Yo empiezo mi viaje en Bolivia..!

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Starting my adventure was different than expected, but I guess that's always the case. I was really calm. At the airport at Newark they send me up & down from national flights to international flights and back. When I was going through security they send me to another line, because all over my ticket there were S-es 8 small ones and one big one. That meant probably something like SuSpiciouS. I needed to get checked for explosives! And the funny thing was, after my transfer in Miami, the same thing happened, only they had an advanced machine to do so. So I asked ´why me´? They told me that they do it most of the time to people who booked their flight really late or changed it. Neither of these apply to me?! Ah well the only thing I lost was my toothpaste (was still in my bag).

Arriving in La Paz: cold, huge, mountains, snow on top of the mountains, expensive taxi, altitude; I felt like an old lady after three steps. Disgustingly polluted, oh and did I mention cold?! Hostel was okay, free beer; also okay, I found some company: also okay😊 I saw lama fetuses, dead obviously, some even with hair on their chin. Cute kids all over, tiny adults, had a drink too many one night: altitude's a bitch! I visited the coca museum and drank coca tea.



After 3 nights I decided, at actually 4 in the morning, to go with 3 others by bus 17 hrs to Rurrenabaque. You can do parts of this by bike: on the famous -death road-. Well this was by bus. I made a few little movies about the coca fields and the drop offs the bus was on the edge of all the time. I had a window seat and actually broke that seat down after 2 hours. I tried to fix it by lying under neath it and pushing some bolts back in. Locals were staring not understanding why I was lying on the dirty floor underneath my chair laughing. I was able to fix it halfway. I sat next to a guy from Belgium, which I had to apologize to: he had to tell everything again what he told me the night before (damn altitude again). Nice company anyways! We saw sooo much: huge vultures, coca plants, yungas, huge drop offs, we drove literally centimeters from the edge, disgusting toilet with no running water (I guess I was person 87), ate some great salteñas, lots of water, I've got a sore bum, sore everything. We arrived at 5.00 in the morning. First impression: clean air, green, nice temperature, loved it right away! I did the next day a 3 day pampa´s trip with gencía Anaconda´s, that was amazing!
-> We SAW: venomous snake, sloth, jaribus, eagles, vultures, alligators, black kaymans, capibaras, paradise birds, pink dolphins, anaconda, crab, cows, horses, capucin monkeys, squirrel monkeys, howler monkeys, bats, spiders, tarantula, pirañas, a lot of big pretty birds I don´t know the names of.
-> We DID: a lot of boating, piraña fishing, I held an anaconda, I attempted to swim with pink dolphins, we fed monkeys, I caressed an alligator, I held a two week old alligator, we ate pirañas (not a lot of meat but tasty), walking with boots in pampas to find snakes, filled up my boots with dirt, sank in mud up to my knees, the food was great, we had a beer, I took a lot of pictures (from the moments my camera didn't die), and overall enjoyed everything. So unreal all these animals up close & personal!!




I flew back to La Paz (yes I'm a wimp), I stayed one night in the same hostel and I booked a bus to Uyuni.

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Photos

Pampas- the famous anaconda
(when I didn't have the knowledge yet I have now, about not stressing a wild animal in any way for my 'pleasure')