chilling in samaipata and back to la paz

the view from the top of the hike, overlooking amboro (the amazon side)


view from the top...the andes side (notice how theres less green over here.....almost desert like!)




waterfalls!


Dave with the sweet payphone in Samipata


Dave wielding a machete... watch out


view from the farm...this is the valley it looked over!


hey all!
I wrote an entry not too long ago, but we are going to be headed on yet another long bus journey soon, and I wanted to write again while I have the time! I met up with Dave in Samipata last Saturday and he informed me that he had been working on a farm outside of town that was owned by the owner of Andoriña hostel, a really funky hostel in Samaipata. The farm is still in it´s starting stages, and the owner, Andres, is trying to get it up and running so that he can start a full volunteer program in the fall. Dave was there by himself for a few days, helping around the farm and hanging out with Andres´ only worker, a local guy who is helping to get the farm started as well. Dave wanted to work a few more days at the farm to finish up some projects, so I decided to join him for the weekend. I really loved the farm. It was still definately in its starting stages, and all we really worked on was trimming some trees, cleaning them of moss,lichen, and vines (they are peach trees and would die off if they weren´t cleaned of the stuff) but we had a good time just being outside in the fresh air, with the place to ourselves and a kitchen to cook in. There was no electricity, so we played cards and cooked by candlelight in the evenings (ooo, romantic). It got pretty cold in the evenings and we were staying in a little adobe house, with not the best insulation, so we went to bed around 8:30 every night before it got too cold!
We headed back into town on Monday and decided that we would hike back to Samaipata instead of waiting for a cab and paying. We had brought EVERYTHING with us to the farm, and this was our first time hiking a substancial distance with absolutely everything we have! It was a challenge, to say the least... but it was encouraging to know that if we have to, we can still carry everything. Our bags have grown quite a bit since we arrived and I was beginning to think this feat might not be possible. It took us about 3 hours to get back to town, and we met a local woman along the way who offered to help us carry some of our things, and then spent a half an hour trying to convince us to buy some of her land that she was trying to sell. When she realized that she was wasting her breath, we got to talking about family, and she was awestruck as to why I was 25, had been dating a man for over 2 years, and did not have babies! It is quite a different world down here in that department, Dave and I always laugh at the prospect of having babies at this point in our lives. For starters, putting a baby in my backpack probably wouldn´t make it any easier to carry, hehe. (although sometimes my backpack feels like I´m carrying a 10 year old on my back)
Anyway, we spent the next few days staying at the Andoriña and being treated like a king and a queen by the owners, who were really grateful for our help on the farm. They gave us a really nice room for half price, and free coffees everyday... not to mention they were really enjoyable company to spend our evenings with. The town of Samaipata might just be my favorite place (other than La Paz) in Bolivia thus far. The town sits right outside of Amboro national park, which is part amazon, part andes...the park actually houses one of the only places on earth where these two ecosystems collide. There are tons of funky restaurants, bakerys, beautiful winding roads through the forest, and spectacular views. Our last day in Samaipata, we decided to take advantage of this beautiful place, and try and do a hike to Las Cuevas, some waterfalls about 30 km from town. We had read that you can hike to them from a little town about 5 km from the falls, so we took a taxi to where the trailhead supposedly was. We just ended up getting frustrated, because we couldn´t find the trail, and the only thing that resembled a trail was a dirt road with a giant, blatant private property sign. We decided to walk the highway on foot instead and try to find the trailhead from the other end. The walk was well worth it; the waterfalls were beautiful, and when we did finally find the trailhead, the trail brought us over a huge set of ridges that overlooked Amboro national park. We could even see the progression from Andes to rainforest, the view was that immense! When we finally made it back to the town we started in, the trail dropped us off right on the ¨private property¨ dirt road that we had avoided before. No one came charging after us with machetes for trespassing though, so that was a plus. We caught a minibus back to town and talked for a while with some travelers from Brazil, one of whom played the clarinet and decided to give us a little concert while we waited for some road construction to clear. (in Bolivia, they don´t just shut down half the road and work on the other half, they shut down the WHOLE road and you just wait until they are done...this time it was only 15 minutes, but last time in was 2 hours!)
We headed back to Santa Cruz two days ago, to figure out our game plan for our next destination, Ruennebaque, where we are going to do a rainforest tour! We had originally wanted to do a tour in Amboro national park, (this is why we went down that way in the first place) but last week there was a terrible cold front, complete with freezing rain, that took down a bunch of trees and has totally ruined the trail network. We talked to other travelers who went on tour anyway, but spent the whole time hacking through brush with machetes and looking at destruction. We decided we would head north instead to get our rainforest fix. In Santa Cruz, we found out that we could take a bus through Trinidad, but that sometimes the road was impassable, and it would take upwards of 24 hours! At this point in our trip, we are getting a bit sick of ¨sometimes¨ impassable roads (because this usually means you buy a ticket and then end up sitting in the middle of nowhere for HOURS) so, even though I REALLY REALLY wanted to go through trinidad so that we could see a bit of the eastern side of Bolivia; we decided to save ourselves the headache and go through La Paz. We arrived in La Paz today and will stay a day and head to Ruennebaque on the 2nd!
...also, in other news... we decided to come back to the states a little earlier than planned. Although traveling is wonderful, and we are meeting wonderful people and seeing beautiful places, we are both getting a bit homesick and the money is starting to dwindle. We will be flying home a few weeks early, on the 23rd of August. I could write 3 more pages about how nervous/excited/uneasy I am about this upcoming return to the states, but I´m not going to. We´re going to live up our next 3 weeks to the fullest (we´re staying at a hostel with a kitchen and hot showers right now...woweee!)and STAY PRESENT! On that note, its time for me to get some sleep so I can gear up for tommorow... more exploring of La Paz (I love this city!!!)

much love,
robin:)