Bolivia - Land of extremes

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Bolivia is an extreme place. Extremes of weather, landscapes, poverty and adventures. This is my last stop before leaving South America and heading up to Central America.

There were 3 themes to the Bolivia I saw. These where;

Jungle
When you think of South America you generally think of rain-forests. I haven't really seen that much of the jungles till now, so I saw the Bolivian jungle and pampas (big flat bit next to the jungles) in style. Stayed at some eco-lodges and hacked my way through the undergrowth in search of wildlife (okay that is a lie, there was no hacking, but I did see a fair bit of wildlife from the comfort of boats and well laid paths). Also met Jen in the Pampas, who was my travel buddy for most of Bolivia, thanks for the great company Jen and letting me play on your iPhone so much!

Cities
With the exception of Sucra, Bolivian towns/cities have a common characteristic; they are shit holes. Generally full of buses spewing more pollution than a BP oil rig (see I can be topical), and the omipresent graffiti 'Evo Si'. This is not to say that they are not interesting. Some have horrendous mines to visit or dinosaur track unearthed by a horrendous cement factory.

Highlands and Salt flats
Probably the number one tourist attraction in Bolivia. They are breathtaking, way beyond my camera skills. But in desperate need of central heating, boy they are cold. We had a great 4 day trip across the mountains and salt flats. A true highlight of my trip so far.

Bolivia was great fun, and a microcosm of the whole of South America. A great fair well to the continent.

Here are some photos

Now I am heading back to Santiago to get my flight to Costa Rica for hopefully a shed load of kitesurfing and sloth tracking.

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Comments

[catherine]

schmapple?
I thought you hated iPhones JP! You have changed!!!!

[Jenny from the blog]

You make me laugh JP
Just read this as previously thought it was just another link to your photos. Shall read more of the rest of your trip when I have more time. Guess you were 'ok' to travel with too... Hehe ;-) What's this about you hating iPhones? Tut tut, would not have let you play with it if I had known! You might have thrown it out of the jeep like your gloves!!