May 2012 – Ernie and friends at ACS Calvert shaved their heads for Haven Belle in Colorado and JP in Bolivia. Haven and JP, our prayers are with you and your families–sending you love, light, peace, and healing!
I woke up this morning to 32 degrees! No wonder it was so cold in the house. Can’t wait to be “home” in Colorado for two months and enjoy our beautiful summer there! Looking forward to our staff party later today – a fun BBQ.
Saying goodbye to colleagues and students is bittersweet this week and next. We’ve had so many activities inside and outside of school – no time to get into trouble!
Our second Pink Party of the year supporting Melissa and her walks for breast cancer. This time we dined at India Spice on lots of great curry dishes.
Last Saturday morning was a most beautiful day for a goodbye brunch for one of our elementary teachers leaving for Nagoya, Japan.
The Salt Flats – a most magical journey! Ernie and I traveled with Margaret, Danny, Sharon, Nova, and Ximena to the Salar de Uyuni. Once we arrived at the La Paz bus depot from home, we rode for four hours in a pretty comfortable bus to Oruro. After waiting for a couple of hours at the Oruro train station, we boarded our train car and traveled for seven hours on the Wara Wara del Sur to Uyuni–dining car and all. Blankets and pillows were provided for our comfort. Upon arrival in Uyuni at 2:30 a.m., we were greeted by Diego, our guide for the week, who escorted us to our first hotel–Jardines de Uyuni Hotel. The next morning, our Salt Flats adventure began in Uyuni and surrounding areas — incredible adventure for all! The Salt Flats were a most unique, magical experience. Surprisingly, this week was the warmest I have ever been in Bolivia! The sun was out every day–the weather was perfect! Of course, at night it was pretty cold and very windy at times, but we were toasty for the most part inside our hotels.
Our first day in Uyuni found us departing to the village of Pulacayo where we saw the train robbed by Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid and also the first train that arrived in Bolivia. Afterwards, we headed back to Uyuni for lunch at Jardines de Uyuni Hotel and then on to our next hotel in Villa Mar Village–Jardines de Mallku Cueval Hotel. Danny and Margaret’s room was actually part of the inner rock wall. From the outside, the size of the hotel was quite deceiving.
The second day our group visited White Lagoon, Red Lagoon, and Green Lagoon. While at Red Lagoon, we spent a long time just watching the flamingos–Chilean, James, and Andean. We also saw the white flamingos. Later in the day we stopped back at the Red Lagoon, which had truly turned red from the winds which had whipped up churning algae in the water. All of the places we visited today were contained in the Reserva Nacional de Fauna Andina Eduardo Avaroa, which covers an area of 7,150 square kilometers. Geyers and mudpots were also on the agenda today (here we were in the Atacama Desert, which also is part of Chile at 16,250 feet), as well as Chalviri Lagoon where Danny got into the hotsprings.
The next day we visited cave/rock paintings which are 10,000 years old in the ruins near Tomas Lajas. We continued on to Rock Valley, Culpina K, and San Cristobal. We viewed a salt processing plant and then arrived at the very first salt hotel at the edge of the Salt Flats.
Salt, Salt, EVERYWHERE! The Salar was an incredible experience!
Here’s our luxurious hotel–Palacio de Sal–all built of salt–even the beds! It truly was luxurious–sleeping accommodations and the meal. Only hitch was, the next morning–no hot water or power–somebody had cut the line to the power some ways out from the hotel (accidentally, of course). While we were there, there was a film crew making a documentary on the salt flats for Discovery Channel–the documentary is supposed to be aired in November, we think.
“With an area of 12,000 square kilometers, a height of 3660 meters above sea level, a thickness of 120 m and with 11 layers from two to twenty the Salar de Uyuni is the mirror surface and the world’s largest salt flat is seen from space.” Source: http://www.palaciodesal.com.bo/
Our last day of travel in the Salar took us over the surface of the great salt flats. We began by watching the process of salt being extracted by shovel from the surface of the flats into conical-shaped piles for drying before being loaded onto trucks and transported out. Then we began the long, slow journey at 15 mph to Incahuasi Island, also known as Fish Island (the island is shaped like a fish). Once we arrived at the island, we “watched” the giant Trichoreus cacti. The tallest cactus we saw was 12 meters tall–these are really old cacti–an amazing place! Traveling from the edge of the salt to the island was incredibly surreal as it felt we were floating along on clouds–at times no horizon could be seen! Part of the flats were dry and part had maybe 3 or 4 inches of water, so we felt as if we were in a boat just floating along. All in all, this journey was incredibly magic each and every day!
Best fondue yet in Bolivia! Yum!
Margaret, Danny and I toured La Paz city (2-hour tour) and an area south of La Paz called the Valley of the Moon (1 hour) via the double decker Red Bus Tour. [Ernie missed out on this trip as he had traveled to Panama to attend the Harvard Summit of the Americas.] The weather was absolutely spectacular this morning. Perhaps the rainy season is over? This morning we were the only 3 passengers on the bus other than the guide, her little baby, and the driver! After lunch more passengers joined as we headed for the Valley of the Moon.
Alasitas is a 3-week long fair that, in La Paz, takes place beginning on the 24th of January and in Santa Cruz takes place in September. Everything is in miniature! This festival originally took place in September throughout the country when it’s spring time in Bolivia and farmers prayed for a good crop so their harvest would be bountiful. Alasitas is an Aymara festival Bolivia celebrates in reverence of the indigenous “god of bounty” or “abundance” called the Ekkekko. Therefore, Alasitas has been called the Festival of Abundance. It takes place at the Parque Urbano in La Paz and the 5th Ring between Tres Pasos al Frente and Cumavi in Santa Cruz. As it grows each year, its location is sometimes moved. http://www.boliviabella.com/alasitas.html
Ernie invited the staff to celebrate his birthday after school on Friday night at Paladar – Cozinha Brasileira Restaurant–GREAT food. Little did Ernie know he was going to be surprised by more staff on Saturday afternoon at a BBQ–a fun time was had by all! Happy 65th Ernie!
Travels with Beej and E 