After the excitement of Cuzco, we headed south to Puno and then over the border to Bolivia near the shores of Lake Titicaca. Our first stop in Bolivia was Isla Del Sol, the island on the lake that the Inca´s believed was the site of the creation of the sun and their ancestors. We decided to spend 2 nights on the island to give ourselves time to walk the full length of the island and enjoy the stunning sunsets and sunrises. The views are beautiful due to the altitude (clear air and plenty of sunshine) and it´s strange to look across the water at the snow-capped mountain peaks that are low on the horizon. We weren´t overly impressed by the ruins but definitely glad to have gone out onto the lake.
Next stop was La Paz where we stayed in a pretty little colonial-style hotel near the main government buildings and sorted out our next adventure down to the Amazonian basin. We decided that rather than cycle down what used to be the world´s most dangerous road, we would risk the 20-hour bus journey down the new road which is almost as perilous! The journey went remarkably smoothly, a comment I was free to make from my non-window seat whilst I laughed at Stu´s white knuckles on some of the tighter turns!
The bus deposited us in Rurrenabaque, which is the jumping-off point for tours into both the pampas and jungle. We booked a 3-day trip into each area to do some wildlife spotting and warm up after 3 weeks on the altiplato. The pampas was a great place to see animals and birds, mostly from the comfort of a boat. We went on one walk to find anacondas and were rewarded with a sighting of a 3m long snake – a baby apparently! I was impressed by the pink river dolphins (not what I was expecting to see in land-locked Bolivia) and the funny-looking capybara. We also saw loads of caimans, terrapins, cute little squirrel monkeys and various birds. The accommodation was not free from wildlife either as we had bats roosting above our bed and frogs sharing the bathroom - definitely a back to nature experience!
When we returned from the pampas we spent one night in town before taking a boat in the other direction into the rainforest of Madidi National Park. We found it was more difficult to see animals in the jungle but enjoyed visiting the macaw nesting site and also managed to glimpse several types of monkeys and some wild pigs through the trees. Our guide also showed us how to make jewellery from nuts and fruits found in the forest so we got to make our own souvenirs.
Unfortunately the flights that we wanted to take back to La Paz were unable to take-off in the rain due to the runways in the area all just being grass so we had to brave the road back to La Paz again. For our second journey we opted for the quicker jeep transfer but it was still pretty hair-raising when the road got muddy! We made it back in one piece though, finally got the news that Stuart´s an uncle (congratulations Helen and Olly!) and are now planning our next trip south to the Salar De Uyuni.
