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From Beautiful Bolivia to the Amazing Amazon
It has been a long time since I last updated you. So long that since then I already have 8 new stamps in my passport!
From Paraty on the coast of Brazil, we took the most luxurious-first-class-fully-reclining-chairs-ever-nightbus to Foz do Iguacu, or Iguassu Falls. The Falls are situated on the border of Brazil and Argentina. The first day there we saw the Brazilian side of the falls, which is supposed to be the least of the two sides. It was still very impressive. The amount of water you see is nearly impossible to take in. There are rainbows and butterflies everywhere, it`s quite magical. I was a bit sceptical towards the rumours of the Argentinian side of the falls, as the Brazilian side was already so impressive. But when you think things don´t get any better, they always do in South America (so I have learned after more than two months here. The Argentinian side of the falls was just jawdropping, as it is three times bigger than the Brazilian side. In total the falls are bigger than the Niagara falls and every second nearly 2 million liters of water gush down. 24 hours a day, 7 days a week - mind boggling! The day after seeg the falls we went shopping in Paraguay, as we were right on the three way border. Three days, three countries. What a life.
From Iguassu we took another overnight bus (after a St. Patricksday party which made the bus a nightmare for some of our group members) to a place called Bonito (which means Beautiful) which is on the edge of Rio Prata National Park. Rio Prata is basically the worlds clearest spring water river and it is conserved really well to protect this. They're all about ecotourism here in Brazil. We were going snorkelling in the river, but to get there we had to walk through the jungle first. We saw a lot of monkeys and toucans. Because they want to keep the water as clean as possible nobody is allowed to wear sunscreen or insect repellent. So we all squeezed ourselves in extremely tight wetsuits and 34 mosquito bites later (good job I'm taking malaria tablets) we were finally ready to snorkel in the worlds clearest spring water river and it is conserved really well to protect this. They're all about ecotourism here in Brazil. We were going snorkelling in the river, but to get there we had to walk through the jungle first. We saw a lot of monkeys and toucans. Because they want to keep the water as clean as possible nobody is allowed to wear sunscreen or insect repellent. So we all squeezed ourselves in extremely tight wetsuits and 34 mosquito bites later (good job I'm taking malaria tablets) we were finally ready to snorkel in the worlds clearest river. It was as if you were swimming in a fish tank that had just been cleaned. It was so clear you could even have a drink if you got thirsty!
After our Rio Prata jungle walk we went even further into the jungle, into the Brazilian Pantanal, the outskirts of the Amazon. We stayed in a jungle lodge for 3 days from where we went canoeing and pirana fishing. Unfortunately I didn`t catch any myself but I did try them for lunch. During the canoeing over dead still water Aniek and I ofcourse managed to NEARLY capsize, whilst hearing the caymans grunt in the distance. Later that day I even got to see them, while I was safely on a motor boat. We saw so much wildlife - the stick insect was my favourite (easy to please). They were instantly named Alan and Steve, as we do with nearly every animal we see now (especially dogs). For those who don`t know Alan and Steve, have a look on YouTube for BBC's `Where the Wild Things Are`. When Emma (from my group) yelled `Allan!` whilst pointing at a stick insect, the guy from the lodge said: `Oh, do you call these animals `Alan's` in your language??' Before you know it Alan is going to take over the world.....
From the Pantanal we crossed into Bolivia by overnight bus to Santa Cruz, where we stayed one day, and from where we moved on to Sucre, Bolivia`s capital. The prices in Bolivia are like a breath of fresh air to us. Instead of paying near to European prices for food, here you can get a 3 course meal for 4euros! We were a bit sceptical towards the food in Bolivia as we heard horrorstories as soon as we set foot in South America, but the food was out of this world! And we kept thinking we would lose weight here... not going to happen! Sucre is a beautiful city with a lot of white colonial housed and churches. We learned a lot about the Bolivian history there and `Libertador Simon Bolivar`. Sucre is at 2800m so it was the first place to start feeling the altitude, or `the A-word`, as we refer to it now. As EVERYTHING is blamed on the altitude, we can`t here the word anymore! We did some hiking as training for the Inca trail (the `I-word`, another one of those words you hear too often in one day) and saw dinasaur footprints. On our final day in Sucre we were able to help out at an orphanage for children up to 5 years old. The toddlers would not let go of you as cuddles are a rare thing to them. Understandable when you see that there`s one carer for every 8 children. It was very rewarding to be able to help, although heartbreaking at the same time.
