south africa - johannesburg

Oh sweet Africa.

From our wonderful stay in Buenos Aires, we took a nine hour flight to Johannesburg, South Africa.  Although it is really hard to avoid culture shock when going somewhere completely new, I feel as though the transition here has been very easy for me, much easier than when we landed in Lima!  We went right to our hostel in Kensington, just east of downtown Johannesburg.  We slept for awhile, since neither of us got any sleep on our overnight plane ride, and we were already thrust five hours ahead of schedule.

The next day we ventured out from our lovely hostel complex by walking a couple of miles to downtown Johannesburg.  We went to the Carlton Tower (the tallest building in Africa at 50 stories) to see the "Top of Africa," a rather nice 360 degree view of the entire city of Johannesburg.  We also just kind of wandered around the city, just to take it all in, and ate at Nando's, a South African eatery with lots of delicious spicy chicken and Portugese flavor.

Saturday was our biggest day in Johannesburg.  We took a day long tour through our hostel, that was REALLY good.  And I can even say that even when I was sick all day!  We started by heading to the Apartheid Museum.  The country of South Africa has a history deeply entrenched in racism, much like that of the United States.  The system of apartheid was enforced for nearly 50 fifty years, with policies to keep races separate, favoring the white population (to put it gently).  Anti-apartheid activist Nelson Mandela was imprisoned for 27 years before being released, leading the country into a new post-apartheid era, and elected in the first democratic election as President. As much as I would love to go on and on about the history of the country and of Mandala, you can click on this link to read more if you'd like: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_Africa_under_apartheid  The museum was very state of the art and provided excellent information.

From there we headed to the well-known area of Soweto.  Within Soweto there are about 30 townships, some fairly wealthy to extremely poor.  Our tour guide took us to both extremes.  During that time, we drove by Archbishop Desmond Tutu's former home, visited Nelson Mandela's former home, visited the Hector Pieterson Musuem, and made a stop at the Soweto Kliptown Youth Center (SKY).  This place was amazing.  We got an official "tour" from one of the children living there, who showed us where the other children live, eat, learn, and play.  The kids were so friendly and in really good spirits.  The center is located right in the Kliptown township, which is full of shacks and very poor.  We met the founder of SKY, Bob, who sat down to chat with us for awhile and tell us about the organization.  We found out that he was featured on CNN's "Heroes" http://edition.cnn.com/SPECIALS/2007/cnn.heroes/interactive/gallery.heroes/content.1.1f.html and its really no surprise why.  He was an orphaned child himself growing up in Kliptown, and he has spent the last few decades of his life dedicated to bettering the lives of Kliptown children.  He was incredibly wise and inspirational as he sat and shared his story with us, as well as his views on life, poverty and reconciliation.  He definitely has such a powerful positive message of hope, and tears came into my eyes as he talked. 

After recovering from a tough day and horrible night of sickness (with the scare of a fever), we laid low and I recouped before we went to stay with a couple through "couchsurfing" in downtown Johannesburg.  They were amazing, not only letting us stay with them in their home, but making us wonderful food, teaching us about the culture, and showing us around.  Tiffany is actually originally from Minneapolis, and she recently married a man from South Africa.  She showed us around downtown, including Farady Market, where you can purchase herbs, unidentified hooves, and other strange items.  We also walked by street markets selling beautiful African art, jewerly and crafts.  Our lovely hosts also made us "braai" which is the South African equivalent of BBQ, including boerewors, a spicy sausage.  They also introduced us to biltong (strips of dried meat similar to beef jerky) which is a national obsession.  While he grilled the food on their highrise rooftop, we enjoyed incredible views of the city.

Our final day in Johannesburg included visiting Museum Africa, sampling the typical food of meat pies from Woolworth's (wait, didn't my grandma shop there?) and going to dinner with Tiffany and Chris at an amazing Indian restaurant. 

