(Photo not Samaipata!)

On Monday 11th I took a flight to Santa Cruz, 30 minutes, and avoiding a minimum 14 hour overnight bus. From the airport I went straight to the place for shared transport to the village of Samaipata. Had to wait for about 45 minutes for 3 others and we set off- the drive took about 2 and a half hours. I dozed at least half of the journey- the result of getting up early plus not sleeping well for fear of not waking up. Once I was more awake it was nice to watch the scenery (very, very green!) as we went past, a little fast at times for my liking, on the narrow twisty roads, actually I think I preferred being asleep! Ha ha

I arrived in Samaipata by about 1.15 I think. Went to a place recommended in the LP and have ended up splashing out a bit- the dorm was full and own room costs £11. I decided to take it for the first night and then think about changing but I didn't end up changing! The hotel has a lovely garden and lovely views of the surrounding hills and countryside which I have been able to enjoy most today as I decided to have a do nothing day, well, except for sunbathing and reading- very nice! I tried to do that yesterday after visiting the small wildlife refuge but it was a bit too windy. The small 'zoo' which is a centre for rescued animals had lots of monkeys, mostly uncaged. If you ever wanted to hold a monkey this could be the place for you but given my slight fear of animals I spent most of my time whilst watching some of the monkeys imagining being attacked by one! The owner had told me that if I didn't want to have contact with them I just needed to walk away- this didn't exactly work though when one followed me kind of hissing at me. Needless to say I left after that; I am sure he (or she) was friendly really but I wasn't keen to find out! On Tuesday I visited the nearby ruins of 'El Fuerte' with 2 Japanese girls from my hotel. We shared the taxi and guide costs and did a 2 hour tour of the ruins, which was interesting.

In the absence of wi-fi, TV and people to talk to I have really enjoyed reading while I have been here- I have read 3 books and also today finally finished my first Spanish book "Come, Raza, Ama" (Eat, Pray, Love) that I started reading in Colombia in October!

On Friday I returned to Santa Cruz, arriving just in time to see most of the England v Sweden match (Euro 2012), luckily we won 3-2! Afterwards I wandered around a bit, watched a traditional dance group in the square then had dinner. Santa Cruz is really hot due to its location and not in the mountains-it is at almost 500m above sea level, that's the closest I have been to sea level in months! It was strange to be in just shorts and T-shirt in the evening and my room even had a fan. I stayed somewhere cheap (to make up for splashing out in Samaipata!) and the mattress was one of the worst I have had, but I managed to sleep ok, it was nice to not be cold at night for a change! Early start the next day for my 7.45 flight to La Paz…..