Hola from Santa Cruz!

OK! So I arrived in Santa Cruz on June 19th in a torrential rain storm.  Talk about diversity, I went from dry, super sunny, cooler La Paz to wet, super muggy, overcast, warm Santa Cruz in one hour. From cacti to palm trees. It was torrentially (I made up an English word, why not since I make up Spanish words all the time) raining all day and night but it was no biggy.  June 21st was a National Holiday in Bolivia for the Andean New Year or Aymara New Year or Winter Solstice. I heard there was a ceremony in Samaipata at El Fuerte which is a UNESCO World Heritage Site http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/883 . So obviously I had to go.  So I packed and left the hotel to catch a trufi (shared van) to Samaipata a 2.5-3 hour journey.

Safe & Sound

Hi everybody!  I arrived safe and sound in La Paz Bolivia yesterday morning. I almost didn't make my connection in Miami to La Paz  due to the terminal being closed because of a lightning storm.  It was an amazingly beautiful descent or should I say ascent to the airport as I watched the sun rise over the snow capped jagged mountains that surrounded us.  El Alto airport is located 4,100 m (more than 13,000 feet) above sea level.  The beautiful mountains are called the Cordillera Real de los Andes (the mountains that surround La Paz).  From the airport our taxi wound us down, and down, and down, into the city or canyon of La Paz with an elevation of roughly 3,650 m (11,975 ft).