Despedida

My last week went by ridiculously fast. When I wasn't running round in La Paz saying goodbye to people and trying to see and taste everything for the last time, I spent some time in La Senda Verde to chill out with the monkeys and parrots.

I am very proud of this photo because I managed to duck just before the parrot whammed into my face!

Above: These lovebirds were a little more sedate!

After a three-hour bus-ride, we decided to throw on our bikinis and relax in the river where the current was flowing briskly (but not so fast that we lost control!) Me and Joanna decided to try to work off our lunch by swimming straight into it.

The zipwire was right above us and a rickety bridge provided a jaw-dropping jungle panorama. We ran back to our cabins, trying not to get bitten to shreds and were impressed with how un-'rusitc' they were (hot-running water and toilet paper are a luxury in cheap Bolivian accommodation!)

The cool river woke us up and we had plenty of energy to search for the waterfalls. There were no written maps but a volunteer sketched us a route which proved to be accurate. Some of the roads were a bit sketchy and we got our feet soaked wading through the river to find it. The waterfall was tiny so it was a massive anticlimax but the view from the top of the mountains made it worth our while.

Taylor and the others went ahead so thanks to our terrible sense of direction, our journey back down to the Wildlife Reserve was a little precarious and we made several wrong turns.

But when wracked our brains,

 we eventually made it.

Everyone slept soundly that night, especially the people who had done death-road. They were out before they could get dinner.

The next morning, we were woken up by some very cute golden monkeys.

There was a rampant alpha-male monkey on the loose so we were banned from using the pool (we tried to trespass but some squaking toucans gave us away). Instead, we gave this lil fella a visit.

He too made a bid for freedom when he was three months old. After a month of searching, the reserve had almost given up on him. Until one day, when his keeper was looking for him, el Oso suddenly appeared and gave him a bear hug from behind! He's got a very good diet and eats porridge for breakfast, choclo and vegetables for lunch and fish for dinner. Felix described it as a celebrity fad-diet. Which is ironic, because this bear used to be famous. They exploited him to do tricks in carnivals, circus-style. Luckily, he was rescued and subsequently excused from such duties.
_______________________________________________________________________________
The next day saw some standard impromptu festivities down El Prado.

We saw an array of stuffed and live animals plus the occasional animal mask.

To spice things up a bit, Felix and I climbed to the top of San Francisco and watched down on the midget-procession from the Bell Tower.

 You can see a few llamas scattered amogst the people if you look closely.

The procession was probably the best part of the view from San Francisco Church because the skyscrapers obscured the rest of our view. Nevertheless, we climbed as high as we possibly could, scrambling over the no-entry rope to climb up some crumbling wooden stairs. We didn't acheive much from our endevours except stepping in a load of pigeon shit.

Coming down was more impressive and we saw a beautiful roof-top garden which reminded me of the Alhambra in terms of its natural beauty and tranquility.

We could have lingered longer but Rebekka and Joanna were waiting for us downstairs so we had to cut it short.

_________________________________________________________________________

A few day later... 5am

Felix and I madly agree to join Adrian for his morning meander in El Alto. He greets all the vendors as if they were old friends and we stumble into a musician's house, whose basic abode is lined with empty egg boxes for soundproofing. We eat a great sarjta de pollo but Felix's British stomach reacts badly to it the following day. I do some more research from my article and wait about an hour to have my fortune told. The mystic incense from the burning mita makes me drowsy and I don't mind the wait. We can see the whole city, partially submerged in smog. It is beautiful. I don't want to leave.

______________________________________________________________________________
5am, the next day
[my last...]

I'm up at stupid-a-clock for Adrian, again. We are on the way to Yatiri, a little-known village which overlooks lake Titicaca. His clarivoyante friend reads my fortune, throwing the coca leaves and blessing me, hoping that fortune will be kind to me.

It's hard to guess her age and half of her blessings are in Aymaran.

She speaks a little Spanish but communication is difficult and she has to ask my name several times.

When she tries to repeat my surname, it comes out like "Warnaka"

She shows me how to make tunta (white potato, see previous entry about the marketplace) and we tug the sheep into submission. A little kitten sits on my lap but eats my bread while I'm not looking. I haven't eaten for 5 hours so I am not amused when she steals my breakfast!

Before we left, Adrian persuaded the micro driver to wait for me while I ran up the hill to take a photo of the lake.

I couldn't get back to La Paz fast enough. I wanted to spend as much time as possible with my flatmates and make sure I said goodbye to everyone who was important to me. We went out for a BX family meal to La Paz, where I made a toast to all my friends. All our 'salud's were done in the correct Bolivian manner and we looked each other straight in the eye. The only time I looked down was to hide my face, as I tried not to cry.

I've spent the last week in Rodge's room because there is no room in the girls'. So we stayed up talking for the last time and I made him promise to keep in touch.

These two months in Bolivia have flown by like two weeks and I really hope I can keep in contact with at least some of the incredible people I met. It's given me a completely different perspective on life and I hope to carry some of that Latin spontaneity and joie-de-vivre with me back to Canterbury.