I think that Johannesburg is an AMAZING city.  It is full of struggle and overcoming struggle.  The crime rate is very high (everything downtown closes at 5:00), the AIDS epidemic is very real here (South Africa has the highest number of people infected with HIV in the world), poverty is rampant, and though apartheid has ended, inequality is still very present.  At times I felt very down in Johannesburg, learning more and more about the horrible history and oppression.  But there are amazing people living here with incredible spirit and I find this city to be one of the most fascinating and inspirational places I have visited yet.

all things argentina

So I guess this is really going to be more of "all things buenos aires," since we stayed in B.A. longer than anywhere else, and experienced the culture here more than the other places we visited.  Argentina is a HUGE country, and really, we only got a taste of what the country has to offer.  B.A. houses about a third of the total country´s population, but it certainly has its own unique culture (apart from the rest of the country).  One could write an entire book observing B.A. (and there are several), but I will just write a few things here for you to sample...

*  Everything in Buenos Aires starts LATE.  Most places don´t start serving dinner until 8:00, but most people don´t go until 9 or 10.  With their children.  And parties on the weekends don´t start until midnight, but most people don´t show up until later, and the parties go til the sun comes up.  Don´t these people need any sleep?!

*  The city (and whole country really) is much more "cosmopolitan" than the other countries we visited, offering incredible shopping opportunities, obvious style, and stunning architecture.

*  The porteños (locals) here are very passionate people.  It kind of feels like a junior high dance everywhere you go...you´re certain to see a couple making out at any given place (especially the park).

*  The traditional way to greet and part ways here is a kiss on the cheek, even if you are complete strangers, and even between two men.

*  That being said, the culture is full of machismo...with men calling to women with "compliments" and full of bravado.  Along with machismo, however, there is a chivalrous attitude, such as holding doors and other gentlemanly behavior.

*  B.A. is more ethnically diverse than other South American areas we have visited, with a variety of European countries blending their way into the culture.

*  Both men and women are very into appearance...looking good is highly important.  You can tell by the way many women carry themselves that they want you to look at them and admire them.  Going down any given street you are bombarded by images of "perfect" looking women plastered on billboardsThe pressure to look good is also the cause of a soaring rate of eating disorders and the reason a large number of people get plastic surgery.  Not a culture I would be able to handle in that respect.  I hardly felt adequate in my frumpy travel clothes and hiking boots!!  (Chelsea was very nice to lend me an outfit to "go out" in.) 

*  Its a cruel thing that everyone is so obsessed with watching their perfect figures because this place has the best food and drinks...hands down.  The coffee, wine and food are DELICIOUS.  I haven´t had a bad meal here.  The "fast food" pizza was even good.  And the food court at the mall??  No soggy burgers or cold fries!  Delicious pastas, grilled meats and fresh salads are on the menu.  The food here is really as good as people say it is.

*  Why didn´t someone tell me that the best ice cream in the world is in Buenos Aires?!!  I had no idea.  It is so creamy and delicious, and every heladaria (ice cream shop) has an extensive list of flavors, including several varieties of my favorites...chocolate and dulce de leche.

*  Since I´m on such a food kick, I´ll keep going.  I mentioned in another blog that parrilla is everywhere here.  It consists of barbequed meats, and lots of it.  Many families get together weekly to indulge together.  Another common tradition is that of yerba mate.  We got to experience this at Chelsea and Ale´s place.  One person takes the mate gourd and fills it almost full of dried yerba leaves and covers it with very hot water.  One person then drinks it through a metal straw until the cup needs to be filled again.  Everyone drinks from the same gourd, and apparently there are many rules and guidelines to this common "ritual."

* In B.A., they have their own version of Spanish called "castellano."  Pronounciation of some spanish words and vocabulary varies some from "traditional" español.

*  Not as many stray dogs in B.A. (comparatively) but lots of dog walkers (with several dogs) can be spotted throughout the city.

*  The city is fairly polluted with the high amount of traffic fumes going into the air and garbage lines the streets.  Poor cartoneros (garbage collectors) sort through the garbage bags looking for recyclables to sell, leaving the streets even more of a mess!

