Madidi National Park, Bolivia

Die Amasone reënwoud, die digte, geil, groen hart van Suid Amerika, 
wat klop op die oer oue, onversteurde ritme van die natuur, 
'n lewende, wesenlike ritme, 
tasbaar in die swaar, vrugbare lug wat hang oor die oerwoud, 
'n ritme van samesyn, volhoubaar en wild, met klanke wat orals is en nêrens, 
'n ritme wat skuil in die skadus, fluister in die wind en wat sing in vergete tale deur die nag
'n ritme van vat en gee, van lewe en dood, n delikate balans...
dit is 'n kosbare ritme, wat ons as mens al lank terug van vergeet het...maar nooit kan bekostig om te verloor nie...
Ons is in Madidi Nasionale Park, Bolivia...hier kan onsself oorgee aan die ritme van die oerwoud, aan die hartklop van die natuur.... Albertus van der Merwe

After our overnight bus from Sucre to La Paz, we spent the morning in a coffee shop in the city center, stretching out our time (our flight was only in the afternoon) and trying to make arrangements for finding Kristi's bank card when we got back from the jungle...it got swallowed by a Bolivian ATM earlier that morning...:)

We then caught a taxi to the military airport, which was also quite an experience. Firstly it was the closest thing to driving in a local minibus taxi back home - complete disregard for the general rules of the road - but then at the military gates we were sent to three different entrances with each gate officer seemingly oblivious to the fact that there is an airport somewhere within the grounds...even our taxi driver thought it was a joke! Eventually we spoke to a more senior guy who had some recollection of there being an airport and let us in...100m from the gate there's a massive sign with 'airport turn right' written on it!?!? We felt right at home..:)

Flight from La Paz to the jungle village, Rurrenabaque.
Lake Titicaca is the big blue mass on the left.

It's a short 50 min flight from La Paz to the jungle village of Rurrenabaque, but the change in scenery and altitude is huge, you leave the dry highlands of La Paz and drop about 4000 meters to the lush and humid Bolivian jungle. We were greeted straight away by our tour company, Madidi Jungle Eco-lodge, who organised a taxi to take us into town. We stopped by the office to pay for our four day tour into the jungle and then got dropped off at our hostel...Los Tucanes, very basic but also very cheap! Budget vir die lang pad...

Rurrenabaque taxi rank

The next morning the four of us got picked up at our hostel, and taken to the river where we boarded our ride into the jungle...a traditional long and thin dugout canoe with a propeller at the back...

It's a 3 hour boat ride up the Tuichi river to the Ecolodge and for the four South Africans going up a massive river deep into the Amazon rain-forest it was great, we didn't want it to end!

We arrived at the lodge at around lunch time and were treated to the first of many lovely meals during our stay at Madidi Ecolodge. Outside the comedor we were greeted by Tony the Tapir (soos 'n klein harerige seekoei met 'n olifant tiepe slurpie, en 'n harde hobbel op sy nek...moerse weird dier), who was rescued by one of the guides when he was still a calf and now hangs out around the lodge...

Tony the Tapir

After lunch we had some down time for a quick afternoon siesta (this is still south america after all!). A bit later we got to meet our guide for the next couple of days, Norman, who was taking us out on our first hike!

Norman is a local from the San Jose community just a bit further up the Tuichi river, they are the native inhabitants of Madidi National Park and have called the jungle their home for hundreds of years, before and after the Spanish arrived.

The lodge is an eco-tourism initiative, which means it is run by the locals in a sustainable manner to preserve both the jungle and their heritage - 20% of your fee goes straight to the community. It is clear right from the onset that this way of operating makes for a completely different experience to the run of the mill expeditions and tour companies. The guides and staff are all people who grew up together so the vibe is homely and cheerful, also when Norman spoke about his heritage and the history of his people he got really emotional which gave us lot a knop in die keel as well!

From the age of five Norman was taught the ways of the jungle, which plants are edible, which are dangerous, what can be used as medicine, and all the different sounds for every kind of bird, beast or insect...it's really remarkable! 

Owl butterfly

On our hikes we would walk with Norman through the jungle and he'd explain the different flora and fauna as we go along...And I haven't seen someone with such good eyesight since I was with Jan-Pieter on Beyersfontein in the Karoo! Which was great for us because we couldn't spot an elephant in that thick jungle if it stood right beside us!

Ahhh, now I see it...

We really learned a lot on these outings, strange and peculiar things that really gave you a sense of how these people lived in this wild isolated place...

On our hikes we heard the bone-chilling howls of the howler monkeys and saw how closely they resemble their distant relative the orangutan, we scurried through the undergrowth to catch a glimpse of the nimble capuchin monkeys and were lucky so see the rare and fuzzy tamarin monkeys...

