Vamos a Cobija!

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We´ve made it to Pando! I´ve heard it been said that New Zealand is at ´the ends of the earth´, but I´ve never felt more at the ends of the earth than driving to Cobija (the capital of the department of Pando), even though we are in the middle of a vast continent. It took us 3 days to drive here - 30 hours, 95% of it on dirt roads mostly through sparsely populated wetlands and jungle. It is a drive that´s not undertaken very much, mostly by a few truckies doing business. So when James, Iara (a student of James whose family lives in Pando) and I told people that we were driving to Cobija (on the Bolivian-Brazilian border) we got very surprised looks. We found out why... we dropped down from the mountains surrounding La Paz (4600m) into the steamy tropics at 300m (all in the space of 12 hours) and then spent the next 2 days (!!) driving north, passing through one major town! We all got very, very dusty.

Needless to say, on our second night we had some trouble trying to find accommodation. We reached this ´town´ El Chorro, where we had been told we would find hostels, but all we discovered was a house and a gas station. So without any other option we set up tent and camped beside the gas pumps! It was a crazy nights sleep - with the arrival of trucks and buses looking for gas, the pigs, the goats and the rooster.

We woke up to a flat tyre so we changed it for the spare, which then conveniently went flat within a couple of hours. We happened to be in the middle of the jungle, 1 and a half hours away from the closest place that could help. So James took the two flatties and hitched a ride from a passing truck.

Meanwhile... Iara and I waited in the steamy heat with a million pesty bugs, mosquitos and butterflies, growing more insane by the hour. Seven hours later (!!!), when I was beginning to enterain thoughts of another night spent in the middle of nowhere (but with a billion mozzies), James jumped off the back of a passing truck (10x darker than when he left). We were a million times happy to see him return! Even Iara (a non-Christian) was overtaken with joy and declared ´Praise the Lord!!´. It was a great moment. We were especially happy that he was carrying two fixed tyres. From there it was pretty straightforward and we drove another 8 hours and arrived in Cobija at midnight and crashed with one of Iara´s many relatives.

We are staying at Iara´s family´s hotel which is absolutely beautiful and enjoying hammock-time. Yesterday we visited a national park and spent a few hours cruising up the river to a beautiful lake... totally surrounded by jungle. The birds, trees, animals and fruit are amazing. Its going to take some coaxing to hit the road again!

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Photos

Welcome to Pando
The northern-most department of Bolivia

Paradise in Pando
Iara's family runs a primo hotel in Cobija

Our accommodation
With no other options we camped out here by the gas pumps

The spot where we waited for 7 hours!
Meanwhile James was off fixing the tyres

Lago Bay
A lake in the middle of the jungle - only accessible by boat

James and Ana Lucia
Ana Lucia is the congess woman for the state of Pando, and mother of three kids that go to Highlands International School

Comments

[andy short]

thats the ticket.... adventure
J+J. great to see you guys are getting around. I'm trying to workout how i can get over thataway. thanks for the stories. Over and out.

[juliana]

wowza
hey you crazy cats. sounds like another adventure for you. haha, i laughed pretty hard when i read this, not gonna lie. i miss you heaps. its weird being back home...on the farm...away from bolivia. God bless

[Lisa]

We miss you!
You guys never fail to find/make adventure! I hope you have an awesome time lounging by the pool. I must say I'm a bit jealous since our travels lately have only taken us through snow! Come back soon...