Amazon and Western Bolivia Wrap-up

The Great : Torotoro National Park. Torotoro is great for many reasons, among which paleontology and great trekking particularly stand out.

The Hidden : Cochabamba. Ania and I really didn’t expect much from Cochabamba after hearing a fair number of negative opinions about the city. What can I say: the skeptics were wrong! It has a great vibe and many nice cafes. Don’t miss out on Cochabamba. Also a special mention to Tiwanaku, a topic extensively covered by Ania. Don’t think that Machu Pichu is all there is to Pre-Columbian civilizations. Tiwanaku surprised us more than we thought and the more we read about the subject, the more we believe that the site is actually a DO-NOT-MISS attraction. Really.

The Overrated : Copacabana. The town is supposed to be uniquely pleasant, but it lacks real charm and the main attraction, the lake, is seen from beaches covered with trash. As I said in a previous post, the only reason to come to Copacabana is to visit Isla del Sol, which has more to offer in practically every respect. Copacabana is overhyped.

The Ugly : The “incident” involving one overly excited Mashaquipe manager in the Amazon. To make a long story short, we paid for two nights in a private room. However, a possible activity on the second night was to camp out deep in the jungle. On the morning of the second day, the manager told us that we had to evacuate the room and put our stuff in a storage room because we were going to camp that night. Well, I objected that I had been ill for a week and that I wasn’t going to go out camping if it rains heavily, which is a real possibility in the jungle. So I wanted to keep the room. The guy got furious. He told the two other tourists who were waiting to take our room that they had to go to a dorm instead and that it was our fault. The two clueless tourists, not really understanding what was going on (overbooking the rooms), got angry at us as well. Since I paid much more money for a private room, I wasn’t ready to let go the room for nothing. I tried to approach the manager and cut a deal with him (you refund me half and I’ll put my stuff in the dorm), but he refused to have any word with me. Well, in the end we did start walking in the jungle to our camping destination. 30 minutes after our departure, it started to rain heavily. We walked some more but eventually decided to go back to the camp. Thank God we kept the room because we were totally drenched. When we went back to the office in Rurenabaque, I asked to speak to a supervisor (who was extremely apologetic) and had only one recommendation: fire the Neanderthal who does not know how to speak to his customers.

Other Observation : Well we’ve had quite a change of schedule in South America. Our initial plan was to spend maybe ten days in Bolivia, followed by a month and a half in Peru. Ania and I enjoyed Bolivia so much that we’ve made inverse proposition: we’ve spent a month and a half in Bolivia and plan to spend about 12 days in Peru.

When we planned our trip a year ago, Ania and I had decided that ten days in Bolivia was enough. After all, everybody only talks about Peru. Even our travel agent surprised us when she gave us her appreciation of Bolivia “why do you want to go to Bolivia?”. We can now safely say: we disagree.

When you plan your own around-the-world trip, make sure wait until you are on the ground to decide on your schedule. Not everyone agrees on the must-see's and must-do's.