The Highest Capital in the World, La Paz

We took an evening bus from Puno, Peru to La Paz after spending almost a week on the shores of Lake Titicaca sitting and waiting for funds to arrive in our joint account. The week was probably our lowest point in the trip ironically spent on the shores of the highest navigable lake in the world. Alas, the funds came and we got the first bus out of town and straight to the border. Bolivia is the first country Americans have to pay to enter if they're traveling from north to south, and it's not a light fee either. It's $135 in crisp bills just to step foot on their soil. The obvious idea is that tourists will have to pull out $140 in twenties from an ATM and it is up to the border agent whether or not they have change for you. If the agent is having a bad day, then one of the twenties will be "uncrisp" and rejected. Luckily, he was in a good mood when we crossed and took the money, gave us our change, and let us on our way. Note that the processing of two Americans took longer than any of the 40 other travelers on our bus. So it was back on the bus and into country number four for us in South America. We had heard the stories of Bolivia before coming in: third world, worst buses in the continent, distain for Americans, etc. Like most rumors, we quickly found the opposite to be true. La Paz was gorgeous, the people were inviting, the buses were adequate, and the place was cheap. We arrived in La Paz, found our hostel, and immediately searched out some street food. We found a woman cooking burgers for $0.40 each so I bought three and we scarfed down the best street food we had eaten on the trip.

Great weather for 12,000 feet

The Prado

Iglesia San Francisco

Steep streets 

Dried llamas are buried under houses for good luck 

Treating ourselves to a decent night out 

Llama meat with cheese, prosciutto, and spicy jam

The altitude made us feel lightheaded and out of breath, but we still managed to pack in a lot each day. The day before we left La Paz, we woke up early to take a tour of the city and then took the new tram to the top of the city for the biggest flea market in South America. We had to rush back down in time for Cholitas wrestling, an all-women fight where full beers are used as weapons and the youngest fighters are well under 16 years old.

Daily market

Walking through the streets

View of the main plaza

Plaza Murillo where presidential palace is located

Our juice lady who claims one price and charges another

Old train station

Brand-new tram to the top of the city

View on the way up

The beginning of the large flea market

This car fell 100 feet from the road

As we embarked towards the wrestling match, we were told that although some of the fighters were 15 years old, they had done well enough in school to allow them the privilege to fight. Fair enough. We got to the match, bought a few beers, and settled down. We noticed a young girl from our bus getting ready for the fight and Shanta managed to give her a high five before she perished. These women were punching, kicking, throwing our beer cans at each other, and yelling nasty slurs trying to throw the other off their game. In the end, there were no deaths and we ended up getting some small souvenirs just for attending. If you find yourself in La Paz on a Sunday, this is where to be.

Cholitas in action

No mercy

Shanta giving a cholita some good luck

She stole a beer from the crowd and went crazy 

Me and a cholita back on the bus

We spent the next day walking through San Francisco church which began construction in the 1500s. It was built to try to unite the unruly indigenous under Catholicism. However, the Spanish struggled with this attempt for hundreds of years.

Courtyard in San Francisco Church

The wine cellar in the church

View from the top

Leaving La Paz with a night bus to southern Bolivia

The Amazon via Puerto Maldonado

Once we scoped out the various jungle excursions available in Puerto Maldonado, we decided to do three days and two nights with Monte Amazonico Lodge. Our guide, Mirko, was one of the best we've had since arriving in South America! 

Ready to see the jungle

[ clay lick ]

Our itinerary began with an early morning departure from the dock to visit one of the popular clay licks in the area. Waking up at 4:20 a.m. was well worth the experience. 

Heading off at sunrise

Look familiar?

Making moves

The clay lick is a place where parakeets, parrots, and macaws gather first thing in the morning to lick clay. There are a few theories on why this occurs. One is that since they consume some toxic fruit in the jungle, they need this clay to neutralize those toxins. Another is that they lick the sodium-rich clay for their diet, as they are not close to any ocean.  

Making their way over

Almost there

A handy guide

Scared away!

Over the course of two hours waiting near the lick, the birds got spooked several times. They cautiously make their way to the clay since predators like hawks and jaguars may be on the prowl nearby. 

A few blue-headed parrots in the mix

Most of the parrots and parakeets are green so they do camouflage very well with the surrounding landscape. We were stunned at the amount of birds, in the hundreds, that eventually came to feed. 

[ rainforest hike ]

After the clay lick, we went back to town to pick up the remaining people who would be joining us for the next few days. Then we took an hour long boat ride to the lodge and quickly settled in before taking a hike. 

Caterpillar cuddles

Walking palm tree

These thorns are used as darts by the indigenous people

Strangling tree

Huge vines everywhere

[ monkey island ]

A handful of different species of monkeys were relocated to this island after researchers were done with them 15 or so years ago. The monkeys were eager for the bananas we brought, but waited for the alpha male before proceeding. The alpha male had a big personality and would get jealous easily!

Feeding a young capuchin monkey

Posing for the camera

Alpha is not happy

This little guy is the last of his species on the island

[ caiman night tour ]

The caiman in the region vary greatly in size. During our night ride, we saw small dwarf caiman as well as larger black caiman. We even caught a quick glimpse at a massive capybara, but it scurried off before we were able to snap a pic. Capybaras are the largest rodents in the world. Google image search 'capybara' and you'll see that they are larger than many dogs!

Those eyes

Getting a closer look

Out and about

[ lake sandoval ]

On our third day, we made our way to the reserve around 6 a.m. We had an hour long hike to the lake, where we then took a canoe out to see more wildlife. 

Tambopata National Reserve

Creepy crawler

Termite mound

Another tree older than a century

Playing with a giant ant (that does not bite)

Looking for parrots

Spotted!

They love the hollowed out palm trees in the area

Perfect place to have a seat

Almost to the lake

The crew

Bats line up this tree to appear larger to predators

Rowing through lily pads

Two howler monkeys playing around

Almost missed that caiman!

Happy that the weather cooperated 

[ night hike ]

On our last night, we were all set to scope out the local tarantulas, which are bigger than my hand! Despite the rain, Mirko was able to show us the nocturnal animals lurking around. 

What a tiny frog

Bigger than the crickets in Waco

Luring a tarantula out 

Protecting her babies

These pinktoe tarantulas make their nests on tree trunks

No, these were not Halloween decorations! Tarantulas were all around, but very docile. After one last night on the lodge, it was time to leave the heat, insects, and sadly, Mirko.