Uyuni, Sucre and safari 1 - 12 April 2023
Uyuni and Sucre 1 to 12 April
The waitress arrives (barely out of breath) with coffees and John's cake but without my brownie. I feel bad but ask her to bring my food - which she does. Lovely views over the city from the bell tower.
Elvis-quiffed lion in main Plaza
Saturday 1 April. Wake in our palacial salt room in downtown Uyuni.
I go for self service breakfast on 3rd floor - along with tea bags, instant coffee etc there are coca leaves in case of need, but I stick to some fairly evil filter coffee.
John not feeling 100% (I blame the coca leaves he's been sucking on for the last few days - [It wasn't it was the meal the night before or tap water]); I go out to explore and check out where the buses run from - been told it's a street rather than a normal bus station.
Uyuni is drab and dusty - as John says, a one horse town where the horse has died. But there's a fiesta of some kind with a band and lots of school kids marching along, all dressed in a school uniforms.
We check out of our room and are provided, foc, with a tiny cell with a single bed and poor WiFi signal where we can snooze and read through the day. I go out in the afternoon for a coffee and slice of cheesecake; there's a rally going on in the town centre, I think something to do with elections.
Wander up to the bus station for 9.00 pm - our overnight bus leaves at 10.00 pm. It's chaotic but we find our bus, load our backpacks and climb aboard. Unlike on Chilean and Argentinian buses no-one checks our tickets; there are no seat belts; a mid sized dog is sharing a seat with a woman nearby (no pets on buses elsewhere). We set off 10 minutes late and almost immediately bash into something as we turn a corner, which leads to 5 minutes of heated chat - and us praying that we won't have to go back to the bus terminal. We finally do get going. Seats recline well but the bus is like an oven - I'm down to my T-shirt & jeans and can't undress any more!
Sunday 2 April. Arrive in Sucre at 5.45 am (due at 6.00 am), collect bags and get a taxi to the hostel, CasArte Takubamba, which is about 3 kms into the town. Sit outside the hostel for a bit before remembering that there's 24 hour reception so ring the bell.
Wait in reception for a bit (with bano and WiFi, and are given a coffee) and then head out for breakfast at Joy Ride (slogan "not just for gringos" 😊) one of the few places open at this hour on a Saturday. Good meal and we chat with an Austrian man and then an Israeli woman, who are also travellng.
Back to the hostel and are let into the room about noon - a kitchen, bedroom with a huge bed and a small shower room with one of the evil electric shower heads.
Have a nap and then go for a wander through the town. Attractive churches and other buildings, especially in the central plaza.
To the SAS (sic) supermarket for wine and snacks. One of the wine bottles has a song and guitar chords printed on the back, a picture of which I send to my brother, John, to interpret.
Monday 3 April up for breakfast, served in the garden (as part of the package).
Lots to eat. We see Lucy and Ross who were on the same Salar crossing as us, but in a different vehicle,and agree to meet later for a drink.
John has found a vape shop on Google so we head off to find that. Walk up and up and up and eventually find…. no (obvious) vape shop so turn round and go down again. We're 'only' at 2,810 m (9,220 ft) so should be able to manage a few steep hills but it's still a bit breathless.
Out in the evening with Lucy and Ross - we go to Joy Ride again and order a three litre 'beer dispenser', which I like as you can drink at your own pace rather than a round at a time.
Lucy and Ross are good company - both work as chartered surveyors and are on sabbatical from their respective companies. They share our dim view of one of their travel companions on the San Pedro to Uyuni crossing - a very self important man, who had tried to one-up me by asking if I'd been to a desert before? Several actually…. Ross had started his career in the Chelsea FC junior academy but a footie related injury to his back ended that. Fortunately he'd kept up with his academic studies and had been able to move on.
We eat at Joy Ride, along with a mix of local and gringo customers, and get through another three litres of beer.
Tuesday 4 April
Go out to the centre of Sucre to find the bell tower with a cafe at the top that Lucy had recommended. It's just off the main plaza; we're warned that there's a four storey climb to the top and it's certainly hard work.
In the afternoon at 3.00 pm we head off with another couple from the hostel on a guided walking tour of the city. Our guide is a lawyer but says she does not believe in the fairness of the legal system (so maybe not such a good career choice?) and works as a translator and guide. She's not backwards in letting us know her views of the campesinos (country people) who, according to her, are getting all sorts of benefits not available to people in the towns.
We see a range of areas of the city including a park with an "Eiffel Tower", churches, university and government buildings, the main plaza and the market, where we stop for a milk shake.
Sucre was founded in 1539, was the first capital of Bolivia and is still the judicial capital (La Paz is the administrative capital). The Spanish and the French both had influence here. So, there's a lot to take in.
We ride in a micro (small bus) which takes us up to the lookout at the top of the city - ominous gray clouds and thunder, but no rain.
Wednesday 5 Apri Walk to a fabric museum, the Museo de Arte Indígena, which of course means going uphill. The museum particularly focuses on the woven textiles of two tribes and provides an insight into these local cultures.
Beautiful indigenous art in the form of ethnic textiles with roots from the depths of the pre-Columbian past. The weaving has highly technical designs and traditionally can be viewed from either side.
Back at the hotel we book a three day/ two night trip out of our next city, Santa Cruz. Hope to see jaguars (big cats, not cars) as well as other creatures. The trip is on a massive estancia four or five hours drive north of Santa Cruz which covers pampas, tropical forest, lakes and agricultural land. Our guide will be Nick, an ex pat Australian, so we're looking forward to some trans Tasman teasing.
Thursday 6 April. I go out to buy a couple of long sleeved shirts for the safari (advised, as there are mosquitoes) which I find in a shop having a closing down sale.