* In B.A., they have their own version of Spanish called "castellano." Pronounciation of some spanish words and vocabulary varies some from "traditional" español.
* Within the last decade, there was economic collapse, and more than half of the population was in poverty. With Kirshner in office (the president who just died), the country is slowly becoming more stable. None of this seems to influence the shopping habits of many locals!

* Argentina is more expensive than other South American countries we have visited, but still about four pesos to the American dollar.

That is my brief short attempt at Argentine culture, hope I got it right Chelsea!  Correct me if I am wrong!

argentina - buenos aires

We´ve had the chance to stay in the city of Buenos Aires for two weeks with our friends Chelsea and Ale.  They have a cute apartment in the Caballito neighborhood, where they´ve graciously allowed us to invade their lives and treated us wonderfully during our stay.  Here´s what we´ve done during our time here:

Walked through the Microcenter to visit the historic Plaza de Mayo, where much of Argentina´s history has occured  and where the Casa Rosada (Pink House) resides -- former Presidential Palace, current Presidential offices.  We also saw the Palacio del Congreso where we took a tour (it looks a bit like the U.S. capitol) and strolled through the Plaza del Congreso.  The moment we arrived in Buenos Aires, we heard that the current President´s husband, Nestor Kirchner (and recent President himself) had died, which is clearly a big deal.  There were lots of messages and memorials hanging in the Plaza del Congreso in honor of Nestor.

* Purchased very cheap costumes and celebrated Halloween Buenos Aires style...starting at 1:00 a.m. at a friend´s party and ending at 7:00 a.m. at a dance club.

*  Sipped divine cappuchinos in several cafes and a submarino (hot chocolate) at the famous Cafe Tortoni.

* Wandered the streets of San Telmo, window shopping in the many antique shops.

* Ate at Ale´s fabulous cafe he recently took over with his sister and enjoyed a delicious lunch.

*  Visited the neighborhood of Recoleta where we went to the Cemetario de la Recoleta, the Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes and strolled through a market.  The cemetary was really spectacular, housing B.A.´s famous and weathly in extravagent mausoleums, including Evita´s.

*  Attended a dance show of one of Chelsea and Ale´s friends as well as an incredible performance called "Fuerza Bruta."  It was a rather interactive music/dance sensory experience where at one point we had a large tarp fashioned as a swimming pool with "swimming dancers" inches from our heads!  Look it up on youtube to see clips of it.

*  Strolled down the cobbled waterfrond walkways of Puerto Madero and enjoyed some libations with our friends.

* Sampled delicious ice cream and wonderful foods around the city.

* Used public transport, including the subway, where Guy got pickpocketed! Luckily we didn´t lose more than $25, but his check card had to be cancelled, and I think his pride was more hurt than anything!

*  Took a two-hour bus ride to the city of San Antonio de Areco to experience gaucho (cowboy) culture.  While it was a peaceful and charming little town, we didn´t get to experience much "gaucho" and realized the big yearly festival...was the very next day!

*  Along with Chelsea, Ale and their friend Christian, we took a quick train ride to the riverside suburb of Tigre to look through their huge market.  Chelsea said its a place many folks from B.A. go for a weekend getaway, much like "up north" for Minnesotans. 

*  Visited some green spaces in the Palermo area at the Rosedal (Rose Garden) where we saw the most beautiful roses I´ve ever seen. 

We have one more day before leaving the continent of South America, and I can´t believe its already time to go to Africa!  The last several days have been a bit tough for me sick I´ve been battling an illness and had to take it easy.  I´m hopeful that I will be feeling better soon so I will be up to site seeing when we arrive in South Africa.  During our last day I hope to get in some of the best ice cream in town...Freddo´s...and enjoy one more meal with Chelsea and Ale before we head out.  Its been a blast!

argentina - san ignacio & puerto iguazu

After the glorious visit to Cafayate, we took a day in Salta to regain our bearings and get ready for another fat bus ride, this time some 19 hours to the east, with San Ignacio mission and Iguazu Falls as our destination points.  I made the poor choice of not taking motion sickness pills for the ride, so was feeling quite dizzy and generally not well when we arrived in San Ignacio.  It was raining pretty hard the night before and continued to rain throughout the day we were there, so we looked pretty hilarious as we attempted to hobble down the rocky and muddy (unpaved) streets towards the center of town in search of food and the mission.  We read that many businesses in Argentina are closed during the bulk of the afternoon, and we definitely found that to be the case.  Luckily we finally stumbled upon both a dining establishment and the San Ignacio Mini mission. 

