Tween Travels

My mom told us that Bolivia is pretty simple and not to have high hopes for anything fancy. Keep in mind that she visited 20 years ago. But Bolivia is great!

The first place we visited was a city called Santa Cruz. It reminded me of LA in the sense of nice restaurants and boba and acai shops. There were also amazing art museums and street markets. We spent our time exploring and sand boarding although William ended up being sick the day we booked the sandboarding so he stayed home with my mom. My dad and I went on a really bumpy drive to get to giant sand dunes. It was super fun!

Our next stop was Samaipata, a hill town 3 hours drive away. We have absolutely loved it here. There are lovely people, lovely dogs, lovely restaurants and lovely views. When you’re here, you feel like there’s nothing to worry about, you have no responsibilities and you can be yourself.

Where we were staying was up the hill from town along a dirt road. The owners had animals including sheep, goats and llamas which we got to feed. We shared a cozy room with two sets of bunkbeds and there was a lovely seating area outside where we played cards. The view was amazing and the owners were really kind.

Maybe our favorite thing about Samaipata was a street dog called Dulce. Every night we went to the same bar where we met Dulce who was laying on a couch. Nobody wanted to sit with her but we did! We spent an hour every night stroking her. She was very nice to people but growled at other street dogs who came in. She reminded us of our old dog Stella.

We wanted to do some hiking to help us get used to the elevation because the next places we are visiting are very high up. My mom thought she’d signed us up for a 5k hike high up in the Amboro National Forest with a guide. It turned out to be a 10k hike up and down a muddy forest! It took about 6 hours and I’m proud we made it! We were joined by some very fit twenty year olds who made it look easy. It was not!

Tonight we are taking a 10 hour night bus to Sucre where we’re spending a week in Spanish school.

🩷Love you and miss you all!🩷

Madeleine