I´m back from my hiking trip and have had to make many difficult decisions since my return --Should I have chocolate or a fruit flavored ice cream? Should I have a banana drink or a Coca Cola Light? The Yunga Cruz Trek was amazing and I had good company as well. I will say that I ate more eggs and rice this past week than I have probably eaten all year, but when in Rome...

The five day trek began with a two hour drive to a small town called Chunavi. The only traffic along the way were llama herds in the road and a few minibuses. Chunavi, at 4200 meters, is, well, cold. At one point I simply hoped that my feet would become so frozen that I would no longer feel them. It is hard to believe that people live in such a barren place. The ONLY crop grown in this area is potatoes and my guide said that they let the land rest 8 years after one year of potato cultivation. Here is a picture of some of the local townspeople.

The people of Chunavi speak some Spanish but mostly Aymary. My guide was from a small town near a different trek and he and the porter were both fluent in Spanish and their native tongue Aymary. The only other brave tourist willing to go on this trek was a very kind and generous Scotsman named Raymond. You will see him along with the guides and myself in the picture above. Our guide was so wonderful and good natured. He explained a lot about local traditions of the town where he is from and the beliefs they have. Throughout our trip, our guide gave alcohol at various points to offer to Pachimama (She´s basically "The Big Shot" in terms of idle worship out here in Bolivia. Pachimama is kind of like mother nature but is often symbolized or thought to be like a mountain where all life comes from and where all life is taken away. This is why so many paintings of the Virgin Mary look like a big triangle or mountain) I felt very lucky to have such a nice guide and it was a great opportunity to practice my Spanish. At one point our guide shared that he used to cultivate flowers but saw an apparition of a bear and since that day the flowers began to die and he had to find another way to make money. Throughout our trek, our guide and porter chewed the coca leaf as it is traditionally done out here. The second and third night were at higher altitudes but much warmer since we had a nice blazing fire both nights. Raymond and I also filled our water bottles with boiling hot water and placed them at the feet of our sleeping bags. I was so excited to be warm that I had a hard time falling asleep. Below is a picture of the sunset the second night. The sweeping views of the mountains truly can´t be captured in a photo, but I did my best.

The plant life and climate changed drastically the last two days of hiking. We went from mountainous terrain with shrub-like plants to tropical cloud forest in a matter of hours. Towards the end of the fourth day, we grabbed mandarins and oranges off the trees as we bushwhacked our way through the forest. After seeing the tough lives of the people in the mountains, if felt like eating the forbidden fruit in the Garden of Eden... The final day involved a two hour hike to the town of Chulumani. We ate lunch, exchanged e-mail addresses and parted ways. Raymond and company took the bus back to La Paz while I hopped into a taxi heading to a place called Apa Apa Reserve. Apa Apa is an old growth cloud forest and hacienda owned by a local Bolivian that has had the property pass through his family through generations. It was founded in the 1500s after being "purchased" from the Incas. The owner´s wife is American and they have a daughter that helps out in the restaurant where they serve hacienda guests and locals alike. The owner explained to me that he had difficulties with protecting the cloud forest from locals who wanted to use the land to hunt and collect firewood. The owner decided to build a water supply system and give water from the forest to the local residents provided that they agree not to damage the forest. Since the water supply system was installed, they haven´t had any more problems with forest destruction. Our guide from the Yunga Trek explained similar problems in the national park near his town. --A tension between needing to survive and feed your family and protect a forest that is quickly disappearing. I went on a guided tour at Apa Apa with a couple from La Paz. Below is a picture of a beautiful orchid we saw and a picture of me next to a large Strangling Ficus tree. The tree was so huge!

In a few hours I will be heading out to Tupiza to take a 4 day guided tour through the salt flat lands of Bolivia. Hope you all had a magnificent 4th of July!

-stacie