Felimar Hotel Santa Cruz

... exaggerating a little about the extremeness of the place... Obviously someone had spun a similar yarn for the Israelis who arrived later that week...they`d all turned up with top-of-head to tip-of-toes mosquito net bodysuits. There were practically no mozzies at this time of year. :-)

Formalities were taken care of the following morning (rules, regs and money). The Sun-Thurs drinking ban kinda made sense, having just seen the messiness of the night out. I was allocated ...

... You really never had to leave, and some didn't. The next day was a fiesta and the main street was crowded with all of la paz watching this giant parade. The thousands of dancers were dressed in vibrant colors and performed the usually creepy dances. It went on for about 12 hours. I think it was a celebration for beer because the only thing they seemed to sell was beer, and everyone from their mother to grandmother was drunk that night ...

... også et kvinnesenter som er organisert av en kristen organisasjon, det er et slags krise og utdanningssenter som jobber veldig profesjonelt med profesjonelle psykologer, kurs og workshop for å få seg noe "utdanning", har tilbud for terapi osv. De har også radiostasjon, og vi fikk tilfeldigvis anledning til å fortelle om Living Letters- som teamet vårt heter.
Natt til mandag reiser vi til La Paz...

... 35. So we had to leave Tres Lagoas at 18:00. That meant waking up at 16:30, which is the middle of the night for us (with working night shift). The drive took about 4 hours, even though the driver was getting up to 130km/h when there wasn't traffic slowing us down. I can only imagine how long it would have taken if the driver didn't ever go past the speed limit of 80km/h! So check-in at the airport with GOL was no problem ...

Not a full entry here, just beware that Santa Cruz has two airports. If you have a connecting flight in Santa Cruz you may land at one airport and have to take a cab approximately 28 kilometers to the other airport for your next flight. If you're ...

... to happen-I had give all the paperwork at the Consulate). Then, finally, he demanded 140$. I had been expecting 100$ fee, but fingured I had better fork over the 140$, so I wouldn't get stranded in the middle of the Gran-Chaco. Finally, he took the money, put the stamp in my passport, stamped it, smiled and said "Welcome to Bolivia!". Wow! The bus driver and I got out of there in a hurry, back to the bus, and we ...

... certain prisoners are held if they commit crimes within. These crimes can be as basic as having alcohol in your cell or stealing from a fellow inmate. There were 2 Bolivians inside when we poked our heads in. The cell stank and had no windows. It was grim to say the least. Daniel told us that he once spent 1 month in there! He didn't say what for.... After the tour we were asked if we wanted to go with Jacques and see his room. I understood this ...

... encouraged me to reconsider the typical profile of Americans). I leave here in a couple of hours for La Paz - a brief walk round the city this morning has revealed there isn´t a great deal to see. As a final point, could someone please let me know what the population of Ireland is - I thought it was around four million, but I am again in a hostel seemingly full of Irish people (always good fun for the record) and am convinced that I have now met at least five million since I left home...

... wasn't too uncomfortable although there were chickens in my carriage but you get used to travelling with chickens in Bolivia. The train unfortunately did not quite reach the station in Santa Cruz, there were still strikes and blokades. I didn't actually see any but it isquite exciting to be in Bolivia during a period of political unrest. I got a taxi with two Canadian and two Israelis who turned out to be great ...

... which is about 15 minutes from the centre of Santa Cruz. The foundation is committed to poor families who cannot afford to feed their families, primarliy focusing on single parent families. The foundation is currently committed to 36 families who have 120 children between them! Some with 11 children each!!
I was the first travelling volunteer FAMUNDI had received and what a great experience it was. I was fortunate enough to be ...