After 2 nights in Buenos Aires, one being at ´La Bomba´ (an awesome spectacle of drumming and large beers) I flew to La Paz to continue where I had left off. This time I met my two friends Alanna and Meg. After 2 nights in a party hostel, nanna Katie was ready for some relaxing time in Las Pampas but not before the downhill bike ride along the death road, which was rather easy when you ride like a nanna.
Las Pampas was amazing, I have never cruised down a river both during the day and night with so many animals, caymen and aligators where everywhere, Capybaras(largest rodent in the world, kind of looks like a wombat with longer legs). Toucans and many other birds but unfortunately no anaconda. We stayed at an Eco lodge which was pretty basic but a step up from camping, loved it all. The entire 3 days were so peaceful and we finished off with some piranha fishing. I caught a very small one but it jumped straight back into the water so I can´t really count it, but I will. One reason I chose to hit the jungle was the chance of seeing pink dolphins. We had a wonderful afternoon in the boat watching the dolphins come up and out of the water, never long enough for a good photo mind you, but it was certainly a highlight for me.
After La Paz it was off to Sucre where we could find some nice restuarants and chill out while elections were happening. Coming straight from La Paz it felt so different form the Bolivia I knew thus far. The main plaza had a slight european influence(mas o menos). Unfortunately, I was not well so I missed out on a few activities. All in all it was a great city to eat a variety of foods and we certainly welcomed the large supermarket with many items much missed!
After Sucre we headed to Uyuni to check out the salt flats which were rather incredible. We just took a one day tour but got a real feel for the sheer expanse of them. The best challenge was taking the photos, with no depth perception (I think thats it?) we came up with some great prop photos! Uyuni itself felt in the middle of nowehere but one night was all we were after as Tupiza was next on the list.
Just like Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid we rode horses through the canyons and dessert of Tupiza. It was spectacular and probably a highlight of mine in Bolivia (thanks for the tip Farah!). I did say I would never get on a horse again mum but it was well worth it and my horse was happy to be the leader, so that suited me fine!
From Tupiza we took an uneasy bus ride to cross the border into Argentina. I enjoyed all that I did in Bolivia it is a country with such diverse landscape etc... It has a lot to offer but it is the tougher of all Sth American countries (that I have been to) to travel through so Argentina here I come!
