MacIntoshes in Bolivia

Santa Cruz

2009-06-24T15:34:00.000-07:00

I wish it were in the wild, but no, we visited a park just outside Santa Cruz.

It's called the butterfly park, and check out the catapillar!

Horseback riding, birds, monkeys, fishing; we could have spent more time here.

It was our last day of a ten day vacation and we loved it.

We should have spent the night.

OK, the picture didn't turn out really well, but it's a sloth hanging upside down on a rock.

Traditional farming equipment, including a device for crushing sugar cane.

The city of Santa Cruz is lovely and we can't pass up an opportunity to visit an old church.

Honey I shrunk the kids.

Santa Cruz is Bolivia's largest city and economically better off. It's in the lowlands, making it much warmer than La Paz. We felt like we were in a different country.

Patanal

2009-06-23T19:38:00.000-07:00

Well, from the Brazil side, the Patanal looks pretty nice.

Lots of low-lands and few trees for the animals to hide behind.

Kayla & Ray managed to get stuck for five hours, but did get to see more birds

Our river tour included some time for fishing. It may not look big, but Heather is holding a Pirahana

A cool birds nest and tons of water lillies.

A fisherman's shack and we saw loads of different birds.

The Patanal is supposed to be THE place for wildlife viewing - no jungle to hide in. Well, we did see lots of different birds, do some fishing and we saw a few animals (otter, fox, ant eater), but I wouldn't say loads. I'd have to say this is the first trip we were disappointed in. Not a total loss, but for the money and distance, not worth it.

Torotoro

2009-06-21T06:33:00.001-07:00

AJ crawling through part of the cave, but the entrance was very large to start with.

The landscapes around Torotoro were gorgeous

Our picnic area right across from a large natural spring.

Some scenes inside the canyon

Yep, we are standing inside a dinosaur footprint.

A natural bridge and it looked like big bird's nest to me.

The village was very friendly and surprisingly clean.

What's left of the old hacenda, and the entrance to the museum.

More dinosaur footprints - they were everywhere.

Torotoro was pretty remote, but well worth the trip (we actually flew). Then, a lot of hiking around the area. Caves, canyons, fossils: a great outdoors place.

Alto-Beni

2009-06-02T13:52:00.000-07:00

Didn't know this, but coco has different varieties, like this red one.

The Alto-Beni region has lots of different fruit: oranges, grapefruit, papaya, tangerine, guava, etc.

Typical Bolivian river boat and our picnic lunch.

The salad bar is a bit different, and so is the method of packing the picnic.

The papaya trees don't do well with other plants, so everything is cleared beforehand.

We spent last weekend in the country with a friend/coworker of ours. His parents have a farm and we enjoyed time touring around and having a traditional picnic. Very generous and nice people.

Sajama

2009-05-28T11:19:00.001-07:00

At more than 6,500 meters (21,300 feet), Sajama is Bolivia's tallest mountain and one of the highest volcanos in the world. It may be Bolivia's smallest national park, but it packs in a lot to see.

Between La Paz and Sajama, we of course have to make a stop to see a historic church.

Some of the lava formations are really cool.

The landscape may seem desolate, but beautiful in its own way.

There is still some thermal activity, with geysers and bubbling pools.

From Sajama Village, the mountain is spectacular first thing in the morning.

There are other dormant volcanoes surrounding Sajama (that actually look more like volcanoes)

We even found a hotspring to take a dip in (yes, we are still pale after nearly a year here).

The traditional ovens that are common on the alti-plano; just not sure why they don't have ovens in their homes to help with the chilli winters.

Yep, another great old church in a different village in the park.

Llama and alpaca - hundreds. It was hard to get a picture of them looking at us because as soon as we would stop the vehicle they would run away, so most pictures are of llama bums.

Some of the rock formations were very different and reminded us of Drumheller.

In this part of Bolivia, they used to place the bones and ashes of their dead are placed in these large granary type buildings.

Huayna Potosi

2009-04-13T12:10:00.000-07:00

At 20,000 feet, Huayna Potosi is considered a novice mountain. Ray, being a novice, attempted the climb.

First, we needed some training with ice climbing, using an ice pick and the cramp-ons.

Our base hut was located on a reservoir - nice views.

We left the second hut at 1:30 am to make the summit by sunrise.

We made it! And the views are like from a movie.

If you think the climb down looks steep, imagine the climb up.

