Green and Pristine

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This weekend we went jungle! We dropped 2000m (driving down the Death Road once again) and discovered the meaning of humidity... it was very warm. We enjoyed being around bush, water, insects and birds again. Our first event for the weekend was a bush walk along an Inca trail to a waterfall... apparently not a simple task in Bolivia. We had two people at the front with machetes hacking their way through the vegetation (which apparently grows back within a couple of days). All that you could see of past Inca activity was a few rocks placed randomly on the path. I managed to stand on what I thought was the path and fall down the bank... a friend of ours thought I was going to die. But no... I quickly came across a tree on my descent and found myself nicely perched. To get to the waterfall we had to strip down to togs and sneakers and walk up the river and scramble over rocks... quite an impressive look! (I think James thought the bikini and socks particularly appealing).

The next day we hit the Coroico river with a raft, a few kayaks and a couple of inflatable kayaks. James and Jason (the principal) used the normal-type kayaks and quickly discovered the easiness with which they capsized in rapids. James managed to break his paddle within 30 mins and had a half a paddle for the rest of the day... I think it just added to the challenge. It was a grade 2/3 river so there was a nice mixture of relaxation and excitement. It was a beautiful setting with massive mountains on either side of the river... and surprisingly the river was the colour of normal rivers (unlike the sewage-looking river outside our house).

We ended the day with a walk to another waterfall which reminded us a lot of NZ. At first the road was blocked because there were some men about 150m up a cliff using dynamite to make a new road (who knows how many people die here making new roads)... but we managed to skirt through... although since we were a pack of gringos we weren't unnoticed. We were able to go under the waterfall and jump into the water... our first chance at swimming since we've been in Bolivia. Then back up the Death Road for another week of work...

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Photos

Rafting the Rio Coroico
James, Jason and Kristen....... Observe broken paddle

James
Kayak-er extraordinaire

Julie
aka the green martian

Waterfall
yes... stating the obvious

Comments

[Ryan]

The waterfall reminds me of Kare Kare
Man I wish I was there for some kayak battles.