Bolivia....Reflections

Vanessa the sexy Cowgirl

We don’t do horses but in Tupiza, after ordering two 12 inchers topped with pepperoni and onions, the thing to do is swing your leg over a horse and ride off into the sunset.

Tupiza is the Wild West of Bolivia and reputedly its where Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid met their demise. The small town is surrounded by brillantly coloured rock formations so we decided to take a three hour horse trek through a canyon along a dry river bed. Luckily our horses were ‘automatic’ even though Vanessa’s ‘grey’ had a couple of frisky moments. It was another fantastic experience in stunning scenery and again we were fortunate to have lovely warm sunshine. It was the perfect finale to our time in Bolivia.

After a slow, cold and difficult start to our month here, we’ve had an incredible finish, particularly with Vanessa’s mum and Gary joining us for the jaw dropping three day tour of Uyuni’s salt lake and surrounding deserts.

We won’t miss the cold, the altitude, the tepid food or some of the incredibly bad service particularly by the women who’s looks could kill if you dare walk inside their shop or restaurant  to give them any business, but the last week will definitely be a highlight of our whole nine month trip.

 

DAYS SPENT:  30

TRANSPORT:  6 buses, 3 boats, 8 taxis, 2 planes, 1 4WD, 1 horse

NUMBER OF PLACES WE STAYED:  13 (5 hotels, 5 hostels, 1 homestay, 1 backpackers, 1 dormitory)

ITEMS LOST/BROKEN:  none

FAVOURITE EATERY:  Juliano’s in Rurrenabaque

WILDLIFE SPOTTED: llamas, alpacas, vicunas, toucan, sloth, caiman, pink river dolphins, eagles, turtles, storks, howler monkeys, one rare red howler monkey who fell out the tree as soon as he saw us, squirrell monkeys, capaccino monkeys, parrakeets, macaws, flamingos

TOURS TAKEN: 3 Day Pampas Tour  of the Amazon Basin in Rurrenabaque, 3 day tour of Uyuni Salt Lake and Deserts, Horse Trekking in Tupiza

BEST VALUE FOR MONEY:  £9 for a three hour horse trek through a stunning canyon in Tupiza