Zipaquirá Salt Cathedral

This salty underground attraction is about 45 minutes outside of Bogota in a quaint town called Zipaquira.  An actual salt mine in operation today, there is also an underground cathedral that was built in deserted tunnels deep within the mine.

180 meters under the earth’s surface you walk through 14 small chapels which represent the sufferings of Christ and lead to a shrine at the bottom which represents the birth, life, and death of Jesus.  The actual cathedral is 75 meters in length and 18 meters in height, with a capacity for 8,400 people.  The walls are a marbled looking texture of grey to white due to different salt purities; an utterly natural artistic fresco that tastes like salt!

Mining hats adorned we also set into the deeper bowls and tried our hand at mining - chipping away to get a small piece of salt rock for a souvenir.  The whole experience was unique and fun.  I felt like I was in Fraggle Rock, and who doesn’t love Fraggle Rock?

Lake Titicaca

In between a couple days spent in civilization, La Paz and Santa Cruz which I loved, I headed up to Lake Titicaca to take in the Mediteranean-esk serenity and alleged metaphysical properties.  Lake Titicaca is high in the Andes at 12,500 feet, straddling the Peruvian and Bolivian boarder; this makes it the highest lake in the world. 

The original name Lago Titi'kaka comes from the words, ‘rock’ and ‘puma’.  News to me is that the puma was a sacred animal to the Incas, which makes my love for Luna even stronger.  The altitude is difficult, the temperature is alpine, and the sun is wicked; but despite the somewhat testing conditions it is one of the most striking places I have seen in South America.

It started with a 3ish hour bus ride from La Paz to Copacabana; a winding trip to an even higher altitude was rewarded with stunning vistas of the lake and towering snowy peaks behind.  The next morning we took a 2 hour ferry to the north side of Isla Del Sol, or Island of the Sun. 

Isla Del Sol is a harsh, rocky landscape; there are no cars or paved roads on the island, only dirt paths to the over 180 ruins.  Most of the ruins date to the Inca period circa the 15th century AD.  In the religion of the Incas it was believed that the Sun God was born here, hence the name of the island.

We hiked to the Sacred Rock, which is supposed to resemble a puma, a labyrinth-like building constructed of stones called Chicana, and the Sacrificial Table, where it is believed human and animal sacrifice took place.  We then set out on the 3 hour hike from the north end of the Island to the south end of the Island.  Not an overly difficult hike, but it felt like a multiple day pilgrimage climbing a severe mountain with the altitudes effect!

In addition to the breathtaking scenery, some of my favorite memories of the lake were the children.  Two little girls with a baby lamb, feeding it from a bottle, came up to us nervously, and asked for 1 Boliviano for a picture; they then went and bought bubble gum with the money and came back to sit with us. 

Along the way as we pulled out our picnic of bread, avocado, and cheese, two little boys approached and held out their hands saying, “Queso, pan - por favor.”  It was our pleasure to share lunch with them and see their little faces light up. 

Approaching the south side of the Island two brothers, ages 7 and 11, started walking with us wanting to take us to their hostel to sleep.  They walked with us, like little body guards, for the next 45 minutes to ensure they delivered us safe from harm and the other boys on the path pretending we needed to pay a fee to pass!    

Transportation Bolivia

Transport in Bolivia is never dull,

Rugged roads, sketchy old vehicles, and passengers packed in skull to skull.

Unpredictable weather, boat crossings, blockades...always delays,
Warm clothes, Cremositos, and sleeping pills...a survival kit always pays.

Santa Cruz to Ambue Ari, waiting 6 hours is a must,
Seems far-fetched, but who can you trust?

Trinidad, Inglesia, San Bora...collectivos galore,
One breakdown, two breakdown, three breakdown, four.

From the park the only ways to hitch,
Hours of waiting, and praying to avoid a ditch.

In Rurre there is only moto taxis you learn,
All good fun, just watch out for an exhaust burn.

The most dangerous road in Bolivia I’m told,
Rurre to La Paz, a 2o hour bus ticket I’m sold.

Narrow dirt roads, steep cliffs, and landslides,
Reminiscent of those rickety old roller coaster rides.

La Paz to Santa Cruz, descending altitude with satisfying ear pops,
The 16 hour journey’s lengthened with multiple police interrogation stops.

Inevitably exhausted; covered in dirt, dust, and grime,
It’s guaranteed each trip is a memorable time! 

A Month at Jacj Cuisi with Luna the Pouncing Puma

A month has gone by, it’s hard to believe.
The creepy crawlers I’m definitely ready to leave.
For my majestic feline I shall shed a tear.
This has been an experience I will remember year after year.

A kept a journal every day.   Every little detail about Luna and how our relationship progressed.  I thought I would share some of my most significant and memorable recollections.

1.)    The hotter days can break 40 degrees Celsius, even in the jungle.  One of my favorite interactions with Luna was stopping to give her water on the trails. Pouring water into my hand and letting her lap it up, licking and purring.  Her purr is amazing, like a sputtering diesel motor, in the mornings and walking she is very vocal.  It is so inspiring knowing how happy she is.  In contrast sometimes there is rain; it is the Amazon after all.  During a rainy day Luna is grumbly and makes little grunts and squeaks of self-pity while hiding under the brush. 

