T R A V E L .S T O R I E S

»Kayaking on Lake Titicaca

»The Choro Trail: trekking the Zongo Valley to Coroico

»Venezuela: Kayaking in the Orinoco Delta

S L I D E S H O W S:

»The Sama Reserve in Tarija

»Two Weeks in Apolobamba: Trekking, Camelids & Kallawayas

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J U L Y / 0 6

Monday July 31 2006

Extreme Wrestling Bolivia presents: The Titans of the Ring

It's 2 against 1 as the "Mummy Ramses II" takes on the dynamic chollita-dwarf duo "El Alto Martha & The Sacred Little Mask" at El Alto's regular Sunday Lucha Libre.

Among the cast of reguar wrestling characters are Commando, Red Baron, Mister Atlas, Dementia, Ana the Avenger, and Diabolical. This week the Big Fight for the Big Trophy was between Jaider Lee "Acrobat of the Ring" and Raflex "The Rudest". Rude it was, and wacky, and good natured and very, very Bolivian. 

Raflex (in red velour) takes a top-rope belly-flop onto Jaider Lee and the very Arbitrary Arbitrator otherwise known as the Ref.

Acrobatic Jaider and rude Raflex getting into a twist before flipping into an airborne pretzel move.

Shouting "dale! dale!" - go! go! - and lobbing pop bottles, orange peels and bits of smashed up crates - broken over any one of The Titans heads - into the ring, the crowd eats up all the drama, suspense and deceit of yet another Sunday afternoon in the ring.

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Bert and his elegant flying machine, at the Laguna Espejo, or Mirror Lagoon, on the Salar Coipasa.

Sunday July 30 2006

Flying on two wheels through the Salar Coipasa

The Salar Coipasa, a smaller version of the world's largest salt lake the Salar de Uyuni (just south of Coipasa), is like a grand water colour where earth washes into salt, and sky melts into liquid.

Giant Trichoreus cacti dwarf Frank and Bert and the ubiquitous grazing llamas.

The calm and shallow waters around the Salar create optical tricks that make earth and sky melt together, giving one a sense of weightlessness and infinite freedom.

Peddling hard across a section of rough pebbly salt, against a biting cold head wind. We underestimated the time that a circumnavigation of Isla Coipasa would take - which resulted in a long and cold ride in the dark.

In places the surface of the salar is like a giant cracked egg. 

A cairn at the shore of the lake, probably built by salt miners to mark the road onto the Salar, is made from slabs of salt.  

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Sunday July 23 2006 

Public toilets, thata way....
Desaguedero, Bolivia/Peru border 

Monday July 17 2006

The Palca Canyon

A walk through the Palca Canyon, an hours drive south of La Paz, starts in the hilltop village of Huni and finishes a few hours later in the former mining town of Palca. Snow-topped Mt. Illimani makes for a mesmerising backdrop to the red columns of the canyon.

A towering obelisk makes for a dramatic entrance to the canyon gorge.

Happy Birthday La Paz!

After walking through the peaceful Palca canyon, we arrived in the town of Palca during a formal birthday parade. Children bumbled around the plaza, accompanied by the school band, dressed as grown-ups in Cholla outifts and soldiers uniforms. Aymara pan-flute players accompanied the village elders and the school teachers marched by dressed in formal blue suits. This weekend all of La Paz is celebrating the city's 197th birthday with dancing and parades, drinking and loud music, and a sobering-up holiday on Monday.

A group of Chollas show the Bolivian colours.

Municipal workers march with the colours of the Aymara flag (the Wipala).

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Wednesday July 12 2006

Butcher shop sign, Alto Sopocachi, La Paz

In the multiple-use, no-zoning world of Bolivian cities, it is common to find a mechanics workshop next to a posh house, or a manufacturer next to a hospital. At best it is convenient to have a hospital close by to a sawmill, and with signs like ToYoVoL's, makes for a visually stimulating streetscape. At worst the cities are noisy, congested and a firefighter's worst nighmare.

In the news

As always, there have been some bizarre and historic things happening here in Bolivia. Here's a smattering of what has recentlly caught my atttention:

- A news piece on the telly last night: 3 kilometers of electric wire, used to power the lights along the steep highway between El Alto and La Paz, had been stolen right off the posts in broad daylight.

-Two weeks ago the national elections for the Constituent Assembly (who will re-write the Bolivian constitution) were elected, and a referendum held on whether the provinces should have the right to autonomous government. The elections were very quiet, with MAS (Movimiento al Socialismo, Evo Morales' party) pulling in the largest chunk of votes.

- Ethnic tensions between the altiplano Kollas and lowland Cambas continue to mount. A group of extremist young men calling themselves "Talibanos Indigenas" from El Alto, are in a kind of boot-camp training to counter-attack the "Juventud Cruceña", radical right-wing thugs from Santa Cruz.

- Members of a tourist thievery ring including three Bolivian policemen and several Peruvians were arrested by the National Police last week. Operating in the popular tourist areas of Copacabana, Tiahuanacu and Desaguedero, the accused are being charged with the 2005 murder of an Austrian couple who were abducted by two men posing as police officers.

- The "Miss Belleza Aymara" contest was held this week. Twelve chunky Chollas, dressed in their finest layer-cake skirts and embroidered shawls, their bowler hats adorned with gold pendants and chains, competed for the title of the most beautiful Ayamara woman of 2006. What a contrast to the TV images of the cleavages of the slender contestants at the Miss Universe Pagaent, unfolding this week in LA.

Thursday July 06 2006

The view of lively Plaza Avaroa from our temporary home in Sopocachi.