We go out for lunch to Pueblo Chico on the main plaza - lovely old traditional building set round a two storey court yard. Service is a bit hit and miss but friendly.
Friday 7 April we're booked in our hostel until tomorrow but have to be in Santa Cruz then for our safari, so forgo one night's B & B. Pack, and get a taxi to the airport, which is easier said than done. It's a 30 km ride and the road is an endless series of diversions as they're trying to build a dual carriageway from Sucre to the airport. Reckon we'll be back in ten years and it still won't be finished.
Get to the (very quiet) airport, check the backpacks and go through security. For the first time on the trip we're told to wear masks which involves scrabbling around in our bags to find them.
The flight to Santa Cruz takes about an hour (vs.13 hours by bus), taxi into town and to EcoHotel Chairu. Friendly welcome, comfy room, air conditioning (Santa Cruz is sub tropical), great shower pressure. Lots of air to breath as we're only at 400 metres! The staff agree to look after our luggage while we're on safari 😊.
Repack the bags and John's wedding ring, that fell off on the Uyuni trip, reappears 🥳. Go out for dinner at the restaurant next door - once we get past the 'I ordered risotto not pasta' moment it's a relaxed and enjoyable meal.
Saturday 8 April have breakfast and are collected for our 'safari' ' at 8.30 am by Nick, his driver, Jose, and another guest, Jack, a Brit in his mid 20s who's on a lengthy trip through Central and South America. He studied Spanish (and French and Russian) at university and is fluent in Spanish. We drive for about five hours, including a stop for lunch and a stop to buy coca leaves for the team at the estancia. John and I are given caps to advertise coca - for use when gardening, I think, not to wear in public in the UK.
We arrive about 2.00 pm and are shown our tent, complete with fly spray, the 'good' loo/ shower (a 10 minute walk from the camp), the less good showers/ loos with broken cistern. The less good showers / loos are shared with the dorms for the workers at the farm, but are close by. Taken out for an initial drive to look for animals - the farm has been carved out of forest with strips of native bush left between each field. Each field is huge, the width at least of the length of a football pitch and very long. The main crop is soya, which I know is evil.
Today we see deer, capevaras, tapir, armadillo, monkeys, rhea (lots), foxes and a PUMA. Puma was a long way off, but big cat = exciting. NB apologies for the quality of some of the pictures - our phones take good pictures but lack zoom lenses 😊
In the evening we have dinner in a tent to try and keep the biting critters away, and meet an Italian couple also on a tour but with a different guide. A pink toilet tent with chemical loo has been set up for the 'laydees' - convenient, but mosquito central.
Sunday 9 April up before dawn, a coffee and out at 5.30 am. Huge flock of macaus fly over us from their roost to day time hang out - noisy beggars! We go out on three trips today with time for a nap in the afternoon - today we spot a JAGUAR, a long way off but super elegant.
Also see foxes, deer, capybaras, a rattle snake, armadillo, pink dolphins, lots of caymen.
There was a lot of rain before our trip so some of the dirt roads are impassable and we're impressed by José's skill at doing multi point turns - and to know where on the estancia we are.
Monday 10 April Again up before dawn for coffee and a 5.30 am start. Also see capybaras and a deer, and find a jaguar footprint in dried mud, but no jaguar.
After a late breakfast we pack up, and head for Santa Cruz - I've had only one shower since we got here and we're both very well covered with mosquito bites. Clearly Chilean anti-mozzie spray doesn't work on Bolivian critters.
Stop for lunch and arrive back at our hotel in Santa Cruz around 4.00 pm. Different room, wonderful shower! The trip has been great fun though Nick apologises for lack of big cats. He is very passionate about conserving wild life in Bolivia but is concerned about the country's economy and government. At least he and his (Bolivian) partner & kids have the option to leave and move to Oz - probably Tasmania.
To a local vape shop, the first we've seen in South America, and John buys one bottle of vape juice. We have dinner two doors away at Mediterráneo Brunch y Tapas - very charming waiter, a bit nervous as he's new, keen to practice his English. Extraordinary that another diner (French, I think) smokes a huge Havana cigar non stop throughout what seems to be a three course meal (I try not to stare too much!).
Tuesday 11 April After breakfast we walk into the city centre which takes about an hour - it's warm here. The main square (September 24) has attractive buildings and plenty of trees. We have a coffee and then retreat to the Irish Pub for several cold beers. Take a taxi back to the hotel.
Santa Cruz is the biggest city in Bolivia by population (1.4 million) and definitely has the fewest dogs roaming the streets that we've seen. Fewer dogs means less poop to look out for!
Have dinner next door that evening - my pizza fails to arrive until I see a chef type sloping out for a smoke and ask him nicely where it is.
Wednesday 12 April John goes back to the vape shop for more supplies before we leave. Today we fly to La Paz at 3.00 pm so it's quite a lot of hanging around until 12 noon when we get a taxi to the airport.
The airport is quite busy and there's a bit of confusion about our gate - the board says gate 4, 'people' say gate 1 (not even on the same floor). Anyway we find the right place (gate 1) and board our flight. Once on board we're firmly told to wear our masks.
The flight is about an hour and we're in La Paz and back at altitude again at 3,650 metres - so in the space of an hour we're 3,250 metres higher than in Santa Cruz (400 metres). And it's a lot cooler.
Taxi to our hostel, the Rooftop, which we chose because it's a five minute walk from the bus station and has an on site bar and restaurant. And views - amazing views of La Paz and of some of the cable cars that provide passenger transport in the sky around the city.
Because the city is built in a steep valley it's not practical to put in on ground transport like a metro - so it's bus, taxi or Teleférico (or 'aerial cable car urban transit system').
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