2.)    A large part of Luna’s trail follows a stream, this was one of my favorite areas to walk her as she showcased her agility and undeniable grace; silently leaping from one bank to the next, delicately stepping from rock to rock, balancing on logs to avoid the mud.  Although it was usually an obstacle course to avoid the water, there were hot days when she would just plop down in the middle of the stream and flick her tail to spray water on her back and face.

3.)    A slightly less positive memory, although unforgettable is the ‘Bee Hive’ episode.  Luna was extra jumpy and playful so we tied her to a tree to calm down.  It’s common to have wasps landing on you, usually 2-3 at all times.  Well, we noticed them multiplying and before you knew it we were swarmed with hundreds.  Trying to walk it off they followed us, we obviously must have upset a hive and were paying the price in stings.  It started to get unbearable, a terribly claustrophobic, panicky feeling.  Watching us swatting and dancing and yelping was getting Luna even more excited of course, “Ooh ooh they DO want to play!” We had to make a decision - a swarm of wasps or an overly playful Puma…the Puma it was and although we took some jumps we both agreed it was the right decision (although made over 20 stings late)!

4.)    Another somewhat frightening memory was the falling tree.  The jungle is changing daily, on one such day this happened to be right over top of us.  I was on the rope and Luna was resting, all of the sudden we heard a crackling noise and before I knew what was happening Luna had leapt into action and was dragging me away.  A second later when I heard a thundering crash I looked back and a huge limb had crashed down exactly where we were.   The loud noise scared Luna, her ears were pressed back and her eyes were wide with fear as she was inching backwards.  I approached her and with a clam voice said ‘Todo Bien Luna’.  She looked up to me, looked ahead, and then gently licked my hand.  She looked back to me every couple of steps as she slowly made her way to the fallen tree to inspect.  This was the most amazing feeling knowing that she was scared and looking to my reaction for reassurance. 

5.)    One of my favorite parts of Luna is her playful disposition.  On our walks she would often turn to hunting mode, stalking along in silence…more than once she trapped a butterfly under her daunting paw.  It’s all a game for her so she’d release it, watch it flutter away, and then pounce on it again.  Usually I could see it coming and was able to keep up, but on one specific occasion of overzealous hunting there wasn’t a prayer and down the jungle ravine I went.  Luna was intrigued by this spot for days, sniffing and scenting my slide path.    

6.)    Overly obsessed with Luna and her every move, there’s only one non-puma occasion that is making this shortlist…the tarantula!  It was just past dusk and a full moon was lighting up the sky.  I was reading peacefully, until I felt something furry creep across my foot – in automatic reaction I flicked my foot before looking down.  Then I see a huge black tarantula on the rock right next to me and squeal!  It must have been the full moon because I saw 3 more that night.

Inti Wara Yassi – Blood, Sweat & Tears

When I got here I vowed to give it at least 10 days before I made any final judgments or rash decisions…this turned out to be wise, or I might not be here two weeks later writing this first blog post about my experience.

I am at Jacj Cuisi, a Puma rehabilitation center in the Bolivian Jungle.  This is the most remote reserve the organization Inti Wara Yassi operates; it has no running water or electricity and bathing is done in the stream (which is quite lovely with little fish that nibble your feet).  We use long drops for toilets, and there is just one house for volunteers with 13 bunks.  It is open air with just three walls, so in the evening you can feel the amazon breeze and from my top bunk I have an exquisite view of a clear starry sky.  During storms however rain floods into the house and we have to take turns staying awake to sweep the water out so it doesn’t flood.  There is a simple kitchen in which all of the volunteers take turns cooking and cleaning.  We eat simply but well, usually rice or pasta with some kind of sauce and vegetables.

Days are spent in the jungle walking and playing with the Puma’s.  I am assigned to a 3 year old Mountain Puma named Luna.  When Luna was just 3 months old she was rescued by Inti Wara Yassi from a man who was trying to sell her and her sister Mika on the streets after having slaughtered their mother.  She was severely malnourished and could not walk.  Her sister died within the first days but Luna held on and eventually gained strength.  Due to this horrific past she will always have health and development problems; she is blind in her right eye and has respiratory issues today (which cause her to have the most memorable purr you will ever hear). 

Luna is young and very playful.  She loves to jump people (which I would more correctly term ‘play attack’) every chance she gets.  She gets excited and jumpy over a lot of different and sometimes very unpredictable things.  If it gets windy, if there was rain the night before, if she is looking through trees at you (hide and seek), if she is on a log or anywhere higher than you, if she hears monkeys, if there are a lot of bugs around, ect.  Basically, don’t ever be deceived or become complacent, for even a second, in a moment of tranquility.

Every day with Luna is very different depending on the weather, other animals in the jungle, and her mood - but basically a typical day goes something like this: We (there are always two people walking a cat, I have been working with a girl named Acacia) arrive to Luna’s cage at around 8am after a 20 minute hike.  She runs up purring loudly and starts to lick our arms with her very rough tongue, she loves affection.  After about 15 minutes of ‘love’ time we take her out of the cage, with her attached to one of us on a 10 foot rope, and start off through her maze of trails.  

The jungle terrain is not easy, parts are very steep, both up and down hill and there are leaves, rocks, and roots everywhere to trip you up.  Quite often there are large fallen trees over paths that you have to scramble over or under, depending on the route the cat takes.  Luna typically walks along her trails, but takes flying leaps over logs and doesn’t