San Ignacio Mini is one of the many Jesuit missions set up to convert the native Guarani population to Christianity in the 17th century.  It was rediscovered about a hundred years ago, and is supposed to be one of the best preserved ruins in Latin America (and a UNESCO World Heritage Site).  Here we could see where both the Jesuits and Guarani lived, worked and worshipped.  The architectural details, particularly along the church entrance, were still visible, and quite stunning.  We were looking forward to the "Sound and Lights Spectacular" after sunset, where there was to be a performance using "cutting-edge technology" depicting scenes from the era.  We didn´t know if it would be cheesy or fantastic, but found out it was going to cost even more money so decided to skip it.  Of course it was interesting to stand in the midst of the ruins think about what things were really like during those times, how the Jesuits in fact treated the Guarani people, and the fact that the Roman Catholic religion is the predominate faith throughout South America. 

After our quick stint in San Ignacio, we took a five hour bus ride further east to Puerto Iguazu, where we would spend a few days to visit Iguazu Falls, see the Hito Tres Fronteras (a point overlooking two rivers and the 3-way borer between Argentina, Brazil & Paraguay...that´s what this picture is from), and just hang around town.  The city of Puerto Igauzu itself is quite touristy (and a little dull), and we stayed at a less than desirable hostel.  It initially SEEMED like a good place to be - with a pool, large screen TV with lots of movies to choose from, breakfast included, and a private bathroom, but...the pool was gross, the TV would cut out all the time from power outtages, the breakfast wasn´t good, the whole place reeked of dogs and the electricity cut out in our room frequently (leaving you in a cold dark shower).  More upsetting than this was the fact that I woke up one morning covered in bug bites (more so than when I was working with the monkeys even!), which I am still trying to decipher where they came from, since its not like we had swarms of mosquitoes in our room or an open window... 

But none of this really all that significant in comparison to the spectacular falls that we visited (although I am still scratching like mad even as I write this)!  Iguazu Falls are made up of some 275 individual cascades, with the highest drop of over 80 meters, along a huge semi-circle almost three kilometers long.  To me, they really dwarfed Niagara Falls, both in size and impact, and I can´t believe that I had never even HEARD of them until this last year!  When we arrived, we got on a little train that takes you to all of the different paths you can walk to view the falls.  We looked at the Paseo Superior (upper falls) first, and I thought they provided the most beautiful views of the falls, as you can see here...

 

Next, we walked the Paseo Inferior (lower falls), where we were allowed to get quite close to the falls in a few spots.  More than the scenery though, I appreciated the fact that we got some nice sprays of water, since the sun was beginning to get quite scorching as the afternoon progressed. 

We had read that we might have a chance to view some wildlife during our visit, and I was quite skeptical that we would actually see any, due to the number of people visiting.  I turned out to be incredible wrong, because we saw LOTS of wildlife, including the same crazy capuchin monkeys we worked with weeks ago, tajons, lizards, birds and LOADS of butterflies, in every color of the rainbow.  I have never seen so many in my life, and they were so beautiful!  The only thing we didn´t get to see which I hoped we would were toucans.

The final walk we took in the day was to "Garganta del Diablo" (The Devil´s Throat) which was definitely the most dramatic/powerful/loud!  Here we were practically enveloped in a large semicircle of falls, with loads of water dumping all around us, creating huge amounts of rising mist and beautiful rainbows.  Like the Grand Canyon, it is definitely difficult to describe a natural phenomenon of this magnitude!  Definitely an unforgettable experience.

