Monday After being told so much about this place from our boss, Irena, at the hostel we decided it must be worth a visit with all the animals that were there. Four different species of monkey, Makaws, turtles and a bear. These animals aren´t in captivity, even though it may seem that way in some of the photos, they have all been rescued from domestic situations where they were either treated cruely or were not safe to keep. My main worry was the fact that the only way of getting there was down a road that people in La Paz call [View Full Entry]

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A terrible night´s sleep. I was desperate for the loo, but was afraid to leave the protection of my mosquito net, for fear of the swarms of bugs that hung in the air and the huge black cockroaches that carpet the floor and threaten to crunch beneath your feet. Still, the night didn´t last long. We were up and in the canoe by 5:30am. The atmosphere in the pampus was so different at this hour. We watched the sky turn a shade of milky red as the sun rose and listened to a chorus of throaty growls as the howler monkeys [View Full Entry]

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We rose early and climbed into our wellies for a morning anaconda hunt. We spent the next few hours squelching tentatively through the jungle marshes, battling the rays of the sun and the army of mosquitoes that threatened our gringo skin. Jane was the first to spot a scaly skin amongst the tangled plants in the murky water, and we watched captivated as a huge snake slithered between our feet. Back at the lodge we cooled off in the river, leaping gleefully from a makeshift rope-swing and allowing ourselves to be carried downstream by the strong current. Half an hour after [View Full Entry]

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Finally it was my turn to suffer with Bolivia belly. After a couple of nights hugging the toilet and moaning loudly to anyone who would listen, I decided to try and shake off my sickness by getting out of the city. Still with wobbly legs and a churning gut, I dragged myself out of bed in the middle of the night, and went with Tom, Claudia, Jules and Jane to La Paz airport. We squeezed into a tiny 19-seater aircraft and flew to Rurrenabaque, the closest village to the Amazon jungle. The flight was blissful - as we glided through the [View Full Entry]

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May day dawned in La Paz and brought with it protest marches, political speeches broadcast over crackling loudspeakers and plenty of ear-shattering gun salutes. Tom and I spent the day squeezing through the crowds and knocking on the doors of hostels and bars, in search of work. We were told there was bar work available at the Adventure Brew Hostel, a large ´party hostel´ which boasts its own brewery. The place is so big and there are so many people st1ying here - I was concerened it might be a little impersonal. However, as soon as we were introduced to the [View Full Entry]

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We have done our usual trick when arriving at a new city, to spend a few days just working out how the city works and what there is to do. Like Rio, La Paz is a breathtaking city. It is the world's highest capital situated in an Andean valley at an altitude of 3600m. From the centre you look up at hillsides plastered with makeshift brick houses. What´s more, La Paz is framed by two dominating, snow-capped mountains, both over 6000m. Aside from its topography, the most pertinent features of this fascinating city are its unusual Witch markets (where you can [View Full Entry]

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This was to be a day of killing time, in which we booked our bus to La Paz for the same evening and buying some souvenir jumpers. We also played a little Louis Theroux and covertly took photos of traditionally dressed Bolivian ladies carrying their children on their backs using sheets of brightly coloured material. We were a bit surprised to find that the twelve hour bus ride only cost the equivalent of 10 pounds, although we soon realised why. When we arrived at the bus station I noticed that the bus was more like a huge Jeep in the shape [View Full Entry]

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Today was our earliest rise yet with faint hangovers and pitch black bedroom, we managed to get packed up and move on by 6 am. The hostel only has electricity for the first three hours when you arrive in the evening, so that you can buy a hot shower or charge your camera, which was more than the hostel from the night before had. We had the early start so that we could see the sunrise over the salt flats (Salae de Uyuni) which due to our slightly later than planned start; we only just got to in time. We then [View Full Entry]

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We rose early, climbing into thick layers and pulling our bobble hats low over our ears. For the first 2km we had an additional passagener. We drove the driver who had been involved in yesterday´s accident to a place from which he might easily hitchhike to his home town. He was silent and shellshocked as he sat beside us in the back seat, his clothes ripped and stained. We noticed the fingers on his broken hand, swollen and bent at unnatural angles - no bandage or sling to support them. Tom and I felt terrible for the poor guy, and hopeless [View Full Entry]

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After a lot of rushing around and changing our plans (and even our bus tickets) several times, we jumped on a bus to San Pedro de Atacama. Still feeling the pinch, and optimistic about our money-saving abilities after couchsurfing, we opted for the first time for the economy bus. Trying to picture it? Take twenty four hours, add some hot sunshine, throw in a hard seat that does not recline, and you start to get the idea. Usually the high point of a long bus journey is the airoplane-style food. Not so the econo-bus. Stupidly, in our haste, Tom and I [View Full Entry]

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