Lots of snow & ice and a view of another mountain, Illimani (a lot taller and no, Ray is not climbing that one)

Coroico & Copacabana

2009-03-19T13:55:00.000-07:00

The Cathedral at Copacabana originally built in 1669

Tour of a floating "island" - I think I saw some pontoons

Sacred natural spring on the Island Of The Sun

Island of the Sun

Yep, another view of the island

Reyna, our housekeeper and always laughing - usually at Ray's Spanish. Okay, nothing to do with Coroico or Copacabana, but you need to see her sometime.

The Rio Selva Resort at Coroico

Hiking around Coroico in the area called the "Yungas"

The Yungas are a series of deep valleys between the mountain plateau and Amazon basin.

Okay, you've seen this area on our site before, but we've done another trip. It's hard to get too much of the valleys or Lake Titicaca.

Carnaval

2009-02-26T10:43:00.001-08:00

Carnaval in Ururo is masks, costumes, bands and a whole lot of fun.

Dancers would pay over $150 just for a chance to dance.

And crowds of people, for two days (or more) of dancing, drinking and singing.

And inbetween the groups, there was foam and water fights.

If you weren´t dressed for battle, you could end up looking like Patrick here.

Illimani

2009-02-19T10:54:00.000-08:00

Okay, not off to a good start. BTW, I'm on the other side pushing too.

We are getting closer, and the road is getting narrower.

Amanda and Mael, in the cloads.

Our guide brought his son, but not on the hikes.

We had some water to cross, but not too tough.

No, I'm not missing my teeth, I'm chewing coca.

A bit rocky, but easy hiking to get to the base camp.

Base camp of Illimani. The donkey handler was the first up, but he had the advantage of modern equipment and footwear.

The donkey was there to lend a hand for tired feet.

In the village below the mountain.

The drive back to La Paz was spectacular.

Illimani as seen from La Paz.

We spent last weekend camping at the base of Illimani, the peak overtowering La Paz. It looks close, but was a 4.5 hour drive to get to the village at its base. It's hard to imagine mountain peaks when we already live at nearly 13,000 feet above sea level, but this mountain is huge: it's over 21,000 feet. Just to get some bearings, Mount Robson is almost 13,000 feet.

We only climbed to about 15,000 feet, to the base camp. We didn't camp there due to the cloudy, rainy weather, so came back down to the village to sleep. But the hiking was great, and sharing this with friends sure was enjoyable too.

Iquique

2009-02-09T09:01:00.000-08:00

Colonial town centre

Nice beach: clean, not too crowded, safe - we loved it!

It seemed like a lot of people liked to get a few rays after work.

We did a small tour from the ocean. A small seal colony and saw a bit of the harbour.

Plus a turn of the century warship.

The bus ride back was very scenic: tall hills of sandstone and a few dormant volcanos.

Iquique is a small city on the coast of Chile. We could have spent less time on the bus (18 hours - yuk), but this resort town is a bit nicer than the nearest. A bit pricer than Bolivia, but it was very nice to be pampered with a seaside hotel, great pool, beach, shopping and fantastic food. In the end, worth the trip. And, the bus trip was very scenic. We did have problems with the bus ride back and the drastic change in altitude.

Sucre

2009-02-05T13:30:00.000-08:00

Sucre has a small, but very interesting dinosaur park with a huge display of tracks.

This was actually somebody's house - practically a palace!

Before La Paz, Sucre was the capital of Bolivia. Very clean, very nice city.

Some lunch time entertainment. He walked for 4 hours to reach the village for the Sunday market.

A nearby village, well know for their fabrics and market . Heather's mom, Nora, was overwhelmed by the poverty in the village, which is quite stark.

Kind of cloudy our first day, but it cleared up after.

Sucre is smaller and quieter than La Paz and well worth the stop. They have a city bylaw that all (except one old original church) historic colonial buildings must be white washed. A great city to wonder around and relax.

Uyuni

2009-01-18T14:26:00.000-08:00

Pescado Island, in the middle of the salt flats, complete with an extinct volcano.

The old salt hotel right on the salt flats. The new hotels are beside the flats.

The Uynui are the world's largest salt flats, and we got to see it during the rainy season.

The train graveyard was actually very interesting. The railroad doesn't function anymore.

Uyuni is one of Bolivia's more famous sites and it is really something to see. We loved it. You can drive for hours and not reach the other side. In fact, if you rent your own vehicle, you have to careful not to get lost and run out of gas!

Potosi

2008-12-14T15:51:00.000-08:00

The oldest church in Potosi, San Francisco. First established in 1574, but rebuilt in 1707.