 

We leave this afternoon for a lengthy bus ride to Buenos Aires, where we will stay with friends for a few weeks.  We are very excited to see them and their city, and can´t believe this will be our last stop in South America!

argentina - salta & cafayate

So after our marathon bus extravaganza, we landed in Salta, where we took things pretty easy, and spent a few days just chillin and getting accostumed to higher prices and a stricter budget.  Salta is a lovely city, with a cosmopolitan feel, and what I imagine Buenos Aires to feel like, on a much smaller scale.  There is a beautiful main square, which we visited in both in the daytime and nighttime, enjoyed some new indulgences, and stayed at a nice hostel with a very friendly owner.  There are three things that were new to us in Argentina that we experienced fairly quickly...1) dulce de leche - a delicious caramel straight from the plastic tub right onto our bread for breakfast (almost every morning thus far), 2) empanadas - yummy pasties filled with meat, chicken or cheese, sold everywhere and a cheap meal and 3) parrilla/asado/mixed grill.  So, we know that Argentine´s enjoy their meat, and we found out when we ordered our mixed grill for 2...the waiter came out with a small grill that he put on our table full of chicken, ribs, steak, sausage, intestines, blood sausage and some unidentifiable meat that was really gross.  While most of the meat was pretty good, a lot of it was fatty, and I couldn´t bring myself to eat more than a bite of the intestines and none of the blood sausage.  The wine and fries we purchased with it helped it go down a little easier.  I´m certainly not a huge meat-eater, but thought I would indulge Guy this once and give it a try. 

From Salta, we took a 5 hour bus ride to the charming town of Cafayate.  Its fairly touristy, but out of all of the places we have visited thus far, I can imagine living here more than anywhere else.  Its covered in bodegas (wineries) and beautiful countryside - a smaller city - but with all of the amenities you need.  We are staying in a fantastic "hostel" which is more like a three bedroom extention of this wonderful family´s home, and they have been so kind and helpful to us.  The accomodations look very new, and only about $15 U.S. dollars a night!  Plus, they have the cutest puppy in the world.  (In case this leg of the trip sounds a bit extravagant, let me assure you, we ate many meals from the supermarket in order to do some of this...plus the wine tours were all FREE!!)

One of the first things we did in Cafayate was visit a few of the bodegas - "Domingo" and "El Transito," where we got tours and sampled some delicious wine and cheese.  That night we had some really good steak and pizza on the main plaza.  Another night we both tried a "lomito" sandwich, which had steak, ham and eggs, and really delicious (and probably really unhealthy!)  Another yummy treat was the gourmet ice cream "heladaria" that we visited and indulged in exotic flavors like wine sorbet and banana dulce de leche.

One of the days we went on a day excursion to "Los Cascades" (waterfalls) just outside of town.  Guy had read about this place online, and apparently its a pretty popular place to go for a hike and of course see the waterfalls.  So we took a 10 minute cab ride to the edge of where the hike begins, and decided to pass by the "guias" or guides that take gringos through.  I was feeling very apprehensive about going without a guide, but Guy assured me of his boy scouting days, and off we went...in the wrong direction.  Luckily, two young girls saw us going the opposite direction and pointed out the correct way.  We realized fairly quickly that this wasn´t the easy hike with a clear walking path that both of us had envisioned.  About a half an hour into the hike I was feeling really uncertain of our whereabouts (though we were to follow the river) and really wishing we had a guide.  Moments later a group appeared behind us, and gave me the serious reassurance I needed to feel good about where we were headed! 

It certainly was a challenging hike, with lots of rock climbing and river crossing, and both of us had our spills and scrapes along the way.  When we finally arrived at the third and final waterfall, we were fully prepared with our swimming suits to dive in for a swim.  We were pretty warm from our hike, but this water was BEYOND cold!  The group we had seen earlier was also at this last spot, and Guy and I took our turns walking into the water up to our waists and going underneath the frigid falls, while they cheered and clapped for us.  I´m thinking this was Lake Superior cold!  From here we headed back to the beginning of our trek, where we found no taxis, and had to do the one hour walk back to town.  After 8 hours on foot (since leaving that morning), we arrived back at our hostel, exhausted!

