Bolivia, land of soaring vistas and beautiful fiestas, the low Amazon Basin and the high Altiplano, the birthplace of the Inca creation myth and the sparkling ‘White City’ built with Potosi’s silver and millions of indigenous dead.
No one country in Latin America offers such diversity or such contrasts. Culturally the richest country in the region, yet also the poorest with deeply entrenched rural and urban poverty. A country unlike any other.
Bolivia is also home to a dizzying array of wildlife, including three wide varieties of camelids (for anyone wondering about the name of the blog): llamas, vicunas and alpacas.
After visiting in 2010, we decided to return to live in beautiful Sucre, volunteering with local NGOs, learning Spanish and visiting other parts of the country and region.
Been here a couple of weeks already, house hunting and trying to solve the mysteries of the immigration process to get our residency visa…of which more later. London seems like a long time ago already, although it will take a while to be completely immunised against the urge to have things happen when people say they’ll happen.
So raise a glass (or a bucket) of chicha to Bolivia, where, according to one immigration official, “Everything is possible, nothing is certain”. Looking forward to it already.
Brilliant blog Paul – loving the chicken and the camelids and the memories of similar situations in Peru. Keep having an amazing time!
(Alison – IPPF)
Great pics!
You were given a chicken? Remember we were given a goat in Uganda!
I still feel guilty about that goat, but there was no way I was sharing a car with a goat for the 6 hour drive back to Kampala.
To put it into context, we’d been force fed potatoes (in soup, in salad) and alcohol for three hours, and then they brought out the main course which, once I’d gotten over the shock, I politely declined.