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Published: January 21st 2010
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We made it to Sucre in the afternoon on the 12th following a short 3 hour bus ride from Potosi. The city (also known as the City of Four Names - La Plata, Charcas, Ciudad Blanca (White City), and Sucre) was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO on December 13, 1991 due to its history and colonial architecture and was a nice place to spend a few days. We stayed at the ´Hostel Cruz de Popayan´which was alright (with the exception of a horrible smelling bathroom due to black mold above the shower) and ate literally every single meal at ´Joy Ride Cafe´as recommended by the Lonely Planet - they have amazing food!
On our 2nd day we visited the small mountain of Cal Orck'o located about 6 km outside of Sucre which is home to the world's largest collection of dinosaur tracks (Parque Cretácico). There are about 5,000 impressions of dinosaur footprints from at least 450 different dinosaurs embedded on a gigantic, near-vertical limestone rock covering about 25,000 square meters. Experts believe the footprints in the rocks date back some 60 million years, prior to the formation of the Andes. While the site sounded very interesting, we were
disappointed to find out that they no longer allow people anywhere near the prints. In fact, the observation platform is so far away from the rock wall that taking pictures is almost pointless (even with a good camera) and they of course charge to use the telescope to get a good view of the prints - if I knew this ahead of time, I definitely would have taken my binoculars. The tour companies also engage in false advertising as all the brochures still show pictures of people laying in the prints and climbing up parts of the mountain - what a disappointment!
On our 4th day we decided to go rock climbing through the ´Joy Ride´tour company. I initially didn´t want to go as I had never been interested in rock climbing before but when Braeden realized he would be the only one going, I decided to give it a try. In the end I was really happy I went as it turned out to be a lot of fun and not as hard as I expected it to be (we were on a beginner/intermediate wall which was perfect for starting out). Braeden was of course a natural and
Sucre, Bolivia
Parque Cretácico Cal Orck´o - the world´s largest collection of dinosaur tracks. had no problem climbing the different ways to the top. I did much better than I expected, making it to the top every time, but did not attempt the over-hanging wall at the end of the day as I knew it was beyond my capabilities. Our guide (Steve from England) was happy that Braeden is experienced in rope handling as he was also able to climb a couple times which he said never happens. I´m pretty sure we will be doing more climbing in the future.
After rock climbing, Braeden went and had a nap while I toured the ´Casa de la Libertad.´ It is a house located on the main plaza where the declaration of independence of Bolivia was signed on august 6th, 1825. Although small, the display of military decorations, portraits of presidents, and documents were interesting.
Tupiza is our next stop but we´ll have to head back to Potosi first. Then, Argentina.
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