Whilst still waiting for Lornaīs bank card to arrive, and getting sick of the same old sights of La Paz, the two of us decided to get a change of scenery and take a few days at Copacabana, a tiny town on the banks of Lake Titicaca. Beautiful, peaceful, tranquil, thatīs this place. The Lake is massive and lies across Bolivia and Peru. You can see it for miles and miles and miles from loads of different viewpoints almost all the way on the 4 hour bus journey from La Paz, itīs an amazing sight. When we got to Copacabana we spent a few days watching football, went for a wee fishing jaunt on a boat and generally just chilled right out by the lake until we got news that Lornaīs card had arrived in La Paz. Cue to exit Bolivia and get to Brazil quicksmart!!
We got a bus to Santa Cruz, and it was hard to believe we were still in Bolivia... no indigenous traditionally dressed woman, but girls wearing short-shorts and skirts
above the knee and generally a much more western feel to the place. Only a short stop here and then the 20 hour īdeath trainī to the Brazilian border town Corumba - the shoogliest train in the whole world - shouldīve gone to train hell years ago!! Funnily enough we got a good sleep though as the motion of the shoogling rocked us like babies!! When we arrived there the Brazilian passion for football was evident EVERYWHERE. The immigration office at the bus station was closed so we couldnīt get our passports entry stamped and so had to spend the night in town. The excuse was that they were on strike but it was clearly because there was a game on - in town, EVERYWHERE was closed, apart from people selling Brazil t-shirts and bars showing the game. You really have to admire their passion.... and join in of course - our main reason for coming to Brazil. It was amazing to see the whole town out in force supporting their country and almost everyone in town wearing green or yellow. Even more amazing was the noise and fireworks that went off at every goal... and as they beat Japan 4-1 the whole place just erupted into a massive party!!!! Amazing!!!
When it all died down the next day, we managed to get our passport stamps and leave Corumba for Bonito for a couple of nights to experience a part of the Pantanal region. The Pantanal being one of the worldīs most flooded region with loads of diverse flora and fauna. Since we were keen to get to Rio de Janeiro as soon as possible to watch as much footie as possible there, we didnīt have enough time here to properly explore the place as that wouldīve taken at least a three day tour. So, we went on a very peaceful snorkelling tour down the river, just floating down the river for hours looking at the fish. A lovely day, with a lovely wee haven to relax in after, hammocks, footie on the TV and an excellent buffet dinner.
A great first few days in Brazil, and a massive change from Bolivia. Next stop Rio!!!
Bolivia's Flag
Map of Bolivia