It was our last day in La Paz. We had done pretty much all we had planned. Our flight to Quito wasn't until 5:15PM. We had hours to kill, but not enough to do anything significant.
We found a roof top cafe on Ave. 16 de Julio, drank beverages, ate lunch and played cards. I had purchased the Marching Powder book on Kindle last night. We each took turns to read the book out loud to each other. It is a really gripping book and helped to pass the time for sure.
Since we had a great experience with the minibus yesterday, we decided to take it to the airport. Big mistake! At 4 bolivianos (0.60 USD), it sure was much cheaper than a taxi. With our big packs, we made our way next to the San Francisco museum where all the minibuses seemed to gather. It was pure chaos. People and cars weaved in and out, hop on and off amongst traffic. We flagged one down. But we were signaled to get on a bit further up the street. We ran up to the minibus in a panic. The handler I called him, is the guy who gets the customers and collects the money. The handler grabbed our bags and hurled them on top of the minibus without strapping them down at all. We were very concerned that the bags would fall off, but he assured us it was no problem.
We were shoved into the bus just as the police came over to tell the bus to move it along. We settled into our seats and I noticed I was missing a bag, a bag contained 7 chullo hats we bought a few hours ago as gifts for friends. I hate losing things even if it was 105 bolivianos (15 USD) worth of hats. I instantly regretted the decision to take minibus. There are just certain experiences I don't need to experience no matter how interesting or cheap it is.
The ride itself was smooth and it only stopped two or three times. We were at the airport in 30 minutes with our luggage intact.We had to pay 25 USD airport tariff (for international flight) each.
I enjoyed my time in Peru and Bolivia. But I am looking forward to some warm weather and ocean breeze. Tomorrow we will be in paradise and I am excited!
*******link to original post*******
http://rubyroads.blogspot.com/2011/09/waiting-for-galapagos-day-17.html
The holiday of a lifetime. The company is Alaksa-owned and thhat makes a big difference to the experineces you get i.e. meet genuine First Nations tribes people. The amount of wildlife was beyond my expectation, and seeing everything on sucha small, intimate boat made it even more spoecial and unique.
Liz O
1 day ago
Adventure Life covered all the details in planning our trip to Ireland. Any questions we had were answered immediately. Any trip glitches, which always happen when traveling, were resolved immediately. There were no worries, just fun!
Kathleen Weller
1 day ago
It was an outstanding, up-close, educational vacation of nature, culture, history, animals and geology! It was everything they promised! Binoculars were plentiful on the boat, but I'm glad I brought my own. Food was excellent. Rooms had black-out shades. Pack/wear multiple layers of clothing (I carried a small backpack when off the ship). Crew were delightful and very accommodating! Remember to jump FEET FIRST first when taking the optional polar plunge! Spend as much time outdoors as you are able and ENJOY!!!
Janet Dutton
6 days ago
Excellent travel advice and service
This is my second experience working with Adventure Life. I’m sold. Jess Heuermann is an experienced traveler and provides a lot of useful information when planning a trip. These are the questions I like to ask at the outset - What’s it like to go here, there, what would you suggest, what do people report, can we add any additional side trips? Jess took the time to answer my questions and seek additional information to share with me. Petchie Colina is outstanding in helping with travel logistics and final preparations. Adventure Life has excellent guides and offers private guides and small group adventures. We enjoyed the opportunity to talk with the guides and drivers to learn more about their countries, cultures and histories. A highlight was having the guides pick local restaurants where we could share meals together. Highly recommend.
Claire Cordon
1 week ago
Our six-day tour in Iceland went smoothly with one exception. We had asked for two rooms each night. Somehow we were booked with one room with three beds. It could not be fixed at the first hotel in Reykjavik because the hotel was fully booked. Once informed of the problem, however, Adventure Life rebooked for two rooms for the remainder of the trip. As an 85-year-old traveler, I appreciated that one could participate at different physical levels at many of the stops. Iceland is a great place to visit but on the expensive side.