The next day we headed out...for horseback riding!!  I was so excited.  Our hostel owner had been trying to coordinate this for us for a few days, and I wasn´t certain it was going to happen.  We had also heard there was a horse man that had horses on some corner just out of town that we had visited twice and had no luck (just horse poop).  It seemed you just had to be able to catch this man at the right time in order to be able to go!  The man we ended up going out with was that very horse man, Freddie, and for a 3 hour ride.  While a bit hot at times, it was a fantastic ride and we had beautiful scenery almost the entire time.  Horseback riding in Argentina?  I think I´ve died and gone to heaven.

Today (our fifth and final day), we visited two more bodegas  - one of the biggest in town - Bodegas Etchart, and a smaller one in town, Bodegas Nanni.  Bodegas Etchart gave us a wonderful, more lengthy tour (the others were only a few minutes long), with a generous tasting, and in my opinion, the best tasting wine.  We were a bit startled when we looked over to see a group of children standing next to us, watching us during our tasting and continuing the tour with us.  I don´t remember any wine tours in my elementary school days, but I do suppose it is a large part of their culture and existence in Cafayate! 

Five days in Cafayate has been heavenly, and definitely one of my favorite places thus far on our trip!

all things bolivia

Bolivia has lots of similaries to Peru culturally, including food, showers, dogs...see my blog on Peru to check it out (http://heidi-leapyear.blogspot.com/2010/09/all-things-peru.html).  Here´s a few more observations about our latest country we spent almost a month in!

*  Bolivia seems less touristy and locals don´t seem to hound others to buy their stuff, come into their restaurants, or use their services.  Overall, a much more chilled-out vibe.

*  The roads are AWFUL.  Bus and taxi rides are long and very uncomfortable!

*  Motorbikes are quite popular and not uncommon to see three people on one.  In fact, the record I saw was a family of FIVE!

*  It felt a little crazy that while staying at Init Wara Yassi we were amongst the largest area in the country for producing coca leaves for the use of cocaine.  That being said...

*  Bolivia gets a rep for being a more "dangerous" country, but we really never felt unsafe during our month-long stay here. 

*  Along with the chilled-out feel, there is a also friendly feel...from the cross-walk zebras of La Paz to friendly small town taxi drivers who would slow down to wave and smile at their friends along the journey.

*  Fresh juice can be purchased practically anywhere, made with water or milk and come in lots of delicious flavors...papaya, pineapple, strawberry, orange, apple, banana, peach and sometimes passion fruit.  There is also a very delicious bottled juice called Jugo Del Valle which I absolutely loved.

*  Popular packaged snacks are choko soda (soda crackers covered in chocolate) and cremositas (very similar to oreos) as well as oreos and chips ahoy.  Soda is everwhere...mostly CocaCola and Fanta. 

*  Salteñas are a popular street food like an empanada with a mixture of meat, chicken, veggies, rice and/or potatoes.  Very yummy, although I did find an entire chicken wing in one, bone and all (which made me laugh), and an intenstine (which didn´t make me laugh).

*  And finally, the thing that has been puzzling me the most since we´ve been here (and I´m hoping someone knows the answer to)...can someone tell me why the milk, yogurt, and mayonese never seem to be refrigerated?  How do they not go bad?  Even in the stores, they are mostly on the shelves, not the cooler?  I would like some answers...

bolivia - santa cruz & around

From Inti Wara Yassi, catching a bus to Santa Cruz is a bit of a challenge.  You are supposed to sit by the side of the road and try to wave one by (there´s only three times a day they pass) and hope that they have a few seats and stop to pick you up.  Not fun.  We had 5 people trying to leave IWY at the same time, and were a little worried any bus would have 5 seats available.  Luckily, a man with a mini-van came by and offered us a good price to take the 5 of us.  We were a little wary of him at first since he said he needed to stop home quickly first, but showed us his taxi office first and upon seeing his family (and realizing he hadn´t been home in awhile), we realized he was ok.  And he really was.  So our trip to Santa Cruz turned out to be a pretty easy one after all!