Lots of old churches, more than the girls fill.

A huge boliviastone - only found in Boliva

We did tour some crypts under a couple of old churches.

We did a night tour of one church; complete with ghost stories.

Cerro Rico, the mountain overlooking Potosi.

Typical streetscape of colonial Potosi and Plaza November 10 in the colonial centre

Potosi is a pretty quiet city, even in the evening.

There are about 25 old churches in the colonial area, some very fancy.

Up closer at Cerro Rico, the mine doesn't look so nice.

The mine tour was very interesting, but challenging to follow at times.

At almost 4100 meters, Potosi is one of the highest cities in the world. Way up on the altiplano, it's cold and dry and is hard to see why such a large city would be built in the middle of nowhere; except for the mountain of silver called Cerro Rico. The richest silver mine the world has ever seen, Potosi financed the Spanish royal family for hundreds of years. By the early 17th century, Potosi had a population of about 160,000: bigger than Madrid and about the same size of London or Paris at the time.

Today Potosi is a UNESCO world heritage site with hundreds of colonial era buildings, churches and art. The mine is still active with thousands of miners still looking for more silver but also finding tin and other metals.

Sorata

2008-11-17T10:31:00.000-08:00

When the clouds would clear, we had some great views.

Okay, so all the stories of riding buses with animals has finally come true!

We call this the haunted hotel, just because it was sooo empty inside.

Overgrown bogenvillia (okay, I'm not a plant person and can't spell)

Check out the snakeskins mom! I can't wait to see one of these in the wild.

Bolivian lawnmower - get for trimming the edges and automatic fertillizer, and noboday has ever lost a toe.

Small river beside our hotel.

Sorata countryside

Market street in Sorata

Central square in town.

Enjoying a great Mexican meal (well the adults anyway, the kids had pizza of course).

On the way in to a cave outside of town.

Picnic table at our hotel.

We rented the entire building for $21 per night.

On the way back to La Paz.

Sorata is a great little town about three hours outside of La Paz. Close to some great mountain hiking, we just relaxed, enjoyed the views and did some cave exploring. A place I could see us visiting again.

Mecapaca

2008-11-09T13:34:00.000-08:00

Views from the top of the Town

The church steeple and in front of the church, from the Town square

The valley below

And of course, the town cemetary

Mecapaca is a quite, small town nearly an hour outside of La Paz. It's in the same valley of our city, but a lot lower and therefore a lot hotter. They have fixed up the town centre by painting all the buildings the same terracotta colour and the central park if fixed up as well. Not too much to do, but a nice place to visit for the afternoon.

Oruro

2008-11-06T12:18:00.000-08:00

On the Way to Oruro

There's even a couple of small deserts just outside of the city

Some buildings are nice; there used to be a lot of wealth here when tin prices were high

Oruro is best known for their Carnival. We're looking forward to seeing these costumes on.

Oruro is a city of about 200,000, 230 km South of La Paz. High on the Altiplano, it's cold most of the time, but we lucked out with great weather and even managing a sunburn.

At one time, when tin prices were high, Oruro was a financial powerhouse of Bolivia. Mining is still the major industry, but the economy is highly dependent on this one commodity.

We plan on going back. For sure to see the Carnival, but also for the sites we missed. One weekend just wasn't enough.

Day of the Dead - Cementerio Jardin

2008-11-02T12:39:00.001-08:00

Cementerio Jardin is much more what we would see in Canada. Today, however, it was like there was a giant funeral, with flowers arranged on every grave. This cemetery is closer to the nicer neighborhoods of La Paz. It's newer, well maintained and appears to be more for the higher classes.

Day of the Dead - Cementerio General

2008-11-02T10:54:00.001-08:00

Ladders to reach the higher tombs...and, just outside entrance number 6.

Some tombs/crypts are very fancy, but most are stacked in long rows, all above ground.

And it's a great day to high a band. Some family tombs will coordinate flowers.

It's customary to give some favourite food & drink. And believe it or not, these are graves, not an apartment building. Most will have a glass front with a plaque behind, leaving space to place flowers and gifts on special occasions, like today.