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T R A V E L .S T O R I E S

Two weeks in Apolobamba (Aug 05) click here for slideshow

This region north of Lake Titicaca, high up on the Altiplano, is home to the Cordillera Apolobamba. Apart from stunning peaks, creaking glaciers, Inca trails and Vicuñas (dainty little camelids, a smaller, shyer version of an alpaca) this remote area is home to the well-respected Kallawayas (travelling shamans), goldminers, weavers and Alpaca breeders, amongst others who try to eke out a living in this rugged land.

Life is tough on the Altiplano:

An elderly couple getting off the bus in the barren Ulla Ulla Vicuña Reserve, in the Apolobamba protected area. As I squinted under the blinding sun, I couldn't see a house or village anywhere. I wondered how they would carry themselves and their heavy sacks as the elderly man was blind and could hardly walk, and his wife was frail and hunched over from years of back-breaking work. I often thought of them as I struggled over 5000 meter passes and shivered in the biting cold during a five-day trek through the Southern Apolobamba range.

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While contemplating the implications of our taxi's second flat tire, I explored this high-altitude cemetery on the Tarija-Villazon road, one of Bolivia's many unpaved Autopistas.

Reserva Biológica de Cordillera Sama (May 05) click here for slideshow

Three hours drive, and 1800 meters up from the Southern City of Tarija lies a basin on the Altiplano containing four lagoons punctuated with pink flamingos, a wandering sand dune and dozen or so traditional pueblos. This is the Sama Reserve, a protected area since 1996, and breathtakingly beautiful. The Reserve has had much attention from international aid agencies, and is being developed for eco-tourism. There is a new Albergue in pueblo Tajzara operated by the community. From here just the views alone - of the lagoons at sunrise and emerging stars at sunset - make the journey to this isolated park worth the effort.

We spent two days exploring the area on mountain bikes, followed by an overnight hike down a well-preserved pre-Inca trail to the wine-making valley of Tarija.

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Two Warao boys paddle into the village of Curiapo, South Orinoco Delta, Venezuela.

Kayaking on the River Orinoco click here for more photos

"Puri Puri", or sand fly, was our speed boat captain's name, and he drove like a stinging insect should: persistent, swift and ruthless. His built-for-speed wooden boat was saddled with two 70 horse-power motors. It felt like we were riding on the top of an hydrofoil, flying above the surface of the water, except for the rhythmic bashing against waves. Before take-off, we were directed to load our gear in front. Meanwhile, the remaining eight local passengers scrambled for the back. They knew what they had coming. Gorgé, the doctor in Curiapo, expertly applied his rain gear as if preparing for surgery. The woman in front of me, positioned her young son against her breast and tightly wound a plastic sheet over her shoulders, hermetically sealing herself and her child into one. "Are these people cautious, or what?", I thought as the raindrops, and the 140 horsepowers, started. At first the torrential downpour was refreshing, within ten minutes I was starting to shiver, and my lower spine and pelvic bone felt like they were beginning to fracture.

Sitting on top of our two kayak bags wedged between wooden planks, we were getting a serious walloping at the front of the boat. I kept my head down, occasionally peering out at the magnificent scenery whilst gulping for air. When we arrived at Curiapo, our destination, three hours later, sun- and wind-burned, hair standing on end (even Frank's) and ears pasted to the sides of our heads, we threatened: "This had better be good," ... and it was.

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In the pouring rain, Frank does his best "Hunchback of Notre Dame" impression by draping his poncho over his backpack. We kept asking ourselves, "if this is the dry season, what's it like in the wet?"

Trekking the Choro Trail (Aug 14-19, 2004) click here for more photos

Back in January 2004, my partner Frank and I had made an attempt at walking the El Choro Trail. It was the rainy season, and we knew we were taking a risk at walking when the path would be slippery, and storms could last for days. What we didn't foresee, was that we would never even make it to the trail head to start the trip.

After missing the 6 am bus to Zongo, our starting point two hours up the road, we haggled with a "Taxista" to to take us there. We felt we'd gotten off to a bad start, but had overcome our temporary hurdles and were on our way. Now in the rusty old taxi, bouncing up the bumpy mud road through fog and light drizzle, we were soon watching the road through a blurry patch in the windshield made by a single makeshift wiper feebly smudging snowflakes to one side. The taxi would repeatedly sputter to a halt and, after a carburetor adjustment, cough back into action. But before too long we were outside in a blizzard, pushing the now dead taxi uphill in minus 7 degree temperatures. At 4600 meters altitude, our lungs felt like they would explode from the exertion. Panting, Frank and I looked at each other and agreed that there were too many bad signs to start the trip that day.

We turned back to La Paz, determined to hike El Choro in the dry season the following August.

Upon returning to La Paz seven months later, we were very excited to hear reports of clear skies, warm temperatures and that a brand new taxi would be waiting to take us up to Zongo the following day.

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Kayaking on Lake Titicaca (Oct 2-9, 2004) click here for more photos

"Maki pur kama!" we waved to the fishermen as we back-paddled out of the plank landing on the Island of Tiquiri. We had learned the night before how to say "hasta luego/see you later" in Ayamara, the language of the people of this land. This was our third morning of a seven-day paddle around Lake Titicaca, the highest navigable lake on earth.

The light here is intoxicating. At 3860 meters, an ether of thin air, intense sunshine, blue sky and ultra marine water crystallizes focus, saturates colours and deepens shadows. Ultra vivid scenes filled our minds and hearts as we navigated our way past rocky coastline, tiny islets, tranquil white-sand beaches and cliff hanging Inca Ruins.

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Thanks for visiting.

all photographs lindsay simmonds ©2005/2006