After ten days of adventures in the south of the country, the chickens are attacking some of the wonders of northern Bolivia. Starting with the largest city in the country, La Paz, also seat of the government. We will then act as adventurers on the edge of the jungle.
We stop sulking and we do La Paz
Our visit of La Paz takes place in three times. Indeed the chickens will radiate around this incredible city nestled in the heart of a canyon, and an average altitude of 3650m. After a nice night bus ride, we cross the city centre with our backpacks. First observation, it may be peaceful, but it’s not flat! Our journey is not that long but we try to optimize climbs and descents because here there is not a single street that does not pull the legs.
A million and a half people live in the metropolis, and that feels. The traffic is really dense during peak hours and the cloud of pollution is literally above our heads. There is 800m difference in altitude between the valley and the “surface” of the canyon. So when you start your old diesel to reassemble everything, at some point you cross what comes out of your exhaust pipe. And with the hills to climb everywhere, we can’t say that locals are bike lovers or big walkers. This is to believe that there are more buses and taxis than locals. The city, however, has eight lines (and soon ten) of new cable car, but the inhabitants are accustomed to their ultra dense network of public transport. We cross vans everywhere with the windshield lined destinations, changing as and when the trip. It’s quite efficient and you can get anywhere fast enough.
We try the cable car with four Swiss friends met a little further north, on the edge of the Amazon, we will return on this a little later. They are quite excited by discovering that the whole system is Swiss made. They may not be so good at football, but by cable car, they provide. The lines are mainly used to cross the city from high to fast, flying over the skyscrapers, and climbing a few hundred meters in passing. For the chickens and their friends it’s a great way to discover La Paz from an original angle, really unusual in the heart of a dense urban environment. We fly over football training, neighborhood parties, fanfares but also and unfortunately very poor neighborhoods where living conditions are radically different with our passenger means of transport. La Paz is perhaps home to some of the richest citizens in the country, but like all big cities, it is synonymous with extreme poverty in some neighborhoods.
We hear a lot of different opinions on La Paz. We now understand why she divides. It is a sprawling urban monster offering little tourist attractions, certainly. But it is also a unique city, where each ride hurts the lungs and legs, where office workers in shirts and matriarchs in traditional dress, and where you cross your fingers to avoid having to braking uphill by bus, because if we stall, we go back! The chickens loved their urban parenthesis. But maybe it was to better fly to the forest…
Rurrenabaque, alligator river tour
After an express flight we avoid a day of bus on one of the most difficult roads of the country (it’s not so much a question of comfort as tight timing, yeah yeah), we land in the charming little town of Rurrenabaque. We lost 3500m altitude, gained 20 ° C and took 60% humidity in one hour! Here we are in another country.
Our visit here is solely motivated by excursions from Rurre’. Are offered stays of several days to choose in the Amazon rainforest, called “selva”, or in the Bolivian pampas, known as “pampas”. The first destination mainly delights fans of survival-type adventures or at least untouched because it goes to meet villages located in the heart of the Selva. The second is quieter and focuses mainly on the discovery of wild animals… A little rushed by the weather, and especially scared by the daily attacks of mosquitoes and flies in the forest, we decide to embark for three days and two nights in the pampas.
Our small group of adventurers for our expedition consists of Catherine and François, two sports teachers traveling in South America, as well as four Swiss neighbors Eleonore, Marie, Nicolas and Marc, freshly graduated from medicine and traveling between friends before discovering the joys of workers life. After three hours by car, we embark in a pirogue with our local guide Nacho for four hours of stroll to discover the local fauna.
We are in the dry season and the river on which we sail is the only water point in the region. So there is an impressive amount of life! The shores are dotted with dozens of bird species ranging from herons to kingfishers to storks and cormorants. We even have the chance to see a toucan in full flight! Trees do not only shelter birds. The sloths are also tenants of the place (although we have unfortunately not seen…), just like the monkeys. We meet two species, little squirrel monkeys very playful and very interested in our pantry, and howler monkeys red and black. These “sing” in the morning, it replaces the rooster, and it’s rather original. Having the impression that we were preparing a pig for lunch, Ben, hungry, jumps out of bed and looking for what causes the noise before returning rather disappointed:
The most impressive animals are still the capybaras, these huge rodents looking like XXL guinea pigs, the piranhas, these small fish with sharp teeth and that we fish with red meat, but especially the alligators and caimans! It’s not like you see a pair of eyes from time to time… There are tens, even hundreds, everywhere. Some lounging on the edge of the water, others bathe and disappear when we approach them, the largest do not seem to care about us and do not hesitate to come very close (very very close) of the pirogue if the urge takes them to cross the river as one passes. And then they have this craze to stay open mouth waiting for it to happen, to show us their teeth. It’s impressive. Good little alligators of thirty centimeters, it’s funny, but the big caimans of three meters is something else! You are less brave when your guide asks you to put your feet in the water to push the boat! And this sound when they shut their mouth while the whole pampa relaxes… CLAC! Like to say to everyone “maybe you’re the next one with your Chinese selfie pole that exasperates me” (yeah Ben decided to film them in close-up).
