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I attempted to go to Bolivia in 2003. The day before our departure, the Bolivian consulate in San Francisco denied me a visa. That just made me more determined to go there. So Bolivia became my forbidden fruit. I had better luck the next year. The rest of the world doesn't think much about Bolivia and it is still relatively undiscovered by tourists. Visiting Americans are usually missionaries or dove hunters. Can you imagine a plane full of them? Convertors and killers, neo-conquistadores, I call 'em. The nation has so much to offer - friendly people, well-preserved Quechua and Aymara culture, the Andes, Lake Titicaca, Madidi National Park, the Altiplano and of course, the Amazon. Nothing that requires converting or killing! Northern Bolivia is the southern edge of the Amazon rain forest and while the creatures and most of the fish species seem familiar at a genus level, most of them are unique species not found around Manaus or Iquitos. Oh, one more thing: Bolivia is as big as Texas and California combined with just half the population of Los Angeles. Oh what a relief, to get away from the 14 lanes of traffic on LA's notorious 405 freeway! The picture above is what we woke up to during our stay in Beni.
Here are a few photos from my trip.
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