Bolivian Adventure: who-what-where-when-how
Trip Start
May 18, 2007
1
23
43
Trip End
Jul 28, 2007
La Paz,
Bolivia
Sunday, July 15, 2007
KE Adventure's "Flight of the Condor": a brand new offering from the Keswick, UK-based adventure travel company, this trip was an 8-day trek through the Cordillera Quimsa Cruz and Cordillera Real, preceded by a 2-day "acclimatization" in the Lake Titicaca area.
Our itinerary would take us, starting July 1, from La Paz to Copacabana, a pleasant little town on the shores of Lake Titicaca, with a long detour via Tihuanaco, an archaeological site of the pre-Inca people of the same name. The next day, we would take a "short" boat ride to the Isla del Sol, an idyllic little island on the lake where we would hike for a couple of hours, then stay at a beautiful Ecolodge.
Following that, we would come back to La Paz for a night, then take the bus for a "few hours" and be dropped off at our first trekking camp, near the mining town of Viloco. From there, we would walk for several days in the mountains, camping along the way, then head into the Cordillera Real via another "short 4X4 ride" for the second half.
For slightly more details, here's KE's description of the trip:
"South of La Paz, the rarely-visited Cordillera Quimsa Cruz is comprised of more than eighty 5000 metre (16400 feet) peaks. This rugged mountain group has been described as the South American Karakoram and is an area ripe for exploration. After acclimatizing at Lake Titicaca, with visits to important Inca archaeological sites, we transfer to the village of Viloco at the northern end of the range. From here, a 5-day trek takes us into a world of striking rock spires, snow-capped peaks, brilliant blue lakes, alpine meadows, high passes and soaring condors. Continuing our adventure, we then make a 4-day traverse beneath the west and north sides of the very impressive Ilimani (6460m./21188ft), Bolivia's third highest peak. Throughout, we follow rarely-used trails and can expect to encounter only local Indian people. Within little more than 2 weeks, this is a chance to experience the charming Andean country of Bolivia at its very best."
For the record, I had travelled with KE twice before, to Nepal and to Kilimanjaro, and was immensely satisfied in both cases. I therefore had no qualms or hesitations about joining up with KE again for Bolivia.
But - I'm getting ahead of myself now.
Let me introduce you to my travelling companions - hence forward known as the cast of characters.
Please note that no names have been changed to protect the innocent. A few names have been changed to protect the guilty - only if I felt like it.
The folks responsible for running this adventure:
1) Kate, UK, KE Tour Leader
2) Piter (pronounced "Peter"), Bolivia: guide from Azimut Explorer, KE's local agent in Bolivia
3) Juan (and his wife Rosa) Bolivia: owner of Azimut Explorer
The Clients:
1) Catrina, my room/tent mate, a banker from the UK, my age; smart, witty, funny, great company and a new friend; world traveller, on a 6-month sabbatical from the bank. Loads of great stories that start with "I was white-water rafting on the Zambezi when...", "I had just flown into Malawi when...", or "I was living in Dubai and...".
2) Tully, an ER administrator originally from the UK, now living in Grand Cayman; great leadership abilities, funny, always a good story to tell, an asset to any group and on any team, for his medical training and his personality; he started the trek bald and clean-shaven, and finished it with hair and a beard.
3) Marcus, a railroad engineer from the UK, a bit younger; quiet at first, he took his time to "assess the situation"; good fun and great company for me at the "back of the class", we spent hours chatting about everything and everyone under the sun.
4) Tom-Tom, a father & son combination from North Carolina; Tom Sr. is a surgeon - calm, composed, very fit, very wise, very well spoken, a Southern Gentleman. Tom Jr. is a future doctor as well - extremely fit, extremely smart. Both are well travelled, cultured, sociable, and were great team members. Also known as "The Toms" and "Tom Squared".
5) Bo and William, another father & son combo from North Carolina, where Bo is a colleague of Tom Srīs. William was our youngster in the group, at 17 - charming and smart, he was very entertaining. Bo was also very fit, soft-spoken, very kind, another Southern Gent. Loads of fun to have them both along.
6) Jeff and Judy, a couple from California. Let's just say that we didn't have that much in common. She could barely crack a smile, and he had lots of boring stories. They liked to complain early on, about everything.
7) Ro: an attorney from the west coast of the US. Strong willed, self-centered, "friendly", she always had to have things her way. We did have in common the fact that we both fancy ourselves mountain-climbers, but neither of us is truly fit enough for it at this point. She REALLY didn't like that Catrina smokes. It bothered her even when Catrina walked an extra half-mile to go smoke "in the next valley".
8) Me - if you don't know me by now, well, I will confess to being mean and petty on certain occasions. Another little known fact: despite my 100% French origins (sadly, no mixed blood or multi-ethnic background -- it's all French from Quebec), I find that I have much affinity with the Brits. Their biting sense of humour and no-nonsense attitude (typically, at least) greatly appeals to me. This played a part in my little Bolivian Adventure. I'm also a slow trekker - as I have stated several times in previous entries. I'm not inexperienced, or "weak", just slow - ok, not fit enough...
The Other Staff:
1) The Porters: for the Quimsa Cruz part of the trek, we had porters, as there was apparently a shortage of mules and llamas due to an increased need by the mining industry at this time (apparently, gold weighs a lot...).
Our 17 porters were led - not for the better, and definitely for the worst - by a guy named "Nemesio" (who quickly became "Nemesis"). However, I must be fair and state unequivocally that as a group, the porters were once again spectacular: hard-working, gracious and friendly to us. They were generally better dressed and shod than the Inca Trail porters of last May in Peru (see earlier entries for details), but a couple did wear shabby sandals made of recycled tires (tyres, for my British friends). They also all slept together in our mess tent, on the cold hard ground, after we were done with dinner every night.
2) The Cooks: Pancho and Ruben - a pretty good team who fed us well. Although - please don't offer me any soup for another year.
3) The Mule People: for the Cordillera Real part of the trek, we did have mules, horses and donkeys to carry all our stuff. It's amazing how much crap 10 trekkers need for just a few days, so we had a whole family, led by Pedro (who was a porter in the Quimsa Cruz), load up their animals every morning with our stuff, and follow us in the mountains. The plan was that at some point during the day's trek, they would overtake us, in order to set up camp before we got there. It didn't always work.
4) Don Adolfo: driver extraordinaire who can take a bus where most people wouldn't take a mountain bike. He gave us a few cold chills along the way - that's why it's called "adventure".
OK - I've now given you all the tools to read the chapters that will soon follow. While I endeavour to entertain, I will also attempt to stick to the facts and only the facts, despite the temptation to embellish a little along the way.
My only disclaimer: "the facts" are based on my own perception and knowledge of said facts. While all of us have discussed certain things ad nauseum, I cannot claim to have conducted a journalistic analysis of the events, and therefore, any mistake in the retelling of any facts is mine and mine alone.
I bet you're intrigued now, aren't you...?
I know I'm long-winded, I apologize (especially to my Dad, who is translating all this to French for Mom). But I enjoy writing, and this one's a dozy to write about. Enjoy :-)
