mas San Bartolo

Surf's Up in San Bartolo

Yay! We all met up in Lima to figure out our next step either heading north or south for some surf. It was weird being in Lima again where the trip started almost five months. It was just like old times staying in our same hostel www.friendshouse.com and getting back to old routines of running along the cliffs, eating fresh papaya/mango, and enjoying our homemade breakfast, but now we had two new faces finishing the trip with us, Soren and Tracy.
After a little research we decided the southern coastal area would best suit our surfing needs. Tracy found an amazing posh hostel right on the edge of a cliff in a well known surfing town of San Bartolo called H110. When we first heard the pricing of 170 soles=$56 bucks per night por todos, our eyes enlarged a bit, since we were use to paying 30 soles=$10 bucks per person per night in Peru, but with a little bargaining we were able to talk them down a bit and turned our time there into a birthday celebration for Kristin. Happy Birthday Granny!
The pimp condo pad was top floor overlooking the bay area, equipped with two huge bedrooms, two bathrooms, dining room, living room, patio, full kitchen. two pools, and a hot surfer willing and ready to take us out for a ride.
Once we settled into our new home, we quickly found a local renting surfboards. Since we were beginners, except Soren, we were told to stay far right away from the rocks. Soren gave us a quick briefing on paddling, catching the wave sets, and reaching our ultimate goal of standing up. Here we go! First wave is on it's way and it's a big one, (about 4 ft mas o menos) big enough to put fear into our entire bodies. With Soren yelling "paddle," we three ladies paddled fast and hard, so hard we all did what they call "flying over the handle bars" and over our boards to get tossed like ragdolls in a washing machine. As Monica and Tracy were trying to grasp for air, the set of waves kept coming and they got pummeled wave after wave. Kristin was not in sight and a moment of panic stuck the air. Tracy sprung into action following emergency protocol, while doing so she managed to step on a sea urchin. Meanwhile, Kristin was not missing, she had caught the next wave and road it all the way to shore. Soren and Monica finally noticed from afar Kristin paddling back into the waves with a huge smile on her face. After all the excitement of our first wave, we realized the current had taken us a little farther left than we should have been. We all paddled back out into the blue and had a great time, and accomplished our goal of standing up! Righteous!
This time of year, San Bartolo is a ghosttown, so our nights there were accompanied with our personal Chef Soren, live music performance by Monica Whittington & Los Dos, and a dance party lead by Tracy Warner and the rest of the crew. We lived like what felt like royalty for those few days and had to head back to Lima to have our final final and wrap up the trip.

Sorata

Oh the fresh air again! Sorata is a magical little jungle town at the foot of the high peak of Illampu on the otherside of the Cordillera Real and on the edge of the Yungas. We ended up staying in this place for almost a week and could've stayed longer but had to move on due to friends coming in. Our first adventure was walking along a dirt road surrounded by 20,000 ft peaks, beautiful blue river below, and saw a circus monkey on a rope, where we ended up at a bat cave, which was Kristin's favorite part (NOT)! Inside was a big lagoon complete with paddle boat for 5 bolivianos per ride, and we wasted no time hopping in and paddling around.
Second adventure, we hired a guide with a mule and hiked to Lago Challata and camped out among Incan Ruins and soaring condors. Monica had an alien in her belly and so could not move onto the higher lake, Lago Glacier, with Soren and Kristin.

Kristin & Soren
At sunrise the next morning, we moved on the submit and reach Lago Glacier, which is a little over 15,000 ft. We both managed the hike extremely well considering the high elevation and occasional steep inclines. When we reached the top we had lunch while enjoying in the breathtaking views of Lago Titicaca and the face of Mt. Illampu. When the clouds starting to roll in when headed down the mountain to check on our little friend with an allen in her belly. Pobrecita!

Because our guide had a futbol game early the next day, his 60 or 70 year old father hiked up in sandals to meet us and guide us down the mountain. Tired, hungry, and exhausted, we arrived back into the little town of Sorata and fell into our beds to reenergize ourselves and enjoy the rest of our stay there. We were told that the father was the first guide in this area of the Cordillera Real range! This family are descendants of the Aymara culture, which is still a thriving community. They spoke the ancient language of Aymara all weekend, which is only one of the 30+ national languages spoken across Bolivia. To the ear, it is very beautiful and sounds almost like a native american langauge.