I think there's something scary up the tree!

We saw every type and colour of bird you can imagine, from the beautiful toucan, to the colourful macaws, to the loud turkey-like guam, Simon was in his element and by the end of the trip he was naming the birds before Norman!

What's this? It's a parrot but it's not applicable

As you can imagine lots and lots of trees...It was truly a garden of Eden! Trees with wild ginger roots, 1000 year old fern trees, garlic trees, whose bark was used to flavor our food, and the smell also intensifies severely when it's about to rain. Norman showed us red rooted palm trees that can help with anemia, and these really thin palm trees that have berries with loads of antioxidants and species of mushrooms that can treat ear infection! 

Every now and then you have to stop and smell the garlic tree...

We learned which trees are good for building, which trees can be used for fire, we saw trees being carried off piece by piece by swarms of woodcutter ants, then not to mention the massive and sacred 800 year old mapajo trees and the killer trees that can choke them to death!

Jane of the jungle

Each outing explored a different aspect of the jungle and taught us different things. It's really a great way to experience such a remarkable and pristine part of our planet, and the symbiotic respect that the locals have for nature is definitely something that they instill in you during your stay.

Another big occasion during our stay in the jungle was the birthday of one of the guests...yours truly...the big 30 ;) Well it was only a great occasion because of all the planning and orchestration done by my amazingly wonderful wife! She smuggled in some balloons, champagne, magic candles and even organised a birthday cake! 

It was a great day, we went down the river on tubes for most of the afternoon, basking in the sun, enjoying the spectacular views and laughing every time someone thought a caiman grazed their feet! 

Later Simon and I were invited to join a in soccer game with the locals which was loads of fun but the highlight was definitely being brought my tropical birthday cake (it had kiwi fruit on it for decorations!) and enjoying it with everyone after dinner, staff included! Good times.

Ons het maar gesukkel om daardie klein rooi balletjie raak te skop!

We really had a magical stay at Madidi, and while we kind of expected the natural beauty and spectacular surroundings, we were really pleasantly surprised by the locals and how at home they made us feel - we were so sad to leave! I think even Norman was sad to see us go as he decided to join us for a drink at the funky monkey bar on our final night in Rurrenabaque...

The next morning we boarded a plane back to La Paz, where apparently there's a slightly ominous road worth mountain biking down...

Sucre, Bolivia

After taking an overnight bus from Uyuni, we arrived in Sucre at 5am, finding our hostel, The Beehive, we were grateful to get offered a mattress, blanket and a spot in the common area to rest our tired bodies until sunrise. 

The Beehive is a great little hostel, renowned for its Spanish lessons and excellent hearty breakfasts. Up until now the Argentinian and Chilean breakfasts were mainly white bread, dulce (caramel treat spread) and the odd egg. So getting a plate of delicious fruits, natural yogurt, seeds , granola and oats was heaven! All four of us signed up for daily Spanish lessons, with me in the beginners class and Albertus in intermediate. 

We were tired after all the desert bashing, early sunrises and high altitude, and Sucre is the perfect city to rest and reload...

The city is an UNESCO heritage site with beautiful Spanish colonial architecture . The people are all laid back, and nothing seems rushed in this place. We enjoyed wondering the streets, going up to Recoleta hill and watching the sun set over the beautiful city. 

We were lucky with our timing as the country and city were celebrating independence week...which meant lots of specials and festivities all around. 

One of my favourite  places was the local market, where there are hundreds of stalls selling everything from meat, cheese, bread, fruit&veg to clothes and pots and pans. It reminded me so much of a typical colourful African market. Pure joy! 

We mostly bought nice fresh produce from the market and made turns with the Veenstras cooking at the hostel. A hit was definitely our chicken, quinoa, vegetables- stirfry! 

We also met our first fellow South African - Arno Visagie :) Who was born&bread Bothaville bloke and immigrated to Australia 13 years ago , due to increasing crime and murders and a personal incident on their farm. It brakes our hearts that there are people who are forced , due to circumstances,  to leave our beloved country. I am sure we made his day with a bit of good old Afrikaans. 

Since our budgets have been taking some strain (does anybody want to buy a 2012 VW polo;) ) , the lower cost of living in Sucre persuaded us to stay a couple more days to lower our daily spending average. 

Gracias Sucre!! Next stop....Tribal drum role...the AMAZON!! 

