Family Visitor and Amazon and Mountain adventures in Bolivia

April 9th - I arrived to La Paz, Bolivia. Finally. It seemed like the bus rides never ended. Over 36 hours in buses from the north of Argentina to the capital of Bolivia. My cousin Henry meets me tomorrow morning and we will begin traveling together for a couple weeks. Glad to be settled for the weekend.

 

Henry, my cousin, flew from St Louis to La Paz to visit and travel with me for two weeks. Here we are in one of the markets in central La Paz. It is so nice to have a familiar face around and someone with whom to share. Thanks for making the time to create unforgettable experiences Henry!

Henry and I flew to the amazon to begin a several day excursion. This is the view of Rurrenabaque from above. This river is part of the Amazon rainforest.

Henry and I booked a tour and traveled to Madidi National Park.

Dolphins! These are friendly animals that will swim with you if you are not scared of them. I jumped in and they were touching my feet. At first this startled me, but our guide said to relax and they will swim with me. Our guide said the only safe time to swim is when there are dolphins around because they scare all others animals away.

Pretty bird

Alligator at our lodge

This night was interesting and was a near death experience actually. While looking for caymens, Henry saw a snake that entered the boat and was approaching him. In the dark it took him only a couple seconds to distinguish it was a snake, and not a rope, and shouted to the guide. Taz ran forward to the bow of the boat and shined the light on the skinny green snake. 'Green mamba' he said. The snake slithered into the water and away. Taz told us the green mamba is the second most venomous snake in the world and will kill you with its venom in less than an hour. Good eyes Henry!

Taz, Henry and I pose for a picture in the swamp while looking for anaconda snakes

Another threatening experience. Taz told me to lead the group in one way while he looked for anacondas in one last spot. Thankfully I was paying close attention when I saw this sting ray. One more step, and I would have been stabbed by its sharp stinger and injected with venom. Taz told me I would have survived, but would be in pain for several days without sleep, walking or eating. We decided to kill the sting ray and have it for lunch. So no anacondas, but we found a rare sting ray which Taz said he has never seen in the years he has worked in the area.

The venomous sting ray's stinger

Black eagle

...

Yacuíba

I crossed the border from Argentina to Yacuiba, Bolivia. After a couple hours of running around the town to get passport pictures, photo copies of random things they wanted, I entered Bolivia. I took a 10 hour, overnight bus ride from Yacuíba to Santa Cruz, then a 2 hour bus ride to the small town of Samaipata. Here I met an Argentinian man that offered me to camp at his house in the mountains in exchange for some help at his farm where he practices super adobe and permaculture.

I left this morning, 7th of April, and I am now taking buses from Samaipata to Cochabamba, then La Paz. In La Paz, I will be meeting my cousin Henry to travel for a couple weeks with a familiar face.

Life is great. 

Upon arrival in Bolvia, I found my new car! Just kidding. But funny to find this while on my way to the market.

Roy, Lorena, Rijel and their baby Carlos and I smile for a photo. Funny story happened here in Yacuíba. I am currently on an elimination diet in quest for better knowledge of what foods are good/bad for me. I have to cook and it is hard to find food on the streets that I can eat. So before an overnight bus ride, I knocked on doors to ask if I could use their kitchen. The fifth home said yes. We had a blast! I made rice veggies while they cooked empanadas. Gracias Roy y Lorena!

Samaipata

Samaipata. Santiago lives here, his house made of adobe. He built a climbing wall onto the side of his home!

View of Samaipata from the countryside

View of the house, and a coupleof tents in the bush.