Blogs from Villa Tunari, Cochabamba Department, Bolivia, South America - page 5

Sielta, mista yleensa ei odota loytavansa kovinkaan hyvin toimivaa nettiyhteytta loytyykin useimmiten ne parhaat yhteydet. Hyvien nettiyhteyksien lisaksi taalta loytyy myos paljon muuta. Huhujen mukaan taalla ei olisi pitanyt olla esim. lainkaan pankkeja, mutta kylla niita tuossa kadun varrella nayttaa olevan ainakin kaksi ja molemmissa on myos automaatit. Sellaista se kehityksen kulku on, etta ei meinaa millaan perassa pysya. Meilla oli aikomuksena jaada tanne Villa Tunariin pariksi viikoksi vapaaehtoistoihin, mutta bussissa tulomatkalla tajuttiin, ettei meilla millaan ole tarpeeksi aikaa. Siihen, kun meidan on oltava Limassa, Perussa, on jaljella enaa vajaat kaksi kuukautta ja sita ennen pitaisi viela ehtia vaikka minne. Jouduttiin siis vain tyytymaan paivan mittaiseen vierailuun Inti Wara Yassi jarjeston puistossa. Siella olisi varmasti ollut mielenkiintoista olla toissa. Puistoss... read more

Everything is still amazing here in the Bolivian jungle... Simba was wonderful today, walked for at least an hour without stopping this morning. I love the excersize I'm getting. My muscles have almost gotten used to it by now, but my knees are starting to feel the strain of jungle trails. I also volunteered to do tours for the new volunteers, so I'm now working 9 hours a day, 7 days a week, and loving it. This morning I got to wake up an hour earlier than usual to carry rocks. hooray! Last night I had my first night watch duty. Recently, before I arrived though, a monkey or two has dissapeared and so every other night or so, two people are sent up to the monkey mirador (middle of the jungle, where the monkeys ... read more

Hello all, and apologies for taking so long to post this. I´ll recap a bit, with La Paz, a city beyond the description of words, so i´ll let the pics do the talking. After a day delay, I took a tiny plane to Rurrenebaque, in the Bolivian jungle for a 3 day tour of the pampas. Highlights included crocodile spotting by canoe at night, pirahna fishing, and swimming with pink river dolpins (along with the pirahna and the crocs!). Got to see capybaras in the wild, which was so cool, after seeing them in cages at Amazoonico. Got ravaged by mosquitos and bed bugs! Onward to Villa Tunari, a completely unispiring spot, home to Inti Wari Yassi, the animal sanctuary i was to be at for a month. Where to begin?? The first hostal i stayed ... read more

Our experiences of the park are quite different as we worked with separate animals, so heres mine first. See ya Pete Our idea of the park was that it was still being set up and that we would be based in the jungle building cages and helping out with animals where possible. On arrival the park was up and running though a little short on volunteers. Due to a lack of male volunteers at the park I was teamed up with Liu a Tiwanese man to work with Yaguaru a 120 kilo 4yr old male jaguar who didnt like women. After my first day I discovered that he didnt like Liu much either. As Liu was trying to change yaguarus line on his overhead cable so he could swim in the river, Yaguaru decided he wanted ... read more

Since our last exciting account of our time spent in the freezing altiplano, we have visited Potosi (the highest city in the world at 4200m) and Sucre to see their beautiful colonial architecture (a square with a cathedral on it), then finally we arrived in Villa Tunari. Now, as many of you may know, whilst on this trip we really wanted to do some volunteering and the opportunity arose at the Inti Wara Yassi animal refuge, a 4 hour bus journey from Cochabamba. The refuge depends entirely on funds from volunteers and their labour. When you arrive, you're given a tour of the park which is set in lush rainforest and are then assigned to an animal which will be your responsibility for the time that you're there. This means that every day Tim goes to ... read more