We have covered quite a bit of territory since the last blog entry.
We had a treat and spent Christmas at a rather nice hotel in Santa Cruz,Bolivia.On 23rd from Sucre, AeroSur once again ran late, but our luggage turned up , so that was a relief.During the wait we made friends with a young NZ couple travelling around South America. They had been to the salt lakes and had had a marvellous time.We are a bit disappointed that we were not able to do this adventure, but each time we looked at planning it, there were good reasons to postpone it.Now we know that the road would probably have been really really rough and not good at all for Peter's back.Still, Caroline had some great photos which we loved to see, especially the ones you can have fun making because of the lack of perspective.
It was nice to have a hotel pick-up at the airport.We could have been somewhere in the Pacific or North Queensland, as the weather was warm and we had Christmas Day by the pool,with palm trees around.We had company with new friends, a couple from England who are returning to UK after two years as ESL teachers, and the NZ couple who were very happy to join us as the they were at a loose end and in a pokey hostel. We had a really pleasant, totally lazy day.We have out thoughts with folk at home, and it was great to have messages from family and friends. We even struck Morgan and Greg and Ross on messenger.
Christmas Eve we spent walking about the city square.There were lovely decorations of large angels playing instruments and street decorations and lights. This square was the setting for demonstrations only a week or so earlier. Anne marie and Ray had watched a sleep-in going on in this square,from the Irish Pub overlooking the square. The Irish Pub was closed for renovations by the time we arrived.It was very hot by the middle of the day and Peter was really feeling the heat,as we had been up in the higher altitudes for so long. As long as there was aircon he didn't mind where we were!We even went into a shop for a sale as it was airconditioned.That turned into a massive learning curve when I bought a top Peter found.The sales girl wrapped it and then gave me a printout from the computer. She directed me downstairs and also went herself and gave my purchase to someone at the right hand end of a very long counter. I had to take my place in a long queue at the left hand end and wait....and wait....and wait....for my turn.The prices were in American dollars, which I paid.The change was given in Bolivianos,but not before the guy had to work out the exchange rates and then he asked me for some Bolivianos as he didn't have enough change.I then had to go to the other end and collect my parcel, which had been tagged and placed on one of the many shelves according to some system, I guess, but they took a long time to find it!This is done for all purchases.We think it is to do with security for the money.We had heard that sometimes, because they keep the money and change so low, you will be given the equivalent of the shortchanged part ( probably only a few cents worth ) in sweets. This has only happened to us once, in Iguassu Falls.
That night Russ and Trish took us to a Cuban restaurant that did not disappoint, and we had a hearty meal of typical Cuban fare, pork and rice with beans. We walked across the street to Mass for 10pm Mass. The church was packed and we had to stand...which got difficult as it was a very long Mass. There was a lovely choir.A tradition we did not know about was that people bring the infant Jesus from their nativity set and place it around the altar.There are many sizes and styles, as you can imagine, and some are dressed beautifully.We had seen these sets and outfits in the Christmas markets.After Mass the priest blessed both the statues and the people gathered there to collect them, with generous amounts of water.I wished I had realized this, because I would have bought one to have blessed and take home.
Boxing Day we went out to a Biocenter,called Guembe. It is a lovely centre, about a 20 min drive out of Santa Cruz, that concentrates on breeding butterflies.We were given a tour of the laboratory, sort of, and grounds and into a large butterfly dome. There were not many butterflies in there that we could see. However we did return to the dome later to find a sloth, as one fellow had said there were several in there. Well, sharp eyed Pete found one quite quickly.It was a thrill to be able to watch it feeding on the leaves. We could watch closely as we were on a high walking platform.
This park has a camping area and cabins in huge grounds and many pools to swim in Some of the pools have small water falls.We had a lovely swim in a long pool that you do a decent lenght in. There was also a lagoon to paddle kayaks and another to fish. It was easy to spend the day there in such lovely surroundings. Unfortunately, I think I had a burger with a bug and got vomitting and the rest during the night. Thank goodness for stoppers!It was a very long flight to Buenos Aires the next morning.Both of us have have quite a few tummy bugs this trip, which has surprised us as we had not a one in Vietnam/Cambodia. But we do not drink the glass of beer as we did religiously as we did then.
