It was the plan... opps!

Well the plan was to be able to log in and blog as much as possible but unfortunately, though it wasn't exactely hard to find the Internet, time was against me with the amount of work and how busy we were scrambling around Bolivia! I was so busy I even forgot it was Dad's birthday which I'm sure he wasn't happy about but it wasn't until I was camped on the Isla del Sol with my diary (which also suffered) that I realised that it was the 16th July and I wasn't going to be in a town for another week.

I did try to get to the Internet once back in the capital, La Paz but it was all action stations to organise everything for the main trek which was an epic 4 day trek across the Yungas Cruz high up in the Andes! The views were amazingly beautiful that even the photos can't show but the memories will be there forever.

Once back from the trek we then had the excitement of heading down to Rurrenbaque, the jungle which was the bit that most were looking forward to out of the whole trip. Also the one bit of the trip that went completely wrong. The flights down there were cancelled for 2 days and with much disappointment and upset we had to bail the idea and spent another day or so trying to claim money back for the flights and tour. We then were given an option to go down to a place called Corioco which was a nice change from La Paz. We then headed back to the capital (which also went badly) for a couple of day trips. We ended up getting stuck on a mountain pass 4000+ metres in tonnes of snow. The traffic jams were crazy but again the views were amazing. We managed to spend the day preparing for the project we were working on in a remote village then visited an Inca remains site before boarding a night bus down to the Uyuni Salt Plains.

The Uyuni tour was amazing, the one thing that I was seriously looking forward and it was mindboggling how vast it was! This huge lake that didn't exist anymore, just a huge salt plain with the random cactus islands then bordered with the Chilen mountains. Words again can't explain the sight but it was fantastic. There, of course, were the problems of communication which resulted in the night that could reach as low as -20C and our bags, sleeping bags and warm clothes didn't turn up. The group had to pair up and huddle all night, thankfully it didn't reach -20C, only around -5C or so but then a boy got really sick and we were really worried allnight. The leaders got no sleep as we nursed he through the cold. We were very lucky to have had a doctor staying in the same hacienda as us and helped us out. The next morning he was much better so no sleep for us helped alot. We were then off to the geyseurs, hot springs and finally onto the village of Santiago 'K' where we were to be based for 5 days working on our project/

The project consisted of re-painting the school theatre as well as replastering the walls and also digging a cess-pit due to their lack of a sewage system. It was quite hard labour but was such a beneficial phase of the expedition for the group, especially the interactions with the kids of the village. I think it was one of the best bits of the expedition minus (of course) the problems of the lack of food, communication and understanding between us and the locals and then the poor project organiser which I won't go into on here.

The trip, for me, unfortunately ended on a bummer for me as I got travel sick travelling back to the capital and then I went on to get sickness. I ended up missing the last dinner, along with the leader who got me strong enough to travel back to the UK. We did have the downer of one of the group members losing his passport on the last day so he had to stay out in country with the teacher. So we went from 17 to 15 for travelling home. Still waiting on news on whether they are home yet, fingers crossed! Even the travel through America was scarred with passport problems but eventually we arrived back at Heathrow VERY shattered. The M25 was the last straw not allowing Mum and Dad to get to the airport on time but by 3pm on the Saturday I was back in Dunstable.

The trip was probably the most amazing form of work experience. It was a bit of a bummer that so much went wrong but so much went right as well. If the situations every happened again I would have the knowledge and understanding to sort them out as best as possible which is great for if I end up leading a group next summer. Bolivia is such an amazing country and I can't wait to get out to South America again and to explore more countries. Role on the opportunity for Peru and Machu Picchu. But for now I will be content with the UK and getting on the road for work :-)