Blogs from Bolivia, South America - page 519

I walked carefully out into the muddy pyrranha infested river listening to the yells of the lads from the other boat playing frisby. Meanwhile the guide was holding the attention of Pedro, the old crocodile, whilst we swam. Over near the opposite bank grey streamlined forms curled up and over through the water. Could I get closer? But just as I started swimming the noise behind me changed and I heard the lads frantically trying to get back into their boat. Pedro had decided to join in the fun and had caught the frisby in his jaws to taste it. I waded hurriedly back to shore. The boys decided they had had enough and after retrieving the yellow disk paddled off. Our guide called 'vamos' too but I asked if I could have one more attempt ... read more

Yes, another Blog! I know they are coming thick and fast but we are behind and want to catch up. Plus with vast distances and differences between each stop, we got into the habit of doing a blog for each one ..... its become quite a challenge. We will have to re-think this for NZ! Oh and its Gray again, my turn for 2 in a row. (This first paragraph is for you Tom haha) The first glimpse of La Paz was jaw dropping! The bus drove along at the top of a vast valley that houses the city. Buildings are visible on every drop of land including the steep sides of the valley, right to the top. In the background, the triple snowcapped peaks of a giant Andean mountain, tower above it. Our hostel was ... read more

Bolivia, land of the coca leaf... And a very beautiful country, in recent years torn by a civil war through its struggle to fight globalisation and protect Patcha Mama (mother earth) which in a religious sense represents heaven, hell, God, and satan... Politically a very interesting time for Bolivia who’s indigenous rural communities are fighting back to reclaim the lands for the people and protect the precious and much needed natural resources from being stripped away by mutli national companies eager to profit from the lands rich resources, mainly oil. Again we did not see enough of this country either, Bolivia has some of the largest rainforest regions in the world, but alas on our route we where not able to get into these areas, maybe next time. After our overnight bus journey through to Bolivia, ... read more

********************* FUNNY THINGS ABOUT ARGENTINA/BOLIVIA -In Argentina, along with other South American countries, many if not most small intersections are without stop lights and stop signs. No wonder so many people have pictures of Jesus dangling from their rearview mirrors. -My patience has grown like hair here: slowly but always longer, although someone with a sharp enough edge can always cut it short -There are two levels of romantic relaitonships here: the first level is, as someone here in Tarija explained to me last night, is basically someone you kiss & hold hands with, but nothing more. Then you have, after some time, the normal girlfriend level. -They use, instead of brooms, giant leafy branches from trees to sweep the streets. It works better, in fact, and you can just throw away the broom when you ... read more

It was a 7 hour bus journey, overnight from Potosi to Uyuni ...... cue the chaos! 4,000 people on a bus, lots of food produce and lots of babies (one of which I had to help pass back to her mother who was up the other end of the bus). There are only 2 paved roads in the whole country. The bus stops every 45 seconds to either let someone off or let someone on. Every time you wonder if your bag is still in the holdall! At one point a tire blew, everyone on the bus was shouting to make sure the driver knew. I am sure he felt it though! That took about an hour to sort out. Its all quite an experience, we had grown to love Bolivia already. The way they do ... read more