El Pueblito Resort Samaipata

... see mountains up ahead and the sandy brownness of the city gave way to lush, green gardens and we caught glimpses of beautiful weekend retreats lurking behind hedges and fences. <br><br>Pretty soon the homes we could see became occasional rather than usual, and we had for the first time in a while, wide grass verges and plenty of shady trees with cut logs and planks strategically placed for weary cyclists to sit on. At la Angostura (not ...

... Santa Cruz (holding on to my seat!!) the driver stops on the outer suburbs of town at a friends house and demands more money if we want to go further. We said no and explained it was an arranged price, so he turns the car off! Told him OK then (its only B$10 AUD$2 he was after) so vamos!! Lets go!! We wouldve given him the customary tip anyway, but no tip for him now!<br><br>After another good 1hr 15min at a post office trying to ...

... from airport tourist information desk we get a cab to the bus station accross town, but apparantly our bus leaves from the opposite side of town, so another cab and we are there just in time for the 5pm bus to Samaipata.<br><br>There are two bus companies next to each other on the corner of Av Grigota 3er, and they have departures at 4pm and 5pm.<br><br>It was a really enjoyable trip with local music playing, and with the windows open we ...

... gorgeous little town. All the buildings were really cute, and there was a small plaza in the middle. We spent the rest of Friday afternoon just relaxing and walking round the town. We found a really cute little cafe and had lasagna for dinner. We stayed in a little guest house with a courtyard full of flowers.<br><br> On Saturday we visited "El Fuerte" a pre-inca site that's been used for centuries, for religious purposes ...

... dazu später mehr.... Wir sind also nach 12 Stunden Busfahrt um ca 4 Uhr morgens in Samaipata angekommen....nicht unbedingt die beste Zeit um eine bleibe zu finden muss ich sagen!....wir hatten Glück...ein Hostelbestitzer hatte auf jemand gewartet der eine Reservierung gemacht hatte und somit konnten wir bei ihm die erste Nacht schlafen! Am nächsten Tag haben wir uns dann das Städtchen ein wenig genauer angeschaut....echt ruhig hier aber auch ...

... and ¨meayim¨of 2 animals, it was disgusting. the next day we went to see some dunes near the city, so we took a bus, and got to nowhere, and then took another one, and got to another nowhere, and then started walking in the park. luckily some guy who works there gave us a ride to the dunes, and some other guy gave us a ride back to the city when we were done. the day after ...

... is just coming onto the tourist radar and with good reason. It´s always springtime and always green. We settled into a great homestay with fruit trees, comfy beds and excellent breakfasts - what more can you ask for. We spent a day hiking in the giant fern forests nearby and another day we trekked through an area known as the Elbow of the Andes - the point where the Andes meets the forest, before turning back towards the Chile/Argentina border. We also took a trip to ...

... of my trip-to-date, and the mountain riding was somewhat new to me. In addition, Bolovian roads are not too good, many are just rock, or gravel. And, we had a super muchisimo taxi driver, who had to pass everything in sight, no matter what, curves, hills, curves and hills. Samaipata has a beautiful cathedral and relaxing plaza; the village is pretty quiet, and not too much to do. I found my hostel easily, and read ...

... in de workshopruimte van het project/living van hun huis. Uiteindelijk is de andere coordinatrice nog teruggekeerd, zou alles goedkomen met de ene en hebben we nog een hele tijd kunnen babbelen. Hiermee is mijn strafste Santa Cruz-verhaal verteld. Ik ben er dan ook woensdag uit vertrokken richting Samaipata waar ik nu nog zit, een klein dorpje tussen de groene bergen waar zoveel te zien is dat we van de ene uitstap in de andere aan het rollen zijn ...

... verdant valley below. Our first full day was spent exploring the local town and checking our options for trekking through Amboro National Park. We visited a local animal sanctuary, wherehomes are provided for abandoned pets and animals that have ´outgrown´ their owners. This included a couple of howler monkeys (very noisy!), some capuchins, toucans, squirrel monkeys and turtles. It was quite a lot of fun walking around the enclosures ...