Sucre, Bolivia

Megan didn’t come to class today, hope she is okay. It is usual for a bit of sickness in Bolivia, so I imagine after her enjoying market eating yesterday that this is the cause. Fairly standard Spanish lesson, however, Claudia did take me to a strange museum full of stuffed native animals to practice. Ali, Anna and I walk to the cemetery in the afternoon. It is a good walk and the cemetery has lots of tall trees that create a cool, tranquil atmosphere. In Bolivia they bury the dead and then cremate the body after 10 years. The ashes are then put into wall memorials that look like windows. It is sad walking round as you can hear the fading musical Mother’s Day cards that would have been placed in the memorials last Saturday. I did find a blind woman with a set of weighing scales and for only 1 Bolivino I discovered I have lost 4kgs. I am assuming it was the food poisoning as my appetite is now back with a vengeance.

Sucre, Bolivia

Spanish seems to be easier today, moved off just verbs and we translate more complete passages & songs. This afternoon Ali and I decide it is time to do some shopping, Sucre is a pretty city with lots of nice little shops. We are very restrained but have earmarked a few nice alpaca products for consideration. I have booked a massage for late afternoon as a little treat for my back and whilst it is not a deep massage it is good and relaxing. Tonight for a change I head to Cosmo cafe with Sylvana and a German guy I met at the hostel, Yogi. Nice evening with new friends and an epic cheesecake.

Sucre, Bolivia

Oh, I hate verbs. It has been two days of irregular verb lessons now and there still seem to be more to learn. I can’t believe English is this hard to learn! The positive is that I get a new classmate Megan, from Canada, which improves the dynamic of the class. I get pages of homework that takes me all afternoon to complete, it isn’t coming easily and I am pretty fed up with it. Go to Florin cafe again with Sylvana and Ali (from San Pedro) to cheer myself up with a few vasos of vino tinto.

Sucre, Bolivia

Each week at this Spanish school, you change teacher. I preferred last weeks as I think she understood my questions better but Claudia is a lovely lady. I have my usual 4 hours in the morning and then extra with Andrea in the afternoon to make up last weeks hours. I am exhausted from all this brain work. Tonight is Rachael’s last night, so we of course head to Florin. Great night again and I even manage a chocolate & passion fruit mousse for dessert.

Sucre, Bolivia

This Spanish school gave us homework for the weekend, which I wasn’t expecting so after a lazy Sunday morning I got through it. I then posted a few blog entries as I am very behind. The rest of the day was very chilled out looking into trip plans and at future destinations. Dinner is back at our favourite restaurant, Florin with Sue,Trisha & Reece. Fun evening and lovely food.

Sucre, Bolivia

Rachael and I have booked a day tour today to get us out of the city. Booked again through Condor Trekkers, with the morning at the Dinosaur Park followed by a hike to the Seven waterfalls. We are a group of 4, a French guy Eric, an Englishman called Reece, plus the guide. The company uses public transport, so we walk first to a bus stop to get the collectivo up to the dinosaur park. South America is full of well loved stray dogs and we have a lovely guy that follows us all the way to the stop. We hop on the bus and are soon stuck in traffic, making the trip up to Cal Orck’o take around an hour. The Parque Cretácico is the world’s largest paleontogical site. The Cal Orck’o limestone wall stands almost vertically as the result of tectonic plate activity. 65million years ago it was part of a river shore and the dinosaur footprints left in the mud then have been preserved by decomposing vegetation layers over time. They were drilling as part of the nearby cement factory when they hit a mineral that could not be used in cement. The natural erosion then uncovered these amazing footprints. There are over 12 thousand dinosaur tracks of at least 8 species. The 1500 metre long and 110 metre high wall contains 462 individual continuous tracks. The guide who shared this fascinating insight was really enthusiastic about dinosaurs and helpfully explained the difference between Sauropods and Teropods using toy dinosaurs. We then waited to get up close to the tracks and chatted to another couple of English people while we waited. The walk down to the cliff face was steep but it was cool to see these prints and imagine the huge creatures that left their marks. The walk out was tougher, but we were soon out and our tour got a taxi to the start of our waterfalls walk. The terrain was hilly but it was lovely to be out of the city. We went down several hills to the river and then scrambled over rocks as we wove our way up the waterfalls. The guys did have to help us a little with larger jumps but we were soon at the third waterfall which was our stop for lunch. Our guide pulled out a big pile of salad, bread, and created a mountain of avocado for us to feast on. It was a good surprise and we ate well before resting in the sun. Reece and the guide climbed up and on to view a couple more waterfalls but we elected to sunbath, saving strength for the climb out. Late afternoon sun and we scrambled back along the river, up out of the cleave to the village at the top. The waiting collectivo took us back to the city centre, quite a fun trip with different characters hoping on and off. The ride back was quicker and after a fresh juice at the Condor Cafe we headed back to the hostel. We were both shattered after our adventure, we even forfeited dinner for an early night and crashed out.