San Pedro de Atacama and Salar de Uyuni

San Pedro de Atacama and Salar de Uyuni

The Paso de Jama pass from Salta to San Pedro de Atacama, takes you over the mighty Andes mountain range, and up to altitudes of 5000m. The scenery is just breathtaking, from driving past the seven coloured mountain to winding up mountains that seem to have no end, it was definitely the most scenic bus ride we've ever experienced! It took us nine hours to clear the mountains and reach the Atacama desert.

We reached San Pedro just before sunset, tired from the long ride and with slight headaches from the lack of oxygen. The town with its sand coloured buildings and dusty streets fits in beautifully with the surrounding desert...it's not big on street signs though which made it rather difficult to find our hostel. Luckily a friendly stranger pointed us in the right direction.

San Pedro is a very popular backpacking destination with travelers arriving daily from Chile, Bolivia and Argentina...however that can make finding a nice warm bed on short notice quite tough. We were very fortunate to find a double room in the Mama Tierra hostel. Which is a very clean and well run hostel not too far from the town centre. The staff there are extremely helpful and helped us book some day trips around San Pedro for the next couple of days...We also received some great advice on which tour operators to go see for the 3 day Uyuni salt flats trip, which was a big help since there's about a thousand of them in town!

San Pedro is a small oasis-like town set up initially as trading post for the goods coming from Argentina and Bolivia to supply the mining settlements nearby. It's got a lot of charm, especially during the day with all the backpackers roaming the streets, enjoying the respite from the harsh surrounding elements.

Our good friends from South Africa, Simon and Joh-nell, were meeting us in San Pedro, one day after we arrived, so we spent the first day exploring the town and visiting the different agencies that were recommended to us.

When you travel the way we're doing, you meet a lot of new people, literally every time you check into a new hostel, and make some new friends along the way. It was, however, very refreshing to meet up with some old friends for a change! Simon & Joh-nell reached our hostel around half past nine in the evening, we greeted then with cold beer and chatted nonstop until we were literally told to go to bed! It was really good to catch up...

Because of the high altitudes that you have endure on your 3-day Uyuni trip, they advised us to do a couple of local excursions to some higher altitude places around San Pedro to acclimatize a bit to the conditions. We decided to do two day trips before heading into Bolivia, first the Valle de la Luna, and then the renowned Tatio Geysers...

Seeing the sunset in the exceptional moon valley was awesome but our favorite was definitely the Tatio Geysers...

We had to get up at 04:00 am because it's an hour and a half drive to get up there and the cold morning air makes the sprouting fumes of the boiling geysers seem all the more dramatic. It's the third largest hydrothermal field in the world, after Yellowstone and Kamchatka and thus an amazing site to see...

You need 3 ingredients for a natural geyser: agua, heat and porous volcanic soil...the magma heats the water sending the violently hot air and water surging up to the surface. 

There was a natural hot spring not far from the geyser field and the four south Africans didn't think twice about going in for a dip...lekker Goudini spa!

The water was not quite as warm as we hoped and so we scurried out almost as quickly as we got in! It was a good outing and one that took us up over 4500m so also good prep for our mission into Bolivia.

That night we went into town to buy all the provisions we needed for the 3 day drive through the desert (mostly water!). Our company, White & Green, was picking us up at 07:00 the next morning so we decided it best to hit the hay early because we didn't really know what to expect for the next 3 days...

3 Day Uyuni excursion

It's about a 45min drive from San Pedro to the Bolivian border, which looked more like a second-hand Toyota dealership, with all the land cruisers parked about. 

A nasty surprise waited for us at customs where we had to pay a 100 USD per person fee to get a Bolivian Visa! En net ons Suid-Afrikaners, die Amerikaners en die Israelis moes betaal...wat het ons ooit aan hulle gedoen?!

Anyway, afterwards we were spoiled with a delicious breakfast at our land cruiser where we also met our driver, Bladimir and the other two passengers, two young German girls, Elena and Karla...

Just some side info, there's a couple ways to get Uyuni from San Pedro, you can take a bus on a tarred road and get there within a day...boring...or you can hitch a lift with a land cruiser and cross the desert in 3 days Dakar style (just not as fast and with a lot of scenic stops!)

Our first day's drive took us to the highest point of the three day trip, so a lot of climbing, we stopped at some awesome salt lagoons with the most amazing turquoise water, poised in front of the 6000m high volcano Licancabur! 

We also visited some more geysers and another hot spring...We were assured that this one was warmer than the one at Tatio! It was, and it was really cold outside so we felt like we could stay in there forever!

The afternoon drive took us over barren, yet ever changing landscapes. From the rugged and hostile volcano valleys, to the dry sandy terrain of the desierto de Dali, speckled with odly formed volcanic boulders, and then we were surprised by the warm golden mountain slopes as we descended into the pajabra grasslands at sunset...

