I recently had the opportunity to spend 2 weeks in Bolivia. I went with a group of 30 singles and a humanitarian group (CHOICE) to work in the Altiplano region of Bolivia. We spent a week living at 13,00 feet, sleeping in a small adobe building on straw mattresses, without a shower, and bathroom facilities we affectionately named "the wolves lair."
I've done trips like this before and I am always amazed at the humility of the people and how much physical labor they do on a daily basis to survive. We were able to help them bring water from the mountain spring to their village, the first time they have had running water (hence our lack of showers for a week). I feel like they did most of the work, our weak little American muscles were no match for them, but we had a great experience working along side them. We also had a great group of doctors, nurses, and dentists; we taught classes and ran a clinic in a different village every day. I loved working with the local health care workers and seeing their excitement as we shared our knowledge and skills with them.
After the expedition was over I crazy week traveling through other parts of Bolivia with some friends from the group. It was an exhausting, yet amazing experience.
THE FACES OF BOLIVIA
(Edwin the Llama, he followed this lady through town!)
The Medical Team
The orthopedic doctor taught a splinting class to the local health care workers. We used each other as "patients," they loved the hands on experience!
Heidi and I (both nurses) taught the local nurses how to start I.V.'s. I started by showing them how to start an I.V. on Heidi and i totally blew the vein! They loved it and felt much more comfortable when we turned our arms over to them to practice.
I taught a neonatal resuscitation class a few times (making me wish again that I spoke Spanish). They were so excited for the information and the mask we gave them to use on future patients. I surprised myself at how much i enjoyed teaching!
The Water Project:
This was our main project for the week. We arrived on a Sunday, then goal was to have it finished by Saturday, we were done on Wednesday! It was by no means because of us, the locals has the trench dug by the time we arrived, and came out every day to lay the pipe and cover it back up. The spring that we started from was a 3 hour hike up a mountain from the "town center." The locals had wells near their homes where they could collect water, but they frequently dried up, when they did they walked to the spring to gather water. They were so excited to have water flowing to the village and their homes.
The finale: running water!
We had a huge party on Saturday with the villagers to celebrate the completion of the project! Those people really know how to party. They started at 10am and were still going when I went to bed that night; music, dancing, potatoes, streamers, and more dancing!
A day in the life:
We spend one morning visiting the home of a local family, working alongside them as they did their choirs and getting a small glimpse of life in rural Bolivia.
This little woman took care of her home, land, and animals (pigs, sheep, cows, ducks) while her husband worked 3 hours away in La Paz during the week, coming home on the weekends.
This is her green house, she was very proud of it.
We helped carry straw from the field to the animals pins and stacked it. It took 6 of us 4 trips back and forth, I can't imagine how long it would have taken her on her own.
The adventure begins (or continues):
On our way back to La Paz we stopped at Tihuanacu, Incan ruins.
Mountain Biking: The Most Dangerous Road in the World
This is a one lane dirt road, with 2 way traffic, and a 4,000 ft. drop. So named due to the high number of deaths each year- cars going over the edge. A new road was built in the past few years, much safer, and the "death road" is left to the mountain bikers and a few crazy cars that still have a death wish.
We started on our bikes at 15,00o ft. rode down 65km to 3,000ft. (I used my brakes a lot!).
It was an amazing ride, the scenery was beautiful- we our guide reminded us not to look at on the way down. We weren't supposed to watch the birds of butterflies either: "they want you to die." We then drove back up the road on the bus, stopping to look at the scenery, take pictures, and hear stories of recent accidents.
(a little blurry, but you get the idea)
Next stop: Lake Titicaca
We'd heard about Isla del Sol, on Lake Titicaca, told it was a site not to be missed. They were right, it was a great taste of Titicaca, with amazing views.
We started at the north end and walk across the island to the south, where we spend the night.
Lake Chocata in the Condoriri
On the way back to La Paz from Titicaca we did a hike to a beautiful glacial lake. It was very picturesque, I think the llamas were put there just for us.
The final experience was an overnight bus ride (thank you Ambien) to Uyuni and a 3 day 4x4 tour of the Salt Flat and desert.
The salt flats were a little erie. We were told by our guides that "this is where you take crazy pictures." Godzillas provided.
The Red Desert. I felt like I was on Mars, or maybe when they show us pictures of Mars, this is what we are actually seeing.
The stink pots, imagine Yellowstone, but without the guard rails. In Bolivia you can walk right up to them, throw things in them, and hope as your walking along you don't fall in.
Did you know there were Flamingos in Bolivia? There are, lots of them. Their pick color comes from the red algae in the lakes. The algae from the minerals in the water.
Our last day of the tour we ate lunch in this valley. We did eat a lot of Llama on this trip, more than I've ever wanted or need to eat again.
My friend Becca and I spent our last day in Bolivia in La Paz; stuffing ourselves at Sunday Brunch at the Raddison and watching a movie (for $3!).
Did I say it was an amazing trip?