Even if the rest of the activities were not really amazing (the stalking with the anaconda in full dodger to return empty-handed for example) and spending a lot of time taking a nap in hammocks (to pay to sleep, it has the effect of exasperating the chickens), we liked a lot this expedition. And then we met other nice Swiss, which can be practical for our next vacation in the land of clocks (well there is also the human side to make friends, to share great moments, all that all it).
Extended weekend on the edge of the Titicaca Lake
The last stop for the chickens in Bolivia is the mythical Lake Titicaca. Being three short hours by bus from La Paz, it would be a shame not to see with our eyes this gigantic lake looking like inland sea. And then everyone agrees that it is beautiful and floats on his shore a peaceful air. Go in boat!
We put our suitcases in Copacabana, a Bolivian seaside resort on the shores of the lake. The city looks like its Brazilian namesake except that we are still over 3800m above sea level and strings are rare on the beach! There are some pedal boats and small boats available to go round on the water, it does not motivate the crowds. The high season has not started yet and the small town is bathed in a slightly sleepy activity. The touts of restaurants and cafes struggle to fill their terrace. Here, just one of them tells us something! Patricio, our Uruguayan friend with whom we made cement at Fernanda and Julio in Cafayate, Argentina! Just like us, he and his guitar travelled through northern Argentina, from Bolivia to Copacabana, where he has been working for a few days in a restaurant. But once is not custom, it will not last long since our advice on the pampa is mouth watering. The future will tell if he went to care for the little monkeys injured.
Well, friends are good, but we are also here to visit. As any good tourist Lake Titicaca Bolivian side, we embark on a day trip on the Isla del Sol a few kilometers off Copacabana. The area is dotted with Inca ruins and the most beautiful are found on this island. So that’s on paper, because it’s actually a bit more complicated. The main Inca site in the area is located on Isla del Sol, in the northern part of the island, but the problem is that the community living in the south feels that it does not receive enough royalties on tourism related to this archaeological site. As a result, access to the northern part of the island is simply closed. As much to tell you that this information is not really communicated to the village and these are just conclusions we draw from travellers. People are not dishonest either, they tell us straight away that it is inaccessible, and that’s how it is. We will never know what we missed but we have the impression of having visited Brussels without having to eat fries (beef fat with a house mayo and a jug of Jupiler, the package). Understand that we still had a great day to walk in the sun (Isla del Sol means island of the sun, in case you do not follow).
No cars, no scooters, just donkeys and llamas driven by small ladies wearing a hat (it’s not pejorative but it’s really a small people, Ben feels good). Men, often very old, work in the fields. The years of toil can be read on their engraved face always sketching a smile as we pass. Life here seems peaceful but still difficult. The economy is based on agriculture practiced here for centuries. The Incas had developed hillside terraces still in use today, which is quite impressive. There is not a square meter of land that will not produce. It reminds us of the agricultural frenzy of northern Vietnam or the beautiful rice paddies of Batad in the Philippines. In passing, note that Ben is spit on (three times) by a lama a bit grumpy. Nothing slobbery, just a little chewed grass. It will teach him to go bother local while they graze.
A new little bus trip and we are back to La Paz, a city from which we will fly for our next adventures. We leave South America after just over two months from Buenos Aires to La Paz. There were difficult times, especially in the country of Diego Maradona, but all this is behind the chickens, Bolivia has enchanted us with these varied and authentic landscapes. We were expecting a lot from our stay here and we can say that Bolivia has lived up to the reputation it has! We find ourselves after twenty-one hours of travel, three planes (and as many risks as LATAM still lose our luggage…), on another continent but still with Latin connotation: Mexico! But that’s for the next article of the chickens travellers.
See you soon,
Audrey & Ben