2 November is the Day of the Dead, celebrated in Bolivia by going to the grave of your relative or close friend for 3 years after they have passed away, with flowers and their favorite foods and drinks. In the third year, there is generally a celebration by the tomb with music. That is the final year that the soul comes to visit the grave on Day of the Dead. In the Cementary General, the class differences are stark -- elaborate family masoleums for the wealthy beside "apartment style" tombs. Some of the tombs which used to house bodies were empty, with notices on them that they were for rent. We think the families didn't keep up with the bills. The street was packed with flower sellers, vendors with hats, police guiding traffic, and locals bands. The cemetary is enormous -- we saw only about 1/4 in over an hour.

El Alto is just above La Paz and we took a tour...

2008-10-24T05:02:00.000-07:00

On the way up to El Alto from La Paz

A fine arts house/cooperative for the local youth.

The penthouse is the Director's residence - a bit scary on the catwalk

Some nice churches

And this one had a wedding just coming out.

The markets are very large with lots of local produce.

We had a demonstration from a shaman on making an offering to Pachamama.

The shamen make many claims on curing ailments

This is the neighborhood where the shamen live

A small shop to buy vehicle parts.

weekend at the farm & coca hacienda

2008-09-22T11:31:00.000-07:00

Amanda: It was super cool! There were lots of cool animals; four parrots, a small emiu, two huge, black dogs,two other small dogs, some chickens and some cows. Me and Kayla both got to feed a calf! There was a pool, a swing, lots of room and a nice garden. Some path ways are neerby so on the weekend we went on a trail up the hill to see some wildlife. When mom, Kayla and I came back down, dad wanted to stay and keep walking for a bit. So dad continued and we went back down. Later on we went for a short walk to the river. It was such a fun weekend! On Sunday afternoon we packed, me and Kayla said good bye to all the animals and we left. the trip back felt alot shorter than the way there. It was good to get home but, we mised the farm!

Heather: The hacienda used to be a coca farm. We learned about how the leaves were picked, dried, stored and shipped. Coca is grown on steep terraces, and farmers burn their fields to clear space for coca plants. There is still a lot of coca grown in the region -- some for traditional use and some for illegal export to make cocaine. Apparently there are lots of coca farmers who now can afford a vehicle... but don't have a driver's license.

La Paz hoodoos and the hidden river

2008-09-22T10:31:00.000-07:00

About 10 minutes walk from our apartment we can enter the hoodoos -- amazing rock formations which surround the city and form part of the Valle de la Luna (valley of the moon) park. We went climbing and hiking in this surreal landscape recently. And... we discovered the "Rio Secreto" of La Paz. It has been almost completely built over and now runs underneath the city. The municipal government is doing some public works to channel the river in stone and cement canals. It reminds us of the ghost town we visited in B.C. last summer where the town had built a giant boardwalk overtop of the river... which lasted until the flood, which wiped out the boardwalk and most of the town. The Rio La Paz has been covered for a century so the chance of a flood seems lower, but you never know!

101 anniversary of El Colegio Amerinst

2008-09-15T17:28:00.000-07:00

The girls' school -- Instituto Americano (Amerinst for short) celebrated its 101st anniversary. Yes 101 -- they don't celebrate 100 here. The school had a one week long celebration, with cheers and formations from each grade, a sports day, a square dance (can you believe it?!) and a traditional parade down the main street of the city, called El Prado. Amanda dressed in a t-shirt depicting an environmental theme, and Kayla dressed in traditional Afro-Bolivian costume.

Referendum Revocatoria 2008

2008-09-15T16:45:00.000-07:00

The national referendum was held on August 10th, 2008, as a sort of confidence vote in the leadership of the President, Vice President and each of the prefecturas (provincial premiers) roughly halfway through their terms. Heather volunteered as an international election observer through the Canadian Embassy, and visited a total of five voting stations with a group of about 30 other observers. We observed 3 sites in La Paz and 2 sites in rural areas, as a large group, moving around by a charter bus. I felt somewhat like an election tourist. Generally the process seemed free and fair, with few irregularities notes. The only one I noticed was campaign materials for MAS party at a voting site, which is not permitted. There were no vehicles in the streets for election day -- very peaceful! Other colleagues who observed with the Organization of American States were placed in one voting site from the opening through closing and counting of the ballots, and tended to see more irregularities than did my group. I was impressed with the work of the Corte Nacional Electoral -- professional, focused, and transparent about some of the deficiencies of their system, particularly in voter registration.

Unfortunately, the continued mandate for the President's leadership confirmed in the referendum has not led to peace and stability for Bolivia. Another national referendum is planned for December -- this time regarding constitutional change which would see some land reform. Tensions mount as the resource-rich provinces of the east are vocally (and sometimes violently) resisting this next national vote. Democracy in Bolivia is participatory, and rocky.

