LaPaz to Rurrenabaque & back to Cochabamba

---

Hola Familia y Amigos!

It’s been about 2 months since I wrote, and of course I have a lot to say. I will try to keep the words to a minimum (of course, that’s a lie) on this update, and leave more room for pictures. We’ve been on a few more trips, had some visitors, and as always, had a lot of fun.

I’m scribbling these words as I’m watching the World Cup Final, and I’m smack dab in the middle of my 4-day birthday celebration (as I’ve said before, they LOVE to celebrate here). The last two nights we partied with friends at the best disco in town, and last night Lil blessed me with a multiple-bottle champagne toast with our friends, as we partied until 5am. This morning we bought 25 pounds of steak, and other fixings for a cookout tonight, and of course, lots of spirits! (Jeff you have to appreciate Cruzan being sold in Bolivia). Tomorrow the family here is having a birthday lunch for me, and then finally, I’ll get to open my presents. Not bad for my first international birthday!

Since I wrote last, Liliana’s sister and her husband visited for two weeks, and my niece Melissa visited for nearly 3. The visit with Lil’s family was nice, and we spent it entirely here in Cochabamba. One afternoon I ventured over to the city’s archaeological museum with my brother-in-law Scott and was impressed with the collection of mummies, bones and artifacts. Apparently there has been life in the Cochabamba valley, going back to prehumans 1 million years ago.

My niece arrived exactly one week after Farrah and Scott left. For those who don’t know much about Melissa, she’s my brother Brian’s daughter, 18 years old, and newly graduated from high school. After spending a few days in our city getting acclimated to Bolivian life, we went to Bolivia’s most urban city La Paz for 5 days and 4 nights. Although this was my 4th trip or so to the city, it’s the first time I was there for a substantial amount of time and able to shop, visit museums and be a tourist. We were also there for the San Juan celebration where Bolivians celebrate the coldest night of the year outside by making little fires, roasting hot dogs, drinking hot drinks and lighting fireworks. Earlier in the day we saw a line stretching 3-blocks with people wanting to buy hotdogs. Crazy.

We stayed at the delightful Camino Real (highly recommend it), in a nice suite with 2 beds, 2 baths, kitchen, living and dining rooms. Melissa appreciated the privacy for lots of sleeping (she had a terrible reaction to the breath-sucking altitude), and Lil and I enjoyed floor to ceiling views of Illimani and its 4 snow-covered peaks (roughly 20,000 ft. tall) from our bed.

The next day we visited the Tiwanaku excavation: a stunning site roughly an hour west of La Paz that was the capital of the Tiwanaku civilization that dominated the Andes region until the Incas arrived, and essentially, merged cultures (both worshipped the Sun, associated its splendor with gold, and much more). The complex is similar to a Stonehenge/Easter Island in mysteriousness, fashioned from perfectly cut stones weighing over 40-tons and somehow carried from the nearest quarry in Copacabana, about 50 miles away. There are towering monoliths, religious altars, and all the buildings are aligned with the sun and stars, and the main complex acts as a calendar, with the sun passing through different gates on the specific equinoxes and solstices. Amazing place, and remarkably, not even 50% excavated yet.

After an interesting tour, we took the sleepy ride back to La Paz, the setting sun at our backs, with our hired cabby Miguel (cost of driving us 150km roundtrip and occupying 5 hours of his time: $30 dollars. We then had some decent Chinese food downtown and watched some Copa de Mundial footie.

The following morning we awoke at 5am and took the cold taxi ride up to the world’s highest airport. As the sun began to rise, we boarded a 15-seat Cessna and after liftoff, basically descended for 50 minutes and down 13,000 ft. over the Andes and into the steamy Amazon basin/jungle of Bolivia. Bumping and skipping down the grass runway the plane finally came to a stop at a medium sized house (Rurrenabaque Airport). We curiously watched as a military band assembled on the runway and President Evo Morales landed about 20 minutes after us. He, in his motorcade, passed within 6 feet of us.

After booking a 3-day Amazon tour with Indigena Tours, we took a 2-hour ride in a Land Cruiser through beautiful and flat land, with tiny village settlements and grazing cattle and horse. We next arrived at the Rio Beni and boarded our vessel (basically a 45ft long John boat). We cruised down the river seeing lots of caimans (alligators), capybaras (huge rodents), fantastic paradisiacal birds, turtles and dolphins (just like the ocean kind, only pink). I could spend hours describing the thriving, wild beauty of the Amazon eco-system, but I’ll let the pictures do the work.

