Samaipata
Trip Start
Mar 18, 2008
1
19
23
Trip End
Ongoing
Samaipata,
Bolivia
Wednesday, August 13, 2008
We decided to take a short one and a half hour flight from La Paz to Santa Cruz, rather than endure a twenty hour bus ride. Santa Cruz was brimming with anticipation over the referendum to be held on August 9. A quick update on Bolivian politics might be useful....Evo Morales is the first indigenous president of Bolivia. The primarily indigenous population in the highlands love him as he has introduced a new constitution and is trying to redistribute wealth more evenly. The people in the lowlands (including Santa Cruz) arenīt happy about this because the majority of wealth in Bolivia comes from the natural gas resources in that area, which they have traditionally benefited from.
Thereīs many other side issues, but Evo called a referendum (early election) to decide if he should still be president. Leading up to the election, protests and demonstrations were rife, although none of them affected our travel plans. Stories were filtering through the media about roadblocks (organised by the opposition parties in each district) that were stopping all traffic flow to parts of the country and some of the locals were talking about revolution. Needless to say, it was an interesting and slightly nervous time to be in Santa Cruz, the centre of most of the anti-Evo pressure, so we headed for the hills to a beautiful little town called Samaipata. (Evo was re-elected by a clear majority).
Samaipata is just coming onto the tourist radar and with good reason. Itīs 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 Los Cascadas, a trio of waterfalls in a pretty part of the valley. The taxi driver insisted on taking corners at 100kph despite having no seat belts! Another highlight of our five days in Samaipata was visiting a local wildlife refuge, where we had the chance to become friends with one of the monkeys.
We could have spent so much more time in Samaipata but with our Bolivian visa running out and the elections over, it was time to move on to the judicial capital of Bolivia - Sucre.
Comments
Cool Bananas......
Hey Guys,
Aside from Leech's eyes, and the 100kph corners in the taxi, this last place sounds really breezy & cool, man you cats have stuffed more adventures into the last 6 mths than a lifetime! PT, your prolog on the elections was like a script on the '7.30 report' - you have a new calling as a journo man!
Enjoy yourselves, and make the most of these last 10 days,
John & Lizzy
Re: your latest adventures
Well after a medical emergency and political uncertainty..all we can say is blah--- how boring........where are the piranhas? the alligators ? the spiders that eat your nose off in your sleep? Friendly monkeys and relaxing comfortable accommodation ???!!!! Hey you two are getting old! But still - good to hear from you -from two oldies:)