The Bolivia Trek Calls in an Update!
Bolivia Trek Team Heads to the Mountains
Today we continued our stay in the village of Santiago de Okola, beginning our day with a cooking lesson. We made traditional quinoa flour fried chips that used to be prepared as a protein filled snack for long overland journeys.
Today is the 16th of July and a holiday commemorating the beginning of the Bolivian independence movement, so we spent the rest of the morning hiking to a nearby village in order to catch a bit of the ceremony and local festivities.
This afternoon we said goodbye to our wonderful host family in Santiago de Okola and are now on our way to our first mountain campsite at Alto Lojena and will begin the true trekking portion of our trip tomorrow.
Saludos!
Rachel
Bolivia Trek Explores Lake Titicaca
Today we continued our exploration of rural village life around Lake Titicaca. We began our day with a ride in a catamaran on the lake. The catamaran, built in the village, is the only sail powered boat of its kind on the lake. We then enjoyed one more delicious lunch before saying goodbye to our gracious hosts.
After lunch, we drove along the shores of the lake to another rural village, Santiago de Okola. Here we are participating in another rural community tourism project at one of the prettiest spots on the entire lake. This afternoon we hiked from a scenic point above the village to our lodging beside the lake, went to a medicinal plants workshop at the garden of a community elder, and then later were given the honor of trying on the clothing used by local village authorities.
We finished off the day with dinner and stories told by our hosts while sitting by a lovely warm eucalyptus wood fire.
Buenas noches!
Rachel
The Bolivia Trek Begins!
We have begun our first ever Cordillera Real Trek! We spent yesterday acclimating and touring in the city of La Paz. We toured scenic overlooks, wandered through local markets, and rode the world’s highest and longest urban cable car network.
Today we drove out to Lake Titicaca to the village of Chuquiñapi and spent the afternoon hiking along the shoreline of the lake alongside rural villages and eucalyptus groves. Our hosts in Santiago de Huata run a local community tourism project and are sharing a bit of local village life with us. One of our activities this afternoon was learning to pull sheared sheep wool into yarn with a traditional spindle. Our instructor declared us “teachable” but encouraged us to keep practicing…
We ended the day with a lovely surprise panpipe concert and dancing that our hosts put together for us to show their appreciation for our visit to their village.
Hasta mañana,
Rachel
Definitely enjoyed the expedition and everyone involved. This was our first time climbing with Alpine Ascents. Everything was well organized and accommodations far exceeded expectations.