After 3 days we moved on to Potosi which is at 4100m. Driving through the Bolivian landscape is a feast to the eye as the Andes mountainrange starts here and there are llama's (with pink ribbons in their ears) and cacti everywhere. Potosi is where it started getting really cold, especially at night and my lips turned blue due to lack of oxygon (A-word) and stayed like that for at least a week. People here chew on coca leaves and drink coca tea to help agains altitude sickness. The tea is actually really tasty and something we drink everyday now. Besides the alchaloid cocaine (that everyone knows of) the leaf contains another 12 which are nutritional minerals. The Bolivian diet is very limited as they are not able to grow a lot of fruit and vegetables here. They mainly eat potatoes (of which they have a million varieties), barley, quinoa, cabbage and meat (beef, chicken, llama and alpaca). In short, carbs are the way to go here in Bolivia! This causes for a lot of obesity, especially amongst women as they don't do a lot of physical work.
From Potosi we took a bus to Uyuni to go on a 3 day jeep safari to see the salt flats. We visited the famous salt flats on the first day - photos don't do justice to what it really looks like. The salt falts are 12,000km2 in total, and in the center the salt reaches a depth of 120mtrs. We looked at a demonstration of the salt refinery. Apparently there is no export of this salt as nearly every country in the world has its own resources. We paid 1 Boliviano (10 eurocents) for 500gr of salt. We stayed in a house in the middle of nowhere. The only way to get here is with one of these group salt flat excursions, as you even need to bring your own cook and food for three days. We were very lucky to try a lot of local dishes like quinoa soup and pico de macho (meat stew with onions, chips, and rice, all mixed together). Besides the salt flats they took us to see the vulcanic lakes with thousands of flamingoes, hot pools and 150 degree celsius springs. The place we stayed was very basic which meant there was limited electricity and no hot water. At 4500m it gets pretty cold at night so all the girls in our room were wearing matching thermal underwear. We went to bed in 3 layers of clothing, woolly hats and layers of alpaca woollen sheets!
With the stunning Salar de Uyuni still on my mind we took another nightbus to La Paz. From there we crossed into Peru. These bordercrossings are also quite an experience as you have to walk across the border in between getting your exit and entry stamp. My first impression of Peru was pretty intense as we stayed in a homestay on Taquile Island in Lake Titikaka. This meant that Aniek and I stayed overnight at this Peruvian family who could only speak Spanish or their native language Aimara. I am proud to say that we managed to talk to our host mum and dad in Spanish during the entire dinner they prepared for us. Their son and daughter-in-law and baby were living there too. They dressed us up in traditional clothing and we participated in their local dances. It was so much to take in! I think this is one of these things I will never experience again.
When I thought I was experiencing an overload of impressions, and wouldn't see anymore for a few days, it just got even more intense when I went to the Amazon for a few days. From Cusco, Peru, I flew to Puerto Maldonado. From there it was an hour by bus and 3hrs by bout into the jungle to the lodge I was staying. From up in the air the jungle looks just like I imagined, orange rivers and trees that look like curly cale. We did a walk through the jungle where we saw monkeys, poisonous frogs, bats, capivara's, parrots, caymans and spiders. On the first morning we had to wake up at 5.45am and as we were standing next to our beds, still half asleep, Aniek stood on a tarantula spider. I think the whole lodge heard us scream. Later that day I found a frog in the toilet. Again, I don't think that was unnoticed by the other guests. We managed to take it out. The difficult thing is you don't know if they're poisonous or not. My days in the Amazon were a full on nature experience, covered in sweat (between 85-99% humidity with 35 degrees celsius), insect repellent and luckily only one mosquito bite. It's just so interesting to see how the world works in such remote places, it opens your eyes.
All in all I've experienced SO much the last weeks. In my next blog post I will know when exactly I'll be going home. Not ready yet! First up now is the Inca Trail, another one of my big highlights!!!
XXX
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