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.