Bolivia

Had a wonderful time in the Bolivian Amazon. Great group of people -just met 2 of them again in a nearby street here in La Paz! We saw monkeys, pink dolphins - captured one on camera at last but all you´ll see in this photo is a hump!



Alligators by the hundreds.. we went swimming with the dolphins and the alligators, apparently the dolphins keep the alligators at bay?? Well our guide was a funny old guy but we believed him.

Josh is in the photo hanging on to the boat while that alligator `bump' glides around in the background encouraged by Jamie!

We saw anacondas and cobras, big birds and a sloth lazily swinging in the wind, stretching out a paw to grab some leaves as they swayed towards him. (It´s the dark triangle in the centre of the photo.)








And then it was back to La Paz and on to the Salar of Uyuni. More days of jolting around in a jeep covered in dust (the lady in the lavanderia knows just where I´ve been by the colour of my clothes each time I take them in), but this was truly a spectacular experience.


The flamingoes had arrived just 2 weeks ago on their annual migration and they were a very special sight. Flocks of them in all the lagunas. (I think I´m turning into one of those birding people!)

We skirted the western border with Chile past volcanoes shared by both countries.There were islands in the salt plains with coral grottos from the time when it was part of an inland lake.

Vanessa (a Swiss member of our group) and I knew there was something special about taking photos here. We knew it had something to do with shadow to create an illusion of floating. Got it completely wrong tho´- here I am celebrating my shadow when I needed to face 90 degrees to my left so I would have no shadow!
But we weren´t fussed because we were then treated to a concert on the salt by local musicians who come once a month to celebrate in the Salar.

And now following my third all-night bus ride in 3 weeks, (after vowing 33 years ago post-Magic Bus from Athens that I´d never do it again), I´m back in La Paz. More washing, some shopping, but that is a killer, and I´m now getting ready to leave Bolivia for Peru. I´m heading to Cusco for some more trekking to Machu Piccu.

Adios..my is the Spanish improving!