We stayed in a jungle hut settlement, complete with mosquito nets over our beds and gas-powered electricity (from sunset to 9pm). Our traveling mates were a French couple, an awesome couple from Holland, and one Irish girl, all of us about the same age. We experienced a beautiful sunset the first night from a large deck platform, facing west, complete with 620ml icy cervezas for about $1. Afterwards, we trolled the river in pitch darkness, shining our flashlights about and seeing the light reflected in the red eyes of the caimans. I tired from this after 15 minutes or so and just laid back and looked at stars and stardust I’ve never seen before, the kind that can be seen only in wide spaces far from cities. The insect hum and whirl of the river were a gorgeous tranquilizer. When we got back to our beds, I fell asleep before the lights went out.

The next morning we awoke at 5am (again) and saw a spectacular sunrise, as well as the waking up of the jungle: birds out for food, howler monkeys howling. After breakfast we went anaconda hunting for 3 hours. For those of you unsure what that entails, its wading (and falling) in knee-deep muddy marshes in blistering sun. Somehow I had a merry time, that is, until the scariest part of the entire trip occurred.

The large marsh/field we wandered through was an isolated 1,000 acre or more patch of grazing land. As the anaconda hunting had proven fruitless after an hour or so, we broke into pairs to search on our own in the wide expanse, and our guide disappeared. Melissa retreated to dry land, having given up on the sinking and falling of the mud. Liliana and I set off to the far left, a good 600 meters or so from the next group. All of a sudden we heard the thundering gallop of 100 or so cows rushing towards us (apparently our guide had spooked them from the opposite direction). The 100 cows came to a halt about 20 meters from us and began a long stare. Along with this stare, with their huge imposing horns, were shuffling hooves and snorts. Frightened white and with my legs shin-deep in brown glue, I turned to see a frozen Lil a few paces behind me clad in a red shirt.

The whole scene was positively frightening, especially given that neither of us know a thing about cows (we would later learn they’re color blind and rarely charge at people). However, I really believed they would charge. Lil luckily had a white long sleeve shirt around her waist and quickly put it on. We then locked hands and began a slow, sticky retreat. This proved futile though as the cows slowly shuffled to keep parallel with us. The staring match remained for nearly 2 more hours as we suspiciously monitored one another and I nearly wet myself.

We finally did find an Anaconda, only about 6 feet long, but it was definitely worthwhile. The rest of the trip involved an impromptu soccer match, another sunset, swimming with dolphins, and catching and eating piranhas. Lil easily was the star, catching more than the entire group combined (about 9 or 10). Melissa and I didn’t help much though, with her catching 1 in the first minute, and me catching 0.

After a final meal of piranha with the group, we departed the camp for the long boat ride. We reached the Landcruiser and repeated the 2-hour ride in reverse. I watched the scenery slide by while listening to H.G. Well’s The Time Machine on my mp3 player, and I really felt that we had done some time traveling of our own. We passed men making bricks from river clay and drying them in the sun, kids riding ox carts, and thatched-roofed huts. The experience was one of a kind.

We arrived back into the small town of Rurrenabaque to find we’d be spending 2 nights there, as flights had been cancelled due to rain (if it even drizzles on the grass runway, the airport closes). We found a nice hotel with a huge pool and relaxed in jungle paradise (we were even greeted by a hopping, neon-blue, yellow and black toucan). We ate fresh fish riverside and enjoyed the small town, except for the fact that the entire city cuts its power at midnight (no one told us this). We took our flight back to La Paz, did a little more shopping, visited the national museums, and finally arrived in Cochabamba in time for Liliana to vote in last Sunday’s election (mandatory).

My niece left that night, and since we’ve been enjoying being back home. We also went bowling for the first time on the Fourth of July, ate hamburgers and even lit some sparklers. VIVA ESTADOS UNIDOS!!!


We love and miss you guys, and can’t wait to see you next month (lets keep our fingers crossed). We’re also looking forward to Nathan’s arrival next Tuesday, and Jeremy and his girlfriend Amanda’s arrival on August 12th, and all the wonderful moments and travels that will come with those trips.

Don’t forget to write!

Jon

---

Photos

Manicure
Double-team manicure at the hotel in La Paz... don't ask