Bolivia

A year of travels – 14 countries

A year of travels

A year ago today I boarded a plane in London for Madrid, and began a journey that has taken me through fourteen countries in 12 months, culminating back in Spain where I am now. Along the way I have had some amazing high points, and also without doubt some of the most challenging times of my life. The countries I have travelled through are, in this order:

Spain – Guatemala – Honduras – Nicaragua – Costa Rica – Panama – Colombia – Venezuela – Brazil – Ecuador – Peru – Bolivia – Chile – Argentina – Spain

12 months later I am speaking Spanish fairly well (albeit with multi-country accents & vocabulary), I’ve finally learnt some yoga, and I’m in the process of setting up an online English teaching business with an old friend here in Barcelona. You’ll be hearing more about this sooner rather than later as it should be ‘going live’ within the next couple of weeks.

Finally, I just wanted to say a big thank you to all the people I have met along the way. The trip wouldn’t have been the same without you. Special thank-yous to: All at the Cooperative School in San Pedro, Sushi, Francisco, my mother, Paul, Serena, Jameson & Laney, Pete & Heidi, Svayam, Carlos & the Reina Madre crew in Buenos Aires, Rachel, Ben & Marina, Rory/James & Marcela in Spain, and Ana-Maria.

Click here to see some of my trip photo colllections on Flickr.

Tupiza – the wild-west town of Bolivia

Tupiza in Bolivia
Tupiza in Bolivia

Tupiza is a dusty, wild-west Bolivian town. It is surrounded by gorgeous red mountains, desert and cactus. It is a city in Potosi Department. It has an elevation of about 3160 m and the population is around 25.000.

The climate is mild year-round, with most of the rain falling between November and March. From June to August, days are hot, dry and clear, but nighttime temperatures can drop to below freezing.Economically, the town depends on agriculture and mining.

Tupiza has a lot to offer the traveller. Explore the surrounding hills and canyons on horseback which is what I did, experience the mad Bolivian circus that visits the town from time to time or just take a few days out to read books in the pretty central square or by the hotel pool.

Tupiza is also a good stop before heading down to Uyuni – that’s how I did the journey.

Uyuni: A freezing desert city

Uyuni is a freezing cold desert city. The city, which has an altitude of 3675m, is described the following way by the Lonely Planet: “This climatically challenged otherworldly and isolated community today seems to exist only for the tourist hoards who venture out to the extraordinary salares.”

Most tourist come here to book a tour to the Salar de Uyuni and are usually “forced” to spend the night before heading off. It is also the cheapest place to book a tour due to the fierce competition.

I arrived with a big group of people on the bus and we were able to book a Salar de Uyuni trip (3 days, 2 nights) for 550 Bolivians per person.

We all stayed at Hostal Tati- Laura. The rooms were okay, but freezing cold. And the female owner promised us that we would have 24 hours hot water when in fact she locked the shower cabin at all hours except 7-9 in the morning. This meant that when we returned VERY dirty from our Salar de Uyuni trip (not having washed for 3 days) we had to argue with her to get access to a shower.

The days in Uyuni were so cold that the water in the yard of the guest house (used for washing yourself and your dirty clothes) froze completely.

However, if you do stay in Uyuni, go to the local market on Thursday and Sunday. It is a really great place to stock up with wool socks, hats, legwarmers, and gloves before setting out on the Salar de Uyuni trip. And try the potato balls food they sell in the street…very delicious.

Good journey and stay warm 🙂

Sucre: the most beautiful Bolivian city

Sucre is without doubt the most beautiful Bolivian city. Well in fact it is one of the most beautiful cities I have visted in central and South America. The stunning city of Sucre has a rich colonial heritage, evident in its buildings, streetscapes and numerous churches. In 1991 it was declared a UNESCO Cultural Heritage site.

The city has many amazing flowery plazas, good restaurants, indigenous markets and is really a fantastic place to spend at least a few days. Do go to the food market and tast the amazing fruit salats…they are divine and cost hardly anything.

I really find it a shame that La Paz became the governmental capital. Sucre is a much more beautiful place and hence gives a lot better image of Bolivia.

If you visit Bolivia I definitely recommend you to reserve at least three days for Sucre. You will not regret it 🙂

Samaipata – A tourist chill-out place in Bolivia

Samaipata - A beautiful village in Bolivia
Samaipata - A beautiful village in Bolivia

Samaipata is a beautiful village (1650m) 2.5 hours from Santa Cruz. The Bolivians use it as a weekend get-away, but tourist are slowly but surely discovering it as well. This peaceful village in the foothills of the Cordillera Oriental has lots of nice foreign-run, stylish hostels and restaurants.

I stayed in Hotel Paola which has a nice balcony overlooking the beautiful plaza and spent my days reading, going to the used clothes and vegetable market. I also went to visit El Fuerte – the ancient mystical site.

If you’re coming from the lowlands, it’s also a good place to begin altitude acclimatization by degrees.

Very recommended for a relaxing time.

La Paz: A cement jungle with witch-craft shops

La Paz is overwhelming in many aspects, not just because of the altitude of 3660m. From a distance, the city looks like a cement jungle (as on the picture above), but when you move around inside it actually has many beautiful neighbourhoods.

The suburbs are posh, with skyscrapers, colonial houses, and modern glass constructions. But most of the commerce and daily activity takes place further up in the centre of the city where a mass of irregular-shaped steep streets and alleys wind their way skywards. Here you will see lots of street-sellers, neighbourhoods divided into different commerce and witch-craft shops selling llama fetuses.

The sky-high altitude means that warm clothing, sunscreen and sunglasses are essential. I enjoyed the city due to its many faces.

Parque Nacional Madidi – the Bolivian jungle

The jungle in Rurrenabaque, Bolivia
The jungle in Rurrenabaque, Bolivia

The Bolivian jungle includes Parque Nacional Madidi. It is a stunning place. The amazing Rio Madidi features the greatest biodiversity of the earth’s protected regions. Parts of the Parque Nacional Madidi are protected and it has a huge range of wildlife habitats, from rainforests to Andean glaciers at 6000 m.

There are more than 1000 bird species in the parque – which is 10% of the world’s known species. In the non-protected parts of the parque indigenous people continue to live with their traditional pratices: hunting, fishing and utilizing other forest ressources. Up until now the Quechua, Araona and Tacana communities are coexisting happily with the park.

When doing a jungle tour you usually stay for one or two nights in a fairly primitive camp in the jungle itself. During the days the guide will take the group for long walks in the jungle and explain about different kinds of animals and trees that live in the forest. I found it very interesting and enjoyed it a lot.

The tours can bee booked from Rurrenabaque.