THE OPEN - AND NOT SO OPEN - ROAD

Most of my work life is spent indoors in my office or in conference rooms.  But in April I got to spend a pretty magical day out-of-doors.  Several weeks prior, one of our local staff colleagues who has a weekend house outside La Paz happened upon a wayward condor – a young female who had ended up on the ground and surrounded by street dogs.  He rescued the bird, took it to a wildlife rehab center, and after several weeks of recovery, she was ready to take flight again.  This was definitely a good news story, so we rallied some local media and officials to drive about 90 minutes outside La Paz, to the area where she had originally been found, to return her to the skies. 

This was the view on the drive out to the release site.  Bolivia's high country - the "antiplano" - is stunning.

Wouldn't be a photo of Bolivia's antiplano without some llamas.

The wildlife rehab folks named the condor "Anticucha" which means heart.  Technically, it means heart when it's served as a popular street food... but anyway.  This was Anticucha's limo ride to the release site.

Dog crates also make handy condor carriers.  It was also no small feat for them to carry this up the craggy hillside to the top of the launch site.

Anticucha's first steps out of the crate to explore her new surroundings.

Taking it all in.

She spent about an hour stretching her wings and jumping around to different crags before...

...She took a leap and returned to the skies.

She caught an uplift and just slowly circled higher and higher until we finally lost sight of her.

Hiking back down after the release.

It was about a 45-minute hike to get to the release site, which was at about 14,000 feet.  So, yeah, that was a huffy and puffy 45 minutes.

Felt good to be back on a trail!

Operation Condor successfully completed, we turned to our next road adventure – a visit to Lake Titicaca.  Yes, it is a real place, and it is located a few hours from La Paz.  Our friends were nice enough to let us hitch a ride with them (and their dog Aisha).  Sitting more than 12,500 feet above sea level, it is the highest navigable lake in the world.  Lake Titicaca straddles the border of Bolivia and Peru, and it was a sacred place for the Inca Empire.  It took us about 4 hours to get to Copacabana, the main lakeside town on the Bolivian side, including a short ferry crossing.

Aisha - and we! - are ready for a car ride.

On board the "ferry crossing" - basically a barge with a questionable outboard motor.

Stretching our 2- and 4-legs in Copacabana.

The tarps and colorful fabrics make for a vibrant market.

"Cholitas" are Aymara or Quechua women.  They traditionally wear heavy, pleated skirts over layers of petticoats, shawls, braided hair, and bowler hats.  Given that about 60% of Bolivia's population is indigenous, cholitas are a regular sight. 

Colorful murals are a regular sight too.  Very little graffiti - but murals are everywhere.

Founded during the Spanish colonial era, Copacabana’s whitewashed basilica is the center point of the town. 

Some locals hanging out outside the church.

We were visiting during the "blessing of the cars" - a mix of Catholic and Andean rituals in which car owners cover their cars with flowers and ribbons, a priest sprinkles holy water on the car, and alcohol (beer or champagne) is poured on the hood to "feed" the Earth (Pachamama) to bring good luck and protect from accidents.

A short ferry ride from Copacabana leads to Isla del Sol, the legendary birthplace of the sun in Inca mythology.  The island is dotted with ancient Incan terraces, stone paths, and archaeological ruins.  We spent the day hiking across the island from one ferry landing to the other to take it all in.

Copacabana's water front.

On board the ferry to Isla del Sol.

Land ho!

Looking back towards the ferry landing as we start off on our hike across the island.

The trail snaked along the ridgetop and offered some beautiful views.

It looks like just a leisurely stroll, but at about 13,000', this hike was a challenge.

The ferry landing at the other side was a hub of activity with locals off-loading supplies from the mainland.

Donkeys on hand to help haul their good wherever they were going.

This guy was enjoying a good back scratch after unloading his pack.

Back aboard the ferry for our return trip to Copacabana.

We got our road trip in just in the nick of time.  Within a few days of being back in La Paz, anti-government protests began.  One of Bolivia’s main forms of protest is to set up blockades around the country to choke off La Paz, the country’s main seat of government.  Those blockades lasted 53 days, during which overland routes to La Paz were blocked, closing roads and making it harder and more expensive to find gas, meat, dairy products, and some other supplies.  While the blockades have ended for now, protests come in waves, so we expect to see them again.  In the meantime, we’re aiming to get back on the road to see more of Bolivia and the region while we can.