Sorata/Mt. Ilampu...an outdoor paradise

La Paz

The transition from a tropical paradise to the big busy city was an interesting one. Upon arriving, on a Saturday afternoon, we decided to let loose and paint the town brown. Mind you, La Paz sits around 12,000 ft and we stayed on probably the 10Th floor of our hostel. As we settled in, we indulged in some new hot outfits that would make Romi and Michelle blush and warmed up with a few brews and a few bottles of wine. We then headed out for a night of salsa and cumbia with a good buzz and our dancing shoes on.
Romi and Michelle outfits: 100 bucks
Cumbia cover charge: 15 bucks
Tequila shots: 40 bucks
Wine: 20 bucks
Pisco sours: 10 bucks
Lost Camera: 250 bucks (hence no photos!)
Memory loss and one crazy night in the capital of Bolivia: priceless!!

The next day, we all had one hell of a hangover and stayed in our hostel watching bad American shows and cheesy music videos. Note to self: Hydration is KEY at high elevation. Needless to say, we survived. We explored the city a bit, visited a few markets (including the witch's market), ate local trucha (trout), literally ran into our friend Colin in the streets and skipped on outta there, heading to the mountains.

true Paradise @ Ginger´s

For the over two years, Kristin has been researching and contacting this farm in Bolivia. The day finally came to make a small dream come true. We arrived at the farm after a short stay in Samaipata, beautiful subtropical mountain town a few hours away, where we also picked up the new member to our traveling crew, Soren. To get to the farm, you have to cross a very high bridge over the river. If you are lucky enough, as we were, you might spot cars in the river. It happens every few weeks where a car will turn the corner too fast and fly off the road and into the river. From the seatbelts and tires, Cristobal (the father of the farm) makes sandals.
We crossed the bridge and were welcomed by the family with an all vegetarian lunch made fresh from the garden. After, we got our asses to work. We picked up hoes and dug in the dirt, harvested, planted, fed the horses and learned a little about growing cycles. Then one day we decided we didn´t want to hoe no mo! With the sun shining bright, we played by the river in the natural water slides and laid naked as jay birds. One day we ventured off into the jungle, with machete in hand, and hiked to a prestine 25 meter waterfall. All along the way we were guided by butterflies of every color!
The farm is nestled in a jungle valley surrounded by thick jungle and a towering red rock. In their garden is just about anything you could imagine. They harvest the only hibiscus in Boilivia and make bomb ass tea with it. They also harvest papaya, mango, guava, mandarins, avacado, different types of peas and beans, soya, any and every herb you can think of, pumpkins, tomatoes, arugula, varieties of lettuce, yuca, onions, carrots, the magical san pedro, honey from their own bee hives, peppers, as well as coffee. They have horses, chickens running around everywhere, little pup named Gaia, opportunity for jewelry making, chinese checkers (Soren tried to win....he can beat the 5 year old....), best bolivian chocolate and wine (be careful when you bet with the padre!) and lots and lots of music making.
The padre is Cristobol, beautiful bolivian wife Sol and their children Ginger and Dzi. Another son, Nova, lives in Santa Cruz as a wood carver, but we weren´t able to meet him. Chris is an incredible musician, wild crazy jungle man with a passion for connecting with and sharing his knowledge nature and spirituality. His wife Sol is an amazing vegetarian cook with a warm heart, sweet energy and a talented and patient teacher of her jewelry making. They both have extensive knowledge about natural and herbal medicine and practice it regularly. Both kids are incredibly smart, wild, and funny (not to mention bilingual) who made us laugh every single day! Dzi is quick witted and knows the jungle like the back of his hand. We joked about how he is the one who will be the next Bolivian predsident. Ginger, the farm´s namesake, is a fiesty little one, cute as a button, and seranades while sitting on the baño seco.
We only spent a little over a week but felt a strong connection to the place and the family. Anyone in traveling through Bolivia who want to experience a true piece of paradise should check this place out and stay! Here´s the link for anyone interested:
http://www.gingersparadise.com/

The Best Bolivian Bus Ride

checklist for the perfect 13 hour bus ride:
1. nightbus
2. no bathroom
3. peed in a bottle
4. lucky to buy last two seats on the bus (in the very back)
5. crying babies
6. whining puppy in a box
7. unpaved, bumpy roads
8. broken seat
9. drove alongside steep mountain roads at highspeed
10. bus broke down
11. jumped on another small bus, w/out asking questions
12. hot AND stuffy
13. no sleep

= two very grumpy girls