Copacabana and Sucre

Sorry for the long time between posts (we know it was long since our moms exchanged worried phone calls), but its been a little difficult lately. Unfortunately our stay in Copacabana was not much more comfortable than our arrival. When last we posted, we were taking a day to forget the rough journey, and preparing to visit a highly reccomended island on Lake Titicaca (it's alright, laugh). Lake plans were delayed when we were hit with a pretty serious stomach bug that kept us sidelined for a solid 24 hours. The following day we took it slow, and switched to a half day trip to the island. In reality "half day" meant an hour and a half boat ride, only just over an hour to see the Inca ruins and lake view then an hour and a half return trip. Machu Picchu survived the hype, Isla del Sol, not so much.

Terraces on Isla del Sol

This was disappointing, as Copacabana itself is little more than a hub to get to the island and other lake attractions. The food there was pretty lackluster, aside from, ironically, the meal that made us sick. Most restaurants are run by dreadlocked expats who aggressively pass out flyers all sporting the same menu. Other bohemian types spread out blankets on the street and sell jewelry and knick-knacks, which can also be bothersome, but one vendor was an unexpected high point. Rather than selling tourist-geared junk he had two tables full of fossils and semi-precious stones, some for jewelry, others in the rough. He was a Bolivian paleontology student just making a few extra bucks with some of his finds. Needless to say, these appealed to both of us in differing ways. Nan picked out some necklace pendants and Reid got a petrified deer tooth and took the opportunity to talk shop for a little while.

A Bolvian Paleontologist. All the knowledge, none of the sleeves.

Overall we spent four nights there, which was more than we´d intended. Even with a few bright spots (our hostel was nice and the woman who ran it was lovely as well) it was hard not to leave a little underimpressed after all the disappointments and setbacks. Since we´d lost a few days already we decided to pass on staying in La Paz, Bolivia´s largest city. We had no concrete plans there, so it made sense to get to the next place we knew we wanted to go, Sucre, the former capitol.

As a city Sucre is much nicer. Whitewashed colonial buildings comprise the city´s iconic image, its cleaner, and we found a hostel close to its main plaza. Its also an easy city to navigate, so we found the points of interest quickly. Today we made for Cal Ork´o a paleontological site with over 5000 dinosaur tracks, the most found in one place in the whole world, just a few minutes drive out of town. Initial research made it sound like it was mostly unknown, just a wall of footprinted rock by a cement quarry. That was true until about ten years ago, and now a museum has sprung up. Cretaceous Park, they call it, complete with anatomically accurate stautes of the dinosaurs that used to live here (and T-Rex, not native, but necessary for any dinosaur theme park). A tour came with admission, and our guide was very nice and enthusiastic. However, you are kept pretty far from the wall itself. In the past guests could stand right by it, but since they can´t keep it from crumbling it is now a safety hazard.  It is understandable, but being kept so far away from the wall really takes away from the wonder of the site.  At our age, the giant plastic dinosaurs just don´t impress the way they used to.

Central plaza in Sucre



Hey look, a dinosaur! Oh wait, its fake.



A mile of dinosaur foot prints. A mile away.

This was another highly anticipated point that fell a little flat. With our two Bolivian highlights significantly dimmed we´re ready to move on to Argentina. Let us be clear. This post is not to say that we don´t like Bolivia or that we haven´t had some great experiences here.  It is a very understated country. You have to try a little harder to find things that appeal to you. The mix of high expectations, bad weather and lingering illness was a tough obstacle to overcome.  We are leaving with the knowledge that we have two more entires on our five year visa, and we intend to use them.  Another time. Different sights.

Tomorrow we will start to make our way to the Argentine border.  Its a long ride to Buenos Aires, so we´ll be breaking this trip up.  Our stomachs better get ready.  Meat, here we come.

Internet connection is a little slow here, so we won´t be including any photos.  Check in later for an update to this post when we are able to share some images.