Kayla's 9th birthday

2008-09-07T10:00:00.001-07:00

Hi i'm Kayla and I had my birthday and I turned 9 years old. 7 people were at my birthday. Ther were Adel, Miel and there perents Rosa Maria and Salvan. I loved it. We had pizza for supper.

Amanda: We had so much fun at the party! I got Kayla a polly pocket set for her birthday. It was super fun!!!

Tiwanaku ancient ruins

2008-09-01T13:50:00.000-07:00

The ancient empire of Tiwanaku reined from 1600 BC to 1200 AD, preceding the Nazca and the Inca. The Tiwanakans were accomplished in engineering, stone and iron work, and trade. They introduced terraced farming and built a road system from the Altiplano to the Amazon. Raymond, Amanda, Kayla and Holly (Heather's sister) visited a major site in August.

Lago Titicaca - home of the Incas

2008-08-25T09:08:00.000-07:00

Here are some photos of our fascinating but very cold trip to Lake Titicaca, Island of the Sun, and the town of Copacabana. We loved the Inca ruins.

School for the girls!

2008-08-08T06:30:00.000-07:00

Here are some photos of the girls' new school, the Instituto Americano. It was founded by the Methodists over 100 years ago, and is about 25 minutes walk from our place. The girls take the "bus escolar". Kayla was unhappy with all of the children in her class wanting to touch her blonde hair on the first day of school!

Coroico - the fruit & coca region

2008-08-04T10:18:00.000-07:00

Why we need the pension plan

2008-07-21T11:08:00.000-07:00

In La Paz, we see few street people. I have come across two or three so far who seemed to have alcoholism problems. All the rest are just the elderly. It is a different make up than the extremely poor population we see at home. The beggars are very old, poorly dressed, unfailingly polite, and alone. I have to assume that they have no children to care for them in their old age, and no place to go. It is incredibly sad.

Do the office shuffle

2008-07-11T06:56:00.001-07:00

So yesterday, I (Heather) go to the office of the Red Nacional de Comercializacion Comunitaria (RENACC), where I think I will be working. There is a formal presentation and welcome for me, lunch, meeting -- very nice. Then I find out I will be working at a different office with a women´s economic foundation which is a member of RENACC. OK. So, I´m off to my new office in a few minutes. But... apparently it´s only for a month and a half. I will check in again at the end of August to update you on the office shuffle.

POST SCRIPT, 1 week later: Work is going very well at Fundacion Uñatatawi and I really can´t complain at all. I have a desk, computer, internet access, and helpful people around me. Some of my Canadian colleagues are working quite a bit from home and internet cafes where they have access to the web. It´s not ideal from a teamwork perspective, but I can see the reason for it. Flexbility is a job requirement... I think this is a lesson for me!

Settling into La Paz is easier than we´d expected

2008-07-09T08:41:00.000-07:00

We´ve only been one week in La Paz and already we are starting to settle in. We arrived safe and sound in La Paz on June 30th, except for Kayla who had nausea the first day.

We have rented an apartment in the fairly wealthy area of Sopocachi, by Bolivian standards. It´s a 3-bedroom close to the CECI office. PROS : sunny, large, shared garden, fully furnished, filled with the owners paintings, in a block of 5 large houses converted to aparments so it feels like a home. CONS : squeaky floors, chipped tiles and cupboards, lumpy mattress, and... lukewarm showers.

The best news... there is a very nice, clean pool, sauna, and hot tub facility only 1 block away! So, despite the cool showers we will be able to warm up at the "hidro masaje" and I won´t be missing my hot tub in Calgary too much. Who would have expected to find this in a country ranked as 3rd poorest in the Americas, after Haiti and Nicaragua?

The city actually has many amenities such as movie theatres, private gyms and sports clubs, lively arts scene, and even horseback riding lessons -- it is a just a question of who can afford them. Atleast the many parks and playgrounds are open to everyone, public transit is inexpensive (about 15 cents per bus ride) and the museums are relatively inexpensive.

The friendliness of the people came as a surprise too. We were expecting more wariness of foreigners, and with such a large indigenous population, more time for people to get to know us before becoming friendly. CECI office staff have been tremendously helpful and welcoming, even more than I´d expect as part of their job. So far we have met 4 neighbours, all very nice. Two have said they will come and visit us on the weekend, one helped us move our suitcases, and another offered to take us shopping with her on Sunday.

So we have to say we are off to a good start.