Sucre, Bolivia

We had Mango with our breakfast this morning, one of the surprises for me has been how plentiful and good the fruit is in Bolivia. The market has stacks of bananas, pineapples, melons and tropical fruit alongside traditional vegetables. The north and east of Bolivia is lush green and tropical, so I assume this is where they are farmed. I paid 70p for 12 bananas, and 20p for the best mango I have tasted. I don’t have school today as my teacher asked for a long weekend to travel, so I agreed to do extra hours next week….. I persuade Rachael to come with me to the gem museum, it is number one on TripAdvisor so I am hopeful it is more interesting than it sounds. Museo del Tesoro is one of the oldest buildings in Sucre, on the main plaza. It markets itself as a place to learn about the origin, technique and art of Bolivia’s metals and stones. We do a one hour tour with Herbert, a very passionate guide. Herbert tells us about the art of working with gold and silver and more on what life is like in Bolivian mines. We see geodes of crystals that are found encased in lava including a metre long one that makes our eyes light up with all its sparkles. There was one found in Uruguay last year that was bigger at 2m x 5m, the biggest in the world is in Spain and it is big enough to walk through! Herbert shows us some stones unique to Bolivia; a blue stone called Sodalita and a cool crystal called Ametrine. Ametrine is a mix of yellow citrine and purple amethyst. It is beautiful, but all carefully kept behind glass as they represent some of the most valuable gemstones in Latin America. We finish with the evolution of Bolivian jewellery from pre-Columbian times to the present day, showing key pieces from significant historic ladies. It is indeed a great museum and the jewellery shop at the end is amazing. A shame I am on a budget, and I wouldn’t feel safe carrying decent jewellery for the rest of my trip. Rachael is keen for another visit to the Chocolate festival, and enjoys a few more samples. The chocolate is excellent but I still don’t fancy putting too much on my stomach so I abstain. For dinner we enthusiastically head to the British pub in town, the Red Lion. It disappoints, half because of my stomach but mainly because the fish & chips aren’t hot enough. Probably a mistake to think it was going to be the same as home…

Sucre, Bolivia

After an interrupted nights sleep, I am feeling okay in myself and decide I can manage my Spanish lesson. It is tough going but I survive till the end and head back to bed once it is finished. I am annoyed as today the city has bigger parades with a full on military one this evening to celebrate the 25th of May. I manage to see a few groups on my way home, they come from every department in the country to take part. The president of Bolivia also comes and watches the days activities. I am much better once I have a sleep, just really lethargic so I eat the rice from last night mid afternoon. Spend the rest of the day in bed listening to the festivities and parades outside.

Sucre, Bolivia

Today is the start of Sucre Chocolate festival. I didn’t realise that there would be so many good chocolate shops in Sucre, and being here when they showcase for 3 days is a bonus. Visiting the festival even formed part of my lesson today, with us enjoying Spanish conversation over a dulce de leche stuffed churro. As we walked back to the school there were parades in the plaza of the kindergarten schools. One group looked super cute in a military style uniform similar to the foreign legion. Rachael met me after school and we went to the market for lunch. I was keen to try a chorizo burger from the 7 sisters stand and it didn’t disappoint. We both enjoyed the single sausage in a bap with salad and mayonnaise. The afternoon had to include another visit to the chocolate festival, Rachael is an committed chocolate lover and enjoyed chocolate fondant and alfajores. There is a great view of Sucre from the top of the building. By late afternoon my stomach is feeling a little unsettled. Rachael, Shivani and I head out to a Thai restaurant tonight. I am really excited to have Thai, it’s been ages. My stomach doesn’t agree however and as the main is put down in front of me, I make haste to the bathroom. It’s no good, I have to go home. I do take the meal as take away for when I am better and leave the girls enjoying their food. A night of bathroom visits follows. No plans to eat in the market again anytime soon.

Sucre, Bolivia

School again today, we actually take the lesson outside and go to the market. This is a safe way to practice some key phrases and also some food. Andrea introduces me to Toma which is a egg shaped fruit that tastes like passion fruit. I found a great ice cream shop near the plaza, so I enjoyed a scoop of chocolate and a rice pudding flavour post lunch. We had been told a great museum for Bolivian history was Casa de Libertad. Only 25bols to get in and a English speaking tour was just starting. The first room had lots of intricately carved furniture from the Jesuits. There was a bureau with secret compartments and several chests with scenes crafted using different inlayed woods. Our guide showed us a original map of the continent under Spanish rule. Sucre was a significant city that controlled the area. It was established because the Spanish needed a base near the silver production of Potosí where the altitude would not be an issue. The city has the oldest university and the students used to have to defend their thesis in the hall of this Casa. The museum focuses on the heroes of the revolution, Simón Bolívar who’s name the finally independent country took. Sucre is named for Antonio José de Sucre a great friend of Simón Bolívar, independence general and the second President of Bolivia. One of the most interesting characters for me is a woman called Juana Azurduy Padilla who was a Bolivian guerrilla military leader. Azurduy and her husband joined the Chuquisaca Revolution, which on May 25, 1809 dismissed the president of the Real Audencia of Charcas, Ramón García de León y Pizarro. This uprising ended in 1810 when the revolutionaries were defeated by the royalist troops. They were imprisoned but on release went on to fight for the freedom of Argentina and Bolivia. Juana was pregnant when during one battle her husband rode back to help her and was shot. She continued to fight, returning to the field shortly after giving birth and commanding a army of 6000 men in one battle. An amazing woman who is now a hero in both countries but who died in relative poverty and whose remains are in this museum. Tonight the girls are keen for a Salsa lesson, lots of laughs and a good workout! Note: there is no indoor smoking ban in Bolivia so my clothes stink of smoke.