Samaipata

We decided to take a weekend away to recuperate and see a little bit more of Bolivia. Our sweet retreat was not off to a good start as we got caught in traffic due to this small deluge in Santa Cruz. 

As we were at a stand still we saw this bus, and or "micro" as they ncall them here.  They are usually full but this time the people were literally hanging out the door because they could not fit in. We were so happy to be safe in our taxi with 3 extra seats. Sorry it's blurry...

We finally made it! The historical cobble stoned streets of Samaipata were just waiting to be walked by us.  By historical I mean a few hours further there is a town where Che Guevara died. So, kinda historical... Another great thing about this place is the weather. It is very cool and not sticky weather which is very out of character for Bolivia. 

We threw all caution to the wind when we saw this little eatery. We were craving some good salsa and guacamole.            ( which the brothers and sisters tell us never to eat uncooked vegetables out side of our house because they probably are not washed correctly...) whoops! We ate like kings, burritos and raw veggies alike. It was amazing. 

Earlier that day Kyria found her friends. She was so excited she could hardly keep herself from jumping up and down. The donkeys weren't having any of her childish excitement and made a run for it just after this photo was taken. 

From a rooftop at sunset. 

We went to a zoo which had to be the worst designated animal watching location in the world. Literally all we saw were these two... The cat was neat but it kept hissing at us. The dog was actually more of a body guard. Perhaps he is trained to make sure none of the visitors take any of the 5 animals they have at this abandoned animal yard. 

He was a cool dog though and we got some good excercise hiking up to the "zoo" so the trip was not at all in vain. 

Sadly the next day just after the meeting where we met half of the brothers and sisters from Denmark( it seems that Samaipata is the little JW Denmark of South America) , Taylor got sick. Super no bueno... So the last day was not like a retreat at all. More like Taylor not being able to stand up for 5 seconds with out passing out kind of retreat. Oh well, perhaps the next time in Samaipata we will skip the salsa..