Santa Cruz turned out to be a much nicer city than I thought it would be, and is actually the 2nd largest in all of Bolivia.  Its a sunny, hot place where we took a few days and did a little relaxing after all of the monkey madness.  We stayed in a nice hostel with a hammock-strewn courtyard and a few toucans, ate too much ice cream, got laundry done and watched a terrible movie at the movie theater, but at least it was in English...and the theater was air-conditioned! 

From Santa Cruz we took a mini-van to Samaipata, a smaller town with an unusual mix of gringos and Bolivians.  They had fantastic restaurants, including a French bakery with croissants and chocolate filled breads.  Here we visited "El Fuerte," an ancient Inca ceremonial complex, one of Bolivia´s most significant (interesting, but no Macchu Picchu).  Later, we found a tour agency run by a German man and a Dutch man (they were very hilarious and fun) called "Road Runners" http://www.the-roadrunners.info/ where we booked a day trip to visit Parque National Amboro to see the "Volcanes" (which are not in fact volcanos, but large sandstone formations that I suppose resemble volcanos!).

We set out in the morning for our day long hike which included beautiful scenery, lots of walking and crossing a river several times (which was surrounded by stunning multi-colored rocks).  Our tour guide Martin showed us lots of interesting plants along the way including the "fasting moving plant" (which curled up upon someone touching it), crazy bird nests, walking stick bugs, black wasps that can kill you in 4 or 5 stings, gorgeous butterflies, and a plant that can cure parasite infection with one cup of tea.  We definitely came across some difficult terrain, and I learned my lesson to NOT wear my sandals for a hike ever again!  I rolled/twisted my ankle 4 times and got quite cut up, making the day not as enjoyable as it would have been with my boots!  Live and learn.  We were able to jump into the river in two places to do some swimming, and that was a definite highlight of the day for me.

From Samaipata, we headed to Vallegrande, another small town, about 3 hours by bus.  Here we booked a day trip to see the sights of Che Guevara, (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Che_Guevara) South American revolutionary hero killed in the late 60´s.  We found out we were visiting right by the anniversary of his death (October 9th was the anniversary, we were there on the 10th).  Our tour consisted of a very long, bumpy, winding drive of about 3 hours (it seems that all of our recent drive have been of similar conditions...and let me emphasize BUMPY), to the town of La Higuera, where Che was captured and killed in a tiny schoolhouse.  When we got to La Higuera, we saw a few statues/memorials and the schoolhouse, which had very few artifacts and photos.  We rode back three more hours to Vallegrande where we visited the hospital laundry tub where Che´s body was flown and put on display after he was killed.  We also visited his gravesite/tomb, which housed several of his comrades and numerous photos of Che.  The tour was certainly a long day (and not seeing a whole lot), but interesting to see such a significant part of South American history.  And it made me really want to watch the movie "The Motorcycle Diaries."

This concludes our journey through Bolivia!  Well, almost.  We had a somewhat tedious journey from Vallegrande to Santa Cruz of about 4 or 5 hours, then decided to take a bus that same evening to Argentina.  So after being off of the Vallegrande bus for a few hours, we got back onto one that left at 7pm, and arrived at our destination at 4pm the next day.  The ride itself was as pleasant as it could be, with comfortable seats and all, but we were awoken at 4am to commence our lengthy border-crossing extravaganza.  It took 4 hours total for the entire process.  Seriously.  Then as soon as we got back on the bus, we stopped 4 or 5 more times for Argentinian police to search our belongings and the bus, complete with drug-sniffing dogs.  I suppose since we were coming from coca country of Bolivia, perhaps we were more of a target?  Or maybe its routine for all members entering the country?  Either way, after 4 hours on a bus, then 21 hours, then another 1 hour bus ride to Salta, then walking a mile to our hostel, I was ready to relax! 

We´ve already had some lovely time in the country of Argentina, but I´ll leave that...for the next blog!