Journeys in the Southern Hemisphere

So after spending a few days in Sucre, soaking up the atmosphere, eating too much chocolate going on some great trips, one to the seven waterfalls, a beautiful place outside of the town where there are, hence the name, 7 waterfalls to swim in, explore and generally just enjoy the wonderful scenery! Another to an indigenous market village about 3 hours outside of the town called Tarabucco, which is a really interesting historically as it held one of the largest battles in the war for independence, in which the Bolivians won by pulling out the hearts of the Spanish conquistadors, a lovely statue displays this in the middle of the plaza! But I enjoyed just wondering around and admiring the homemade artisania which is all so beautiful! I finally gave in to my inner gringo and bought an alpaca sweater as the following day I was headed to Potosi, the highest city on earth, at 4,090 meters! It was pretty high and therefore my alpaca jumper was much needed! The main event in Potosi is the mines, Potosi was once the richest city in the world due to all its silver and minerals found in the nearby mountains, but all this richness was robbed by the conquistadors which left the city with nothing. The tours of the mines are really interesting especially after watching the documentary The Devil´s Miner which I recommend watching even if you don’t plan to visit the mines. We got the chance to visit the mines which were really harsh and such a difficult condition to work in, it was Hard to believe miners still spend up to 24 hours underground digging, wheelbarrowing and caring tones of rocks everyday! After two hours my lungs were full with enough dust and I really admired these miners who day in day out go down to the mines, I was talking to our guide who said how proud he was to be a miner, in all the conditions they still are proud of what they do, I can only admire them!

As Potosí does not have much we quickly moved on to start out Salar de Uyuni tour, which is one of the must see highlights in Bolivia, the scenery was amazing, the pure while for miles and the dazerling blue sky, but spending 3 days in a jeep isn’t really my idea of fun, only getting out to take photos, with no camera. It was an amazing experience, made better by the group I was with and the delicious food. Another highlight was the Laguna Colorado, and seeing 10000 of flamingos just chilling in the red lake, an awesome sight, although flamingos are a funny creature, the way they stand on one leg! From the whites of the salar we entered the baron landscape of the Atacama Desert, supposedly the driest place on earth I was told, but what bout the Sahara! Crossing into Chile was easy and we found ourselves in the hippy town of San Pedro de Atacama, which was rather touristy, expensive and not much to do! Although I did organize a bike trip to the Luna Valley, which got its name for looking like the moon with the crazy rock formations which were cool, but as it was superhot in the desert it was also kinda difficult cycling on dirt roads for 20 miles! As Chile is famous for its long and extensive cost line, it was off to the beach, either north or south and as I have to go back to Bolivia, it made sense to go north! First stop was Iquique, a cool beach town which wasn’t full of tourist, although I found it difficult talking to the locals as there accent is very difficult to understand compared to the Bolivian accent which I was now used to! I spent my first day swimming in the pacific with Sea Lions and Pelicans, which was every exciting, something I am not used to at home, and eating delicious sea food, a change from the Bolivian mean, rice and potatoes! I then took a leep, as we decided to go Paragliding, which entailed running off a cliff and falling, an amazing experience of flying, I literally was like a bird! There was more cost to explore so we continued up the cost to Arica, the northern most point in Chile. We arrived yesterday morning, and I had another fun filled day of surfing, which I defiantly need more practice at but after 4 hours was able to stand on the board for a few seconds! So its back to the beach for me, I do intend to be spending my birthday on the beach, as it is something which will not happen every year! So I will next be writing as one year older, with all the amazing experiences and skills that South America has given me!

Carnivalismo and Despedidas!

Carnival: one of the most amazing things in this world and I was lucky enough to experience it twice, the first and best which has now been rated the best carnival in the world, according to Bolivia was in Oruro, which is only 4 hours from Cochabamba. Along with the water guns and espuma (sprayable foam) attacks of which a group of about 40 gringos was the best target for all of the children and their parents in the city, we arrived on Friday safe and happy. The festivities started on Saturday and went on all day and night! The dancing, music, atmosphere was so incredible and you just have to admire these dancers who dance for about 8-10 hours, in amazing costumes, (the best have to be the osos, the bears and ositos, little bears) without stopping for out enjoyment! It was just incredible, and as the carnival progressed, so did everyone’s intoxicated level, which just turned the carnival experience into one big fiesta! The espuma fights got bigger, and we started fighting one another, to a state in which I couldn’t see due to the amount of espuma of which I was covered in! and dancing god wilder, with me almost falling of the benches many times, we carnivaled right into the night! Another rather traumatic event , in which we were trying to dance behind the dancers was being tear gassed, for the first time in my life, an experience I would not like to repeat, and then my camera got stolen, so no more pictures, sorry!

So it was a mixed experience but I just cannot explain how amazing it was, carnival is a must experience for everyone, and the Latinos do it best so just come over to this wonderful continent, I’m sure I’ll be up for it next year!

Then there was Cochabamba carnival which was on a different level to that in Oruro, the first group I saw were the tigers and babies, in which fully grown men were dressed up as babies, rather twisted but comical nonetheless! After my attempts at dancing in the carnival failed, I was still there to support my friends, who managed to make it to the practice! The Tinkus dance which is one of the oldest and most cultural dance from the Potosi region was performed wonderfully and all we could do was support them!

Since all the carnival festivities I have been trying to organize my life, which is no more organized here than in London, and therefore saying goodbye to my kids who I have been with was a difficult experience, probably more for me than them, as I was the one weeping! As well as my host family who with all the ups and downs have been lovely and I was accepted completely into their family, so that was also difficult to say goodbye. Although I have left a collection of my belongings in cocha, which is probably just a excuse to go back to my Bolivian home! I arrived in Sucre this morning after a 13 hour bus ride not made better by the crazy bus driver who kept bumping into everything, including another bus while reversing out of the terminal, and the intense rain , which delayed us even more, and the man who was sitting next to me, who would not stop snoring! All part of the Bolivian bussing experience, I am now in Sucre, which to my enjoyment is famous for its chocolate! Not sure where or what I’m doing next but it’s all part of the Adventura de Rosa which is now very much in swing!