| Solita, little self |
[Dec. 10th, 2010|07:31 pm] |
"Solita?" Translated: "Little self?" It's a question thrown in my direction every now and again as I travel through Bolivia. Initially, I was wary of responding in the affirmative since Bolivians reputedly view solo female travellers as "easy" or "loose". However, I've met with no adverse reactions to admitting that I'm backpacking alone, so perhaps this view is dying out. Indeed, I've had worse reactions about my trip from people in LA.
Travelling by my little self is wonderfully liberating, hedonistic, and, best of all, simple. But sometimes being a party of one can make things a little more difficult.
I arrived in Puerto Quijarro, near the Brazilian border, on Monday after flying from Sucre. The border town is smack on the edge of the Pantanal - a vast swampy wetland, reaching from Bolivia into Brazil and down to Paraguay. It's a haven for all kinds of wildlife, including herds of capybara, toucans, and, duh, monkeys. I spent 3 days in the Pantanal when I backpacked around Brazil in 2008 and I was keen to return, especially since the Bolivian tours usually involve staying on a boat. What better way to end my trip than by spending a few days chilling on sunny waterways, surrounded by wildlife?
Alas, it was not to be. As soon as I arrived in Quijarro I realized this was not the touristastic place I had imagined. I couldn't find a single tour agency, no hotel could book a tour (contrary to Lonely Planet's claims), and saw only one backpacker in an hour of wandering, on his way out of town. Eventually I found a hostel that had signs about tours, but they asked the dreaded question: "How many people?". "Solita." "Ah." Yeah. Ah. I had envisioned rocking up and simply joining a tour group of cool people, like I had in Uyuni for the Salt Flats tour in the previous week. But in Bolivia the low season really does mean the low season if you're off the Gringo Trail (it runs north from Chile, through the Salt Flats to La Paz, and over to Peru via Lake Titicaca, giggle). The low season in Brazil and Peru just means that things aren't full. In Bolivia, it means places are empty.
Ok. No worries. I am resourceful, have a working head, TWO working feet and decided I could work around this minor setback. Cue 19 hour train ride to Santa Cruz, a reasonably large city from which I would depart in 5 days. Numerous agencies run tours to nearby national parks, and other wildlifey areas. I located some agency offices and set off on my mission.
Most conversations in the tour agencies went like this:
Me: Hi. Do you do trips to the [sanddunes/rainforest/national parks]
Agent: Yes, we do. Here are some tantalizing photos.
Me: How much is the trip?
Agent: How many people?
Me: Solita.
Agent: Ah. For you, this much [insert ridiculous number of Bolivianos]
Me: I don't have that much money.
Agent: Maybe you should get some friends so you can split the cost.
Me: I don't have any friends. No-one likes me.
Agent: Maybe you can find some other backpackers who will go with you.
Me: It's like backpacker apocalypse out there. No-one's left.
Agent: Pay up or get out, Billy No Mates.
And so I couldn't find a tour in Santa Cruz, nor backpackers, actually. My hostel was deserted, save for a couple of Bolivian boys who kicked the crap out of each other on Playstation 2 for hours at a time. So I consulted my guru, Lonely Planet, forgiving it for leading me to Puerto Quijarro in the first place, and discovered a town a few hours from Santa Cruz that had some fun things that did not require a guide. Off we go.
Samaipata is a wonderful little town, and coming here was quite possibly the best decision I made on this trip. Population is about 10,000, and it's just outside of the protected Amboro National Park. The park encompasses 430,000 hectares and is home to jaguars, bears, MONKEYS, tapirs, and hundreds of species of birds. Despite someone claiming this town is way off the Gringo Trail and is only for die-hard backpackers, there are at least 5 tour agencies in town that run various trips to the forest. I wandered around and eventually settled on doing a day trip into the cloud forest with Roadrunner Tours (highly recommended in case anyone's going in that direction).
The price was such that even if I was the only person to sign up (and I was), I could still afford it. So Martin, the co-owner of the company and my guide for the day picked me up on Thursday morning and we set off. Initially I was worried about the trip being awkward given that I was the only person going but, happily, Martin is one of those fantastic people who can hold a conversation on any topic you can think of. The hike was excellent, the views were great, and I finally got my tour without requiring a wire transfer from LA.
Solita. |
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