Bolivia warmly recommended

10  days in Bolivia, should have been months if not years. A land locked country with a navy, a very high percentage of indigenous people, poor but still well functioning, and beautiful beyond description. We spent a day in la Paz (where there, in spite of rumours are no oxygen machines on street corners), then a two day cruise on the amazing Lake Titikakka for a couple of days, where the Incas are said to have started their empire from the Isla del Sol.
After Lake Titicaca we took a 4 hour bus ride and 7 hour train to Uyuni in the South West, followed by 3 days 2 nights "safari" on the salt flats, created after climate change evaporated an inland sea at 4000 meters above sea level and the highland desert bordering the Andes mountain range.
For anyone who wants an experience of a lifetime, this is the place.

Condors and llamas and guns

Dressed up for?? and the pigeons liked them or the bird seeds maybe

The colours are beautiful always

Some Spanish influence on the old town

La Paz, one walks slowly on the steep streets, not much oxygen here in the worlds highest capital

Apart from corn and potatoes, bread is also a staple, and it's good

Takes a bag of popcorn to a whole new level

Studying picture of a blessing by the priest of her car

The car and truck car blessing priest

Village on Isla del Sol, Lake Titikaka

Lake Titikaka, 8000 sq.km at 3,800 meters

It does feel like an ocean

She was not happy to have her picture taken while spinning her
wool

Shaman is blessing us, and burning symbols for all that could be good. For  us prosperity for the kids

Salt harvesting, each pile is a ton, and sale for 25O BS (40 US)

Ice fishing? No, just a picnic on the salt flats

12,000 sq.km of this salt "lake"

She got me

Always a word of advice or instruction

Vicunas, they don't need a lot of green to survive

Up here over 4000 meters lagoon with hundreds of flamingos

The beautiful Andes  over the highland desert, about 4000 m.a.s

Llamas everywhere, they stay within a small area and owner

will check on them every 2 weeks or so

Into the jungle

A trip into the deep jungle. Once again it was possible to get to a whole new climate zone within a short distance from home. A drive of 5 hours over the mountain and down into the amazon basin to Lago Agrio.
This smallish town is THE entry point for oil companies exploring the resources in the rain forest. So far a big national park is off limit for the destruction, but the encroachment has begun, very sad future for these beautiful areas.

Canoe with 12 tourists

We parked the car in this small sad looking town and were picked up in a minibus heading two hours east to a river where the real trip started, 2 - 3 hours downriver in motorised canoe to Jamu Lodge (Armadillo lodge), where we stayed for 2 nights with hiking and canoe trips into the steamy wet and  fascinating jungle.

snake bird

and they could jump

crane

swimming in the middle of the lagoon where (they said)
anacondas and caimans did not come

amazing flooded forests

main lodge building with restaurant

a cold drink and a hammock, not bad

Small anaconda, just about 4 meters

walkway to the river

shoreline of lagoon with caimans (saw them only on night trip, shining eyes)

sunset in one more paradise

parrots all over the place

capuchine monkey

Tarzan's territory

spider monkey

dolphins on the road??

   Another great experience and reminder why I don't appreciate very, very hot and very, very humid climate, everything damp, mildewy, rotten, and sweaty insect bitten bodies. We were down in only 300 m.o.sea level, so tropical in true sense, and incredible that these rivers drain into the amazon river which then run with this small fall all the way to the Atlantic.

one off the bucket list

Our weekend trips continue to be great experiences. A couple of weekends ago the school had a four day weekend. We had decided to spend one night at Quilotoa Crater, an old volcano where the crater now is a beautiful lake, we hiked the crater rim last year with Sarah, this year it was just a one night stop-over on the way to Salinas, a small village south of Chimborazo.

Saturday afternoon while we were hiking a bit around the crater lake, we could see the Volcano Tungurahua, which is close to Banos and about 75km from where we were, erupt.

Next morning cloudy no sights of the nature wonder. We drove down to Salinas to visit a village known for its small cooperatives making salt, coffee, textiles, chocolate and the best cheese I have tasted since last time I had good Danish products of that sort.

On the trip to Salinas we took the back roads, small one lane muddy, slippery and at times rather scary down and up mountain sides. 130km which took a whole days driving. But it was worth it, beautiful scenery and the adrenaline rush when clinging to the hillsides did make one feel quite alive at times. The end was Salinas very picturesque little village

Two days were the plan for Salinas, but the thought of maybe seeing a volcano in full eruption (an experience that's been on the bucket list) was too much. So off to Banos and a Hacienda we know with full view of the volcano from the windows of the rooms.

We got our wish, impressive sights and the sounds and occasional rattling of windows from the eruptions all night were incredible.  One do feel small and insignificant when nature shows its might.

Next morning the car and leaves on bushes and trees were covered in a thin layer of ashes, and as always we are the lucky ones, we can pack up and leave while people living there will have to deal with cleaning up and living with the consequences of natures fury including very, very dangerous air quality for days maybe weeks.



Quilotoa crater lake



Tungurahua seen from Quilotoa




Going down to a village 'way down there' and then up other side, means short distances take long-long time

heading down to get salty water for salt production




bringing milk to the cheese factory



drying mushroom,,and laundry



Salinas village (quaint, isn't it?)




Chimborazo with a vicuna (wild relative of llamas
Highest mountain in Ecuador 6310m, on the top, due to the curve of the earth, one is the closest to the sun possible on this planet

picnic on the paramo

Volcano seen from hacienda room