Additional Views of Our Villa Tunari Trip

 I had some photos I thought might be interesting but Sylvia's blog was already long and I had some difficulty trying add them. So I decided to create another post. Sylvia has already done a good job of chronicling our trip so I won't make many comments.

First, a few more views of our trip across the mountain to Villa Tunari.

This is where we filled up with natural gas. In some ways, Bolivia is ahead of us. Most public transportation uses natural gas.

A common sight along the highway. A woman trying to sell her few wares.

This is a warehouse distribution point for potatoes. This particular area grows about 190 of the 300 varieties grown in Bolivia.

Sorry for the window glare. This is quite a steep hill but all those square patches are crops being farmed. Some of which are potatoes.

An inspection point for drug traffic control.

Venders around the drug control point.

Our first meal in Villa Tunari.

I thought this was a picturesque cosy dining area.

Gathered around the table with the Glaettlis and our tour guide Marvel.

One of the best fish dinners I have ever had. It is Pacu, rice, and deep fried yuca. The slimey looking yellow thing is a fried banana. It was pretty good if you like fried bananas -- I don't.

That afternoon out into the wilds of the jungle at Parque Carrasco. Nothing like the Carrasco where we lived in Montevideo.

Yep. That is how we crossed the river to get into the park.

Our guide getting in the cart to bring it back so we could cross.

The first part of the path was actually pretty nice.

But then it began to change. It got worse from here.

Here is the group braving a river (okay creek) crossing.

This is a termite hive. But the ants are attacking.

We saw some interesting fungus growth.

This is a crevice formed by water coming out of a bat cave. It is about 20-25 feet deep. By the way, Sylvia went in the cave. I didn't because they said the bat mobile was out for maintenance.

This is the bird for which this area is famous (at least in Bolivia. It is a guachero.

And this is where he lives, along with several others. They have quite a scary screech.

One of the more interesting trees in the area. The wing things are actually roots.

Bananas in the wild. This whole area of Bolivia is one giant banana producing area.

Now we switch to Parque "La Hormiga." It is a little like a zoo in the wild. Sylvia has covered some of the more interesting stuff so here are just a few additional views.

I am not usually into wildlife pictures but I couldn't pass up this one. I might even be a little proud of the shot.

Glad they were in a pen. Yes, there is more than one there.

I believe Sylvia told of Elder Glaettli serving as the latrine for a Coati. Here he is just after the incident. If you look closely you can see the stain on his shoulder next to the tail. We all had a good laugh, especially Elder Glaettli.

Here is the Coati in a more subdued pose.

Although this looks like he may be in the river, he is in a pond with a fence around it giving me the evil eye.

This is a fruit called Copa Azul. They make a wonderful drink from it that tastes a lot like honeydew melon. It grows on a tree and I wouldn't want one of the them to fall on my head. It as a very hard shell. Of course, maybe that would be a way to crack it open (Sylvia says I can be quite hard headed sometimes). They dig out the fruit and then use the shell as a drinking cup.

This is the Noni fruit for all those who have used the juice.

Just outside La Jungla where we did the swings and zip liines, we came across this house where they are drying coca leaves for market. This is quite a "cash crop" for the Bolivians.

And here it is bagged for sale in the market.

Next came our Valentines Day river cruise. 

The night before, Sylvia thought she had better get ready. She looks pretty scared -- not!!

Here we are getting ready to leave the dock. It was just the six of us on a boat that could have held up to 50.

Of course, every luxury cruise has to have the proper accommodations. Bet you can't guess where everything ends up.

Some other river transports.

The crew and our chauffeur on the left

Some of the boats along the river banks.

And a few more. Just makes you want to get out there, doesn't it?

This was one of the better looking tour boats.

If they just had a portion of this water, the drought in Cochabamba would be over.

Life along the river.

Jungle along the river.

Our last day in Villa Tunari we were supposed to go to the Parque Machia where we would see monkeys, birds and other animals. Unfortunately, it was raining and they don't allow visitors when it rains. We decided to go to the gate to see if there was anything we could see and were pleasantly surprised to get a view of a couple of monkeys -- a mother carrying here baby on her back and the alpha male in the trees keeping watch. Had the mother sent the signal she was in danger, he would have been right there. The monkeys are generally friendly because many of them are drop offs or rescues from homes where families were trying to domesticate them. Recently, a law has been passed making it illegal to capture monkeys in the wild.

The mother monkey carrying her baby.

Up close.

They really don't have much fear of people.

This is not a statue. I was about 4 feet away.

On our way out of town we stopped at an abandoned resort. It was quite charming. Too bad no one has come forward to fix it up. There is a restaurant and a little guest house.

Red bananas long the path.

The first view of the resort.

Looks can be a little deceiving. From here it appears somewhat idyllic.

Great views all the way around the lake.

If it weren't for the mosquitos and heat, I could really enjoy this spot.

I said it was abandoned.

Our last stop before returning to Cochabamba was for lunch at a trout farm. I haven't been much of a trout fan, but this was really good. Sylvia told and showed you most of the good stuff so I will just end with a couple of photos.

Proof we were actually there. Looks pretty nice. It was a beautiful spot.

Okay. I had to get in one artistic shot. This is the roof over the patio where we ate.

It was a great trip. It really helped us to appreciate what we have here in Cochabamba and even more what we have in the United States. After this trip I really don't want to hear much about poverty problems in the U.S. We don't really know what poverty is. The Lord has truly blessed our nation.