Hostal Ambar Backpackers Santa Cruz

... to Bolivia (even had a Bolivian Bear). The sloths and monkeys were mostly free to roam around the zoo and we enjoyed watching a Sloth slowly climbing around a cage (he was on the outside but seemed to want to get in....lol).

After this we went to a good restaurnat serving specialities. Not totally understanding the menu we ended up order 4 main courses (we thought we had ordered two startes and two mains). Had some Ceviche (see ...

... up for a few days. The city is the economic capital of Bolivia, I'm not the biggest fan.

Today i walked to the university of Bolivia. I met a student on the bus who goes to school here. I try to call him up, but we never seem to meet. I walk around the university for a few hours and become annoyed of all the attention i receive. I was probably the first gringo to step foot on that campus. Believe it or not i become tired of all ...

Ok so I was asked to write something about my experience at GYS and I thought I´d put it up here because while I was there I didn´t get to write much. Keep in mind this is just a small snippet of my experience.

My experience at GYS 2009

A school gym filled with hundreds of young people covered in layers of jackets and sweaters, speaking numerous languages is not a common sight for me. But even more amazing than that was what ...

As soon as you set foot on Santa Cruz, it's hard to believe you are still in Bolivia. Coffee shops and boutiques filled with light skinned westernized people have you questioning what's going on. Where are all the Indians? Santa Cruz is the city of the rich, and it may be the only place in Bolivia where anti-Evo Morales graffiti can be found. There are few poor begging here and the streets are not filled ...

... in Bolivia is not as seamless or as well-timed as Argentina´s gold standard system)
- the comical roadside checkpoints in Argentina: we were all ordered to get off our bus at various immigration and defence checkpoints on the roadside, get out our packs and open them for inspection to bored-looking men and women in uniform to inspect .......... THREE times!! At least we and the ...

... I´ve managed to use it though. Went out to watch the England game. Made a mess of the time difference so missed the first half. Went to the city´s irsh bar which was perhaps the quietest Irish bar in the world. After the game had a wander round and grabbed lunch. Discovered that there´s absolutely nothing at all going on in Santa Cruz (some guys in my room when i checked in were on about going to ...

... I was able to pay this taxi driver the $50Bs because I'd gotten change at the Pizza shop. But our first driver wasn't at the airport! We checked in and waited outside to see if he'd show up until the GOL employees came and told us we HAD to go to the gate NOW. So now I feel like a complete jerk and a bad representative for my country because now this Bolivian cab driver is going to think we stiffed him on purpose. We DID try ...

... to its word, the night was an experience not to be forgotten. It was like spending an entire day on a rollercoaster, the runaway train at Disney World comes to mind. It doesn´t go that fast by European trains standards, may be 40 to 50mph but it is fast enough when you get launched in and out of your chair every few moments with you heart in your mouth. You really did feel like it was going to leave the rails and I am sure it did as every so often you ...

... at around 7am only for it to be completely clouded over. We waited for a while and then headed down to the entrance to hand in our backpacks and explore the site properly. At this point I reminded Bruno (our guide) for around the 10th time that I really wanted to climb Waynapicchu. This is a mountain that affords amazing views over MP and was something I first heard about from Koen in Laos and then some Kiwis I met in Huanchaco. Basically I was ...

... when he put his mind to it). There were two officials and we were sent in one by one, with the door scarily closed behind us, to have our passports stamped with exit stamps. It was all rather uneventful and we left the office for Bolivia, only to be chased down by a siren blaring police car. Suddenly things were looking a bit excited. I was quite disappointed when the armed policeman boarded the bus simply to find the one person who had slept through the stamping and therefore had ...