We reached the small mountain settlement of Villa Mar just as the sky turned a soft pink, fading into the distant blue horizon - this was where we were going to spend our first night...at 5000m above sea level!

Fortunately we made it through our first day and night with no-one succumbing to altitude sickness! 

The next morning we headed off to the Valle de la Rocas, which as the name portends, is a massive rocky outcrop formed by millions of years of volcanic activity and the surrounding elements...the one area is named "la cuidad perdida", the lost city, because the way the rocks and canyons are situated almost look like an ancient city turned into stone! It's really cool...

We stopped for lunch in a beautiful river bed with frozen streams of water, but luckily it was a sunny day so we could bask in the sun on the surrounding cliffs.

That afternoon we passed through valleys with the ruins of old Inca farmlands spread out all over the mountain (very steep) slopes...Bladimir said they used those terraces to grow potatoes...ek weet darem nie of 'n John Deere daar sal kan operate nie!

As we approached our second night's resting place we also started to drive into the salt flats, which was quite cool because suddenly everything gave way to white nothingness...

The name of the settlement where we stayed was Chivuca, and the hostel, Hotel Sal, or salt hotel, because it was literally and completely made out of salt! At least we didn't have to worry about snails...;) that was my icebreaker for the evening...

Our final day we got up before daybreak to drive to a rocky island, Incahuasi, in the middle of a sea of salt where we could climb up the Cactus covered cliffs to watch the sunrise over the desolate landscape...which was definitely one of our tour highlights!

Afterwards we set off deep into the salt flats until we were sufficiently surrounded by the white landscape to alter any perception of depth or distance...which makes for some crazy and bizarre fotos!

We ended our trip driving through the endless salt flats, passing train wrecks and abandoned settlements until we reached the outskirts of Uyuni, the nearest Bolivian town...you could feel the mood drop when we hit our first tar road in three daysbecause we knew our "South American Dakar" adventure was over...it was a really cool way to drive across and see an amazingly diverse landscape.

Salta

Salta, Argentina - 12 May - 17 May 2016

Valles Calchaquies

Prior to arriving in Salta I was under the apparently common misconception that the surrounding landscape would be dry and barren. Salta I thought stood for salt as in Salt flats, plus the Bolivian desert is just a couple of hundred kms further north...I was (fortunately) very wrong...The name Salta comes from the native name Sachta, which actually means place of beauty. The city is situated at the base of a hill (or more like a "koppie"), and is surrounded by beautifully green mountains, and the vegetation almost looks sub-tropical. The city has a particularly strong colonial character, which along with its strong native roots has created a very interesting place. We again dived into a free walking tour on our first morning to learn about Salta, it's history and culture...

Strong colonial influence

Being so far north and close to the borders of both Chile and Bolivia, Salta fell within the reach of the mighty Inca empire but also became an important trade town/outpost for the Spanish once they arrived in the 16th century.

Group of kids in Salta - you can clearly see the
native roots

The city also played an important part in Argentina's battle for independence in the 19th century and was the base for the army of the North, led by a young but highly talented general Guemes, who was like our Generaal De La Rey in the Anglo-Boereoorlog. He trained groups of "kommando's" made up of local "guachos" (Andean cowboys) and townsfolk in the ways of guerrilla warfare, using the mountainous terrain to their advantage.

He lead the army of the North against the Spanish and delivered a important victory for the then nascent Argentina. They honoured his legacy with a massive statue at the base of the mountain that overlooks the town, riding his horse, his gaze forever fixed on the horizon, making sure no danger befalls his beloved Salta...

General Guemes

After the walking tour we went to search  for this local Empanada place I read about on another blog...Patio del Empanadas...it was quite a bit out of our way and some distance from the city centre, but it was so worth it once we got there...First of all its not one place but a whole bunch of small Empanada joints, each serving pretty much the exact same menu...so it's ecos 101 for a perfectly competitive micro-economy! The minute you step inside the dilapidated building you enter a court yard with numerous multi coloured tables and ten different hostesses waving you over to sit at their joint! It's quite something and the best of all because of the fierce competition, the empanadas are really cheap and muy delicioso! Definitely a must visit for anyone traveling to Salta...

Empanada heaven

Later we visited the MAAM museum that's situated at the main town plaza. The main attraction at the museum is to see one of the "Ninos de Llullaillaco". These are three Inca children who along with possibly many more, were sacrificed to the Inca Emperors, by being buried alive high up in the mountains, in this case the nearby (and still active!) volcano, Llullaillaco. Because of the extremely cold conditions on top of the mountain their bodies were cryogenically preserved over the last 500 years!...They were uncovered by an archeological team in the early 2000's...while it's pretty brutal, it's still an amazing discovery and a real life glimpse into the ancient world of the Inca civilization...

That night Kristi organized for us to go out to dinner to a local place, Casino Molino, which Joh-nell, a friend from South Africa who recently visited Salta, recommended. A Parisian girl, Sterenn, who we met at our hostel joined us.

Casino Malino

The place was located towards the outskirts of town, so when the taxi driver dropped us off and waved towards a dark property we were all a little hesitant, but he insisted it's the correct address and in we went. Although once we entered through the old wooden doors we knew he right! We sat in the courtyard around a big open fire, with the barbeques blazing in the background and a couple of locals sitting at the table next to us playing guitar and singing beautiful local folk songs. We had a fantastic evening- thanks Joh-nell :)

The Salta province has some of the most scenic roads in Argentina. We decided to rent a car and visit Cafayete, which is a 4 hour drive south. Cafayete is a Northern Argentine wine village, renowned for its Torrentes white wine.

Cafayete

The route from Salta to Cafayete takes you through the spectacular Valles Calchaquies with its characteristic red canyons. We had a 'pitstop' and enjoyed tea, sandwiches and the view that lay before us. We arrived in the heat of the day and checked into our sweet little hostel, Rusty-K, and headed to the town's plaza to rent some bicycles and start wine touring.

One thing I love about my wife is her ability to do things her own way, no matter what the norm is, but sometimes it can backfire...Like when you choose to ride on a vintage 1 gear bicycle, with the pretty little basket in front for your baguettes, to all the different wine farms in the Cafayete region...Being rural Argentina, it took us about 1 km before we hit the gravel roads and being at the foot of the Andes mountain range, another km before we were going up an incline that would feel at home in the Cape Epic...:) toe trap dai een rat nie meer so lekker nie!

The big smile is because it was all downhill from there!

We eventually arrived at our first (and given how look it took, potentially our last) wine farm, or Bodega, Domingo Molina. Beautiful setting that looks out over the whole valley and it was a nice sunny day so we did the tasting outside! We tried out some of the local favourites like the torrontes and the malbec, muy bien, and then tried a familiar cultivar, carbernet sauvignon, which was good but I think we make it better back home...haha, biased maybe?

Wine tasting Domingo Molino

We then stopped at a few more bodegas on the way back to town, Vasigre Secreta and Esteco...the former a less well known winery but apparently the oldests in the valley while Esteco is probably the biggest operation in town with close to 600 hectares of vineyards scattered over a 60km radius...

Wine tasting at Esteco

After all the wine we had to take a quick Siesta (now it's all starting to make sense)...and then for dinner we just decided to do "comida para llevar" which is take-aways from a little corner café. The food was very cheap, 12 empanadas for R60, but Kristi insisted on also ordering a chicken ravioli...which firstly was almost impossible to explain to the poor waiter, and when it arrived, was just cooked ravioli pasta, with a chicken drumstick lying on top! #youdontneedanitaliantocookitalian

The next day we missioned to Cachi, a small mountain village, with yet another beautiful, scenic road taking you there. You really have to hire a car when you visit Salta, it's so worth it. 

Paprika!

The closest reference I have for Cachi is probably, Wuppertal in the Cederberg Mountains...isolated, charming little town, with unique, friendly locals and this immense backdrop of snow-capped mountains...

Cachi by day

Cachi by night

We didn't book beforehand so we had to go old school...which entails knocking on doors to find out if they had room for two weary travelers...:) We found a nice little hostel, whose owner also runs a restaurant around the corner which was convenient but we also (unexpectedly) had some of the best food we've had thus far on our trip! 

Locro!

Especially the locro which is a speciality in the Salta province, mostly beans, pumpkin, maize and different cuts of meat - regte "bergkos"!

The next day we headed back down the awesome pass back to Salta for our final night in Argentina! Once we got back we essentially just scurried around town to do everything that we needed to get done (get a haircut - hilarious experience!, buy bus tickets, look for matching alpaca jerseys...etc) before we head off to the next stage of our adventure: San Pedro de Atacama, Chile and the Uyuni salt flats of Bolivia!

"Shorto on el sidos y longero on el toppo"

In Cachi, when we had dinner, Kristi and I talked about what we will always remember Argentina by: definitely the beautiful and diverse landscape, it's friendly and proud people, all the dogs (more dogs than people, seriously!), "habla ingles", and that its not that cheap (yes even without the leather jackets), but definitely well worth a visit!

I feel like there's someone standing right behind us

Adios Argentina, muchas gracias y hasta luego!