Bolivian Adventures

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Well after spending what seemed like ages in Peru we were moving onto our next country Bolivia.............

Isla del Sol in sunny but windy Copacabana was our first stop.

This was a cool intro to Bolivia the border town of Copacabana was really cute, we had a fantastic hostel with a room with a view of Lake Titicaca and it cost us about $2! We took the first day easy, then went on a boat trip to the Isla del Sol, which is where the Incas believed their First god was Born. We got dropped of at the North end of the Island, where they had this tiny museum which was pretty crap if im honest! Anyway we walked to the south of the island where our boat was waiting to take us back. It was a long walk and if im honest i had got a bit fed up of walking after Inka trail. But hey is was cool had a good view of the Lake which is massive!

Next stop was La Paz

First impressions of La Paz were cool as we drove down into the cirty so we had a fantastic view of the valley and all the snow capped mountains. Our hostel was a bit on the skanky side this time and it cost four times as much as our room with the view in Copacabana! Anyway i found La paz a little to hetic........you could feel that you were in poorer country, but it did have character! We spent most of out time orgainising our tours to the Pampas and Jungle and of course washing! (the women in the laundrettes are always so grumpy-very pauline folwer like!!)

Pampas and Jungle

We didnt fancy another massive long bus journey so we decided to treat ourselves and flew to Rurrenabaque (a gateway town to the jungle). They flight was short and sweet, had good views of the jungle and rainforest as we flew in........

The fist tour was of the pampas (3 days)....it was fantastic i really enjoyed it.....was really chilled out we had a good group of people and there was an amazing amount of wildlife....

Started with a very bumpy drive...then we got on a dingy type boat which was taking us to our camp. On they way we saw aligators, crocodiles loads of birds, and pink dolphins and turtles . The crocs were so sly! they watched us coming up near them then when we got to them they slipped under the murky water and were no where to be seen! There was a plan to swim with the dolphins the next day but there was no way i was going into the water with all those aligators and crocs!

The camp site was basic but comfortable and we had cool hammoks looking out on the river which was really nice! There was a group of little yellowish monkeys hanging out on the site they were so cute! We got to feed them, it was really bizzare as there hands were just like little babies hands, they actually were quite shy but i think its the closest i will ever get to a monkey! That evening we went out to see the aligators at night there eyes appear to be red! all very scary! We also went to see the sunset at a bar (yep a bar in the pampas!) it was appropriately called sunset bar, had a couple of beers which was refreshing!

The next day was action packed we were all set with our wellies to go into the Pampas (wet marshland area) to find Anacondas! (we were assured that they were "no toxico!") it was a really hot morning and there we were trapsing through the pampas looking for anacondas- how bizzare! we had walked quite far out and not spotted a thing 😞 and poor Ivan had a hole in his boot so he wasnt overly impressed! Not sure what happened to me but, i was finding it a bit difficult to breathe and then i fainted! oops! luckly ivan was with me to catch me otherwise i would have got very wet! What a palava........as the poor guys on the trip had to carry me out of this marshland area..i felt so bad as it was hard enough to walk through it despite having to cary a ig heffalump like me!! I think i was still feeling weak from the Inca trail hence the fainting! Oh well im fine now apart from snotty cold so no need to worry! I havn{t told my mum aout these little events don{t want to worry her so pls dont let it slip if you happen to see her! Well the rest of that day for me was just chilling in the hammocks and doing very little which was just what my body needed i think! Plus it got me out of swimming with the crocs and dolphins! Ivan and the rest of the group were very brave and went in...only to find that some guys were fishing for piranhas in the same area! so they jumped out sharpish!! Later that day our guide went out and managed to catch an Anaconda to show us.....it felt so silky but it was massive and looked a little too aggressive so i didn{t get too close!

Felt a lot better the next day.....so woke up to see the sunrise which was lovely.... It was our turn to go fishing for Piranhas...i went along in the boat but didnt fancy the fishing so just watched...no one caught one but the fish were clever as they ate all the bait!

Got back to Runnenabaque that night had a much welcomed warm shower! Then early night as we were off to the jungle the next day.

The Jungle

I was less impressed by this trip!......the only thing that made it for me was the fact that we saw a jaguar! which was very cool, unfortunately Ivan missed it! The rest of the trip was a bit boring if im honest as we could here lots of animals but didnt get to see any as the fauna was too dense! I was really hoping to see a Tucan but it never happened!

The campsite was very very basic! We slept outdoors on wooden planks and mosquito nets, so all night i was paranoid by all the weird noises i could here! I managed to break my first "bed"! (dont ask!!) so had to sleep between the guide and cook!!! he he!!!!!!

Last tour for Bolivia was to Uyuni Salt Flats and many Lagunas!..............

Yet another long bus ride to this sleepy freezing cold town called Uyuni! The bus was pretty comfortable though which was a change. This town was honestly quite bizzare had no life, we thought it would make the perfect set for a disaster movie!

After much deliberation and contemplation we decided to do a three day tour trip to the Salt plains and several Lagunas......

We had another cool group of people to do the tour with which was cool. The first day included seeing the salt plains which were impressive....just looked like miles and miles of snow! We also saw a hotel which was made from salt bricks-quite funky!

Stopped for lunch at this cool island which had thousands of Cati! Quite bizzare as it was just in the middle of no where with only salt flats surrounding it. Got to the first hostel quite early which was better than our expectations!

Next day involved seeing lots of Lagunas which were cool, i won't bore you with all the names! The landscape was pretty impressive lots of volcanic mountains surrounding us and rock formations made from the lava. Saw lots of flamingos too, which was a bit different to seeng them in London zoo! The hostel that night was freezing! the guide old us that temperatures can get to -14c!! don't thinkit was that cold but definately cold enough!

The highlight of the trip for me had to be a Laguna Colorado, it was red! very different to your average blue lake hey! Also saw gysers which were a bit smelly! The whole area has sulphuric minerals. Some of the landscape was really odd felt as if we were on another planet.

have to go now been online for hours! havn't spell checked this so apologies for all the mistakes! Now in Argentina will update blog with again soon with details..........

Hope you are all well

lots of love xxxxxxx

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