruz to Rurrenebaque, Bolivia

The morning was taken up with last-minute packing and a breakfast of whatever was left over and had to be eaten before we left the condo: bread and butter, cookies, pineapple soy juice, pop, coffee, crackers, etc.  At 10:45 we checked out and left for the airport where we had an easy and quick check-in and security clearance.  

We had a great  flight and almost on time.  It was neat to fly right past the high snow-covered peaks as we came into La Paz.  They seemed much closer than we would ever get in Canada so it was also a bit scary at the time.  Once over the peaks we made a big circle and came down to the airport in La Paz.  The peaks are over 6,000 metres.  La Paz airport is just over 4,000 metres and there isn't much space after you cross the mountain range to get down to the airport but the pilots did it quickly and efficiently.  And maybe because the airport is still so high, your ears don't seem to pop.  

We had about a three-hour wait at the airport before our next flight.  The Internet was good so I got my banking done and cleared some e-mails, but had no time for Facebook.  I also got something to eat at Subway, which was a nice treat.

The flight to Rurrenebaque was a surprise to all of us.  We waited for quite a while and thought at one time that we had missed the flight as there was no one left in the waiting area.  But then a few other concerned people appeared and before long there were 10 or 12 of us and the girl came to the gate to check our boarding passes.  We then walked out on the tarmac for a few minutes to get to our plane which was a really small one.  The interior had one aisle down the middle and one seat on each side.  There were four of us at the front and four or five at the back, probably with a maximum seating capacity of 20.  The cockpit was open - something I haven't seen in about 15 years - so you could watch the pilots as they flew.  There was no flight attendant but the flight was only about 40 minutes so you really didn't need anything.  There wasn't even a toilet.

We started at over 4,000 metres, went back up over the 6,000 metre peaks and then back down to only about 400 metres.   The runway was tiny and not exactly smooth but our landing was very smooth anyway.  The airport is very small and we walked in through the departures lounge as there was no arrivals area.  They had our bags off quickly and the next bags and people loaded so the plane took off on its return trip within 20 minutes.  By then we were ready to head into the town to find a hotel.   

We met someone at the airport who said they had a great hotel so we went with them.  However, we weren't really impressed as the hotel was too crowded and compact.  There was a pool in the centre but no breeze could get in as it was surrounded on four very close walls.  The rooms were also very small and not very nice.  Besides the crowd was very young and we weren't sure our schedule would match there's so we passed.  We then visited several other hotels and finally found one that we thought was perfect.  It had a large pool and a large open area around it and a beautiful breeze.  The rooms were a bit larger and seemed nicer, and they had ensuite bathrooms which was really nice in my opinion.  

The weather in this area is really, really hot with almost 100% humidity.  I was soaking wet from the moment we arrived and I stayed that way for the next several days until we left the area.  The first thing we did when we checked in was jump in the pool.  It was very refreshing!  Around 7:00 we decided it was time to get out of the pool and get ready for dinner.  We walked down to an Italian French restaurant and had a great meal, then we continued driving around town for a while.   Most of the action was down along the river where there were lots of people around and lots of little food stalls.  I'm sure our sit-down meal at the restaurant was better but the food at some of these stalls smelled pretty good.

The main means of transport in Rurrenebaque is obviously a motorcycle.  There are lots of tourist jeeps and vehicles around, but other than those it is all motorcycles.  And whole families ride on them, young and old, and only a small percentage of them wear helmets.  There is not a lot of traffic and traffic seems to move at a reasonable speed so it seemed like very safe transportation.  Walking seems to be popular and the town is not very large so it's easy to walk around. 

We walked back to the hotel and were going to have another swim but, alas, they had just put chlorine in the pool so we couldn't go in.  We had showers outside instead, just to cool down since it was still hot and humid, and sat around talking for a while.  Then eventually we went to bed with the fans on high in our rooms.  It wasn't exactly cool but at least it was bearable and we did get some sleep before the start of our jungle/pampas tour tomorrow.