Charlotte fue a Bolivia: Part Two

Right Bolivia: 

(According to the information I received)  

Average annual income : $1200 per year

Average income for a politician per day: $4000

40% of population under the age of 14

40% of woman have 4 or more children

Life expectancy: 60 for a man, 63 for a woman

But don´t worry it is not all bad, you can retire at 65. 

Education is free and you also get free medical care if you are under 5, pregnant or 65. 

Bolivia has spent much of its history as a military dictatorship, average turnaround of its leader was usually a year. Not much time for substantial positive change at all. In fact at one stage, one of its leaders (he was illiterate) sold Bolivia´s access to the ocean to Chile for ONE horse. And the Maoris have oh so much to complain about.

Bolivia is now a Republic but change is slow and hence every day there are protests about everything. In fact, they close whole highways which for its tourists isn´t the most convenient of situations.

Until the mid-nineties, Coca exports made up 60% of its GDP. (80% of coca production does not go towards cocaine production, it is actually an amazing cures-all product). In the mid-nineties, the DEA came in and decided that Bolivia was to cull the majority of its crop and in result lost  majority of its economy. Always hit hardest by recessional periods, at this time they experiences inflation if 10000% a day.

Life is swell in Bolivia. 

Onto me in La Paz.

Despite all the shit Bolivia has to deal with, I cannot believe how amazingly they deal without. They are possibly some of the friendliest, most engaging people I have met. Before arriving, a lot of people warned me that they are liars and will try and cheat you out of everything. I found them the complete opposite. 

La Paz is the most beautiful city, set in a deep valley high in the Altiplano. (That sounds slightly oxymoronic). It forms an extreme terracotta V. The blocks are tight cobbles with the scariest low slung electrical cables, I absolutely loved it.  

I spent the week doing a Spanish course, which whilst quick I found I had a better understanding of the tenses and that I could read and understand a little better. Me actually speaking it is another matter but I have greatly improved and can have half a conversation.

I spent a great deal of time at the Artisan markets. Who can say no when the Alpaca goods are so cheap and amazing! And I had a wander round the ridiculously large local markets. Blocks and blocks and blocks of every chinese made good available as well as all the local fruit, vege and meat. Rather disturbing, considering how dirty the streets are and how everything was just lying on the ground.

Every second shop is a cake store. The windows full every morning, completely gone by evening. A LOT OF CAKE

I then embarked on a trip to Rurrenabaque to see the Jungle. Absolutely adored Rurre, 40 degree heat but a beautiful town. Kind of resembles Raro but by a river and everyone is on motorbikes instead of scooters. Originally tried to do a Pampas tour (you see more animals than on a Jungle tour) but in the end I was desperate, it was too hot and I needed a decision so Jungle it was. So glad I made the decioson to do jungle. The tour I decided to do was on the Serere Reserve just south of Madidi National Park. I think I could probably write pages on the history but I´ll try keep it to a minimum. Effectively, Rosamaria, who owns Serere, is an eco-activist. She was a part of a group in the mid-eighties who fought hard for National Park status for Madidi as that was the height of the rainforest issues in Bolivia. Deforestation, slash and burn, poaching of the wildlife was completely out of control. A treaty was settled allowing the land to be protected but the indigenous people could do what they liked to the land. In the end, big business Americans have taken complete advantage of the people and stolen millions of dollars worth of tropical hardwood. Payment being as little as two beers per villager. (DON¨T BUY TROPICAL HARDWOOD). The Indians end up losing their land, their culture, everything but they have no choice they are poor. 

Anywho, Rosamaria has spent years trying to educate the indigenous people on the benefits of eco-tourism but of course they want instant return which of course it doesn´t work that way. She in the end has been barred from the National Park but sold a photo of a photographer taking a photo for a lot of money and was able to purchase Serere and make her own eco-lodge. (She was also attacked by a caiman and has a permanent limp). Serere was severely damaged. Raped and pillaged of its flora and fauna, they´ve worked hard to restore to its former glory. Its taken ten years but the animals are coming back. Five years ago you´d be lucky to see a monkey now you see them every day.

So after a three hour boat ride and a 2km walk I arrived at this amazing eco lodge. We each had our own private open air cabin set in the jungle which adjoined to a main lodge. I have never been more relaxed in my life. For the first time, I woke with no bags under my eyes. I could have stayed there forever,. Eveyday we´d go out for bushwalks to explore the jungle. It really was beyond my expectations. When I was a child, the Amazon was my absolute dream location. The forest floor, the buttresses, the liana, the sub-canopy and the canopy. It was all there. I saw capuchin, spider, squirrel and red howler monkeys. I saw coati, possums, squirrels, lizards, frogs, caiman. The butterflies, the termites, the killer bees, a katydid that had wings that were the most incredbile replica of a leaf. I saw footprints of a tapir, pigs, anteaters. At night, we heard a jaguar prowling round outside. Our guide hadn´t seen one in three years. It really was the most amazing experience. 

The only downside was the fact that as amazing the rainforest is, the threat of its destruction is as real as it ever was. For every incredible experience I had you could still see the damage of deforestation. It is the dry season so annual slash and burn had begun. Because of climate change, the yearly floods were getting worse. In Febrary, Rurre experienced the worst flood yet, the whole town was 3m high in water. That is not usual but every year it gets worse. The ice capped mountains are no longer ice-capped. I was lucky to be on the reserev because an hour downstream the damage is shocking.

The river banks were inhabited by the last of the Bolivian Nomads

Slash and burn season

Unfortunately, I messed my timing ups omewhat, due to too much time partying in La Paz so had to fly through Lake Titicaca and Copacabana. Will need to come back when I do Peru properly because it was an absolutely beautiful town and I really want to go to Isla del Sol. Am speed writing this so if yo have any questions you can ask etc. Can´t be bothered captioning every photo etc. I´m in the Galapagos. Photos are way better. Problem with jungle is the humidity really mucks up the lighting so photos are really muggy looking and its also really hard to take photos of animals that are 30 feet higher than you when you don´t have an slr.