Monday, June 6

I left the hostel and walked to the taxi stand for shared taxis to Samaipata (Omar Chavez and Oguin), about a 20 minute walk. The wait for the cab to fill up was fairly short. After 20km, we were greeted with a Bolivian-style highway blockade by the residents of LaGuardia who deemed their elected politicians unfit for governance and expressed their beliefs by fucking up my show. After numerous dirt roads, including driving in a river (according to my Google GPS), we made it to Samaipata nearly 6 hours later, having left at 11am. The ride normally takes 2.5 hours. Pulling myself away from Jane Eyre (my first attempt at an ebook using the Kindle app on my phone), I was shocked by the beauty of the mountains. I celebrated this beauty through a nap. The other passengers were a German couple, one of whom spent many years in Madison because his father was an economics professor, and a Swiss construction worker. The Germans spoke English and German, while the Swiss only spoke French. Thus, for all of us to converse we were forced to use Spanish, which worked quite well. I understood them much better than actual Spanish speakers.

The German couple (Ben and Kristina, BK) were also staying at La Vispera, a stunningly beautiful farm about one-half mile outside of town. The loft I originally requested was not available, so I was put in a small, but quaint room with a double-bed and a private bathroom (Bs140). This is undeniably the best place I have stayed while traveling in Latin America to bird. After settling into our respective accommodations, the three of us went into town for a very tasty dinner. A bottle of wine, three mains with salads and three desserts totaled Bs220. We also met an Aussie and Englishwoman who met while traveling in Buenos Aires and have become a couple.

View from La Vispera (18mm f/8 1/250, ISO100)

Bird tally: two Brooklyn birds to the residents of LaGuardia