Rain, Planes, & Buses
February 25 - We slept late due to the pattering of rain and the fact that we had already visited the places we had intended to go during our stay in the area. Once we did get up, we strolled under the shelter of the umbrella to the main dining area located in a separate building. Being on a budget, we made the most of free breakfast and after eating returned to our little cottage like lodging.
We spent the duration of this very rainy day (rain in a rainforest, shocking I know) reviewing where we had been, sorting photos, writing, and planning our next steps. We did break during part of the afternoon when the rain lifted a little to walk the trail which encompassed the property. It was lovely and ran through a little chunk of pure rainforest and a planted fruit forest, from which we could freely eat.
Here it was we discovered the Acerola or more commonly known as the Barbados Cherry tree. Between those and a few giant avocados, we munched happily along the trail back to our cottage just as the rain returned.
February 26 - We woke a bit earlier, around 7 am, and once again enjoyed a hearty breakfast. With the sun having returned it was a beautiful morning. After breakfast, we returned for the last time to our little cottage and packed our belongings up once again. Check out was at noon, but our flight was not scheduled until 8 pm. This gave us ample time to wait on the small but comfortable couch by reception.
As so often happens in travel, it is a series of hurry-up-and-wait situations. The time was passed pleasantly enough by chatting with the receptionists, Rodrigo and Santiago (who had advised us so well on the first day). With Rodrigo we spoke a great deal about music, which is his passion, and shared our preferred artists. With Santiago we spoke extensively about much of his life and things held dear to him. I personally felt a deeply satisfying similarity between his experiences and aspirations and my own. A life simply lived in closeness with nature, helping those around us, and taking care to do as much good as possible.
As the sun began to hang lower in the sky achieving that golden hue that foretells of its setting, our Uber arrived to bear us once again to the airport. We boarded our first plane of the night.
February 27 - We were still very much awake when the 26th turned to the 27th and around 1 in the morning boarded our second plane which landed in La Paz, Bolivia at 3:30 am. We found, to our displeasure, all the suitable seats for sleeping had been occupied.
So, lacking better accommodation, laid down on a fortunately very clean white tile floor, to doze and wait for seats to open. After 2 hours or so, a spot large enough for us had opened. We slept in shifts on airport chairs until 10:45 in the morning. Finally, feeling we had achieved a satisfactory amount of rest, we made our way to the central bus terminal in La Paz to wait for our night bus to Uyuni (a 9 hour drive).
Luck was again on our side since after a day of waiting we boarded a clean and very comfortable bus, complete with wool blankets. We stowed our bags beneath our leg rests and reclined the chairs to a nearly horizontal position. As the drowning of the bus's engine began, we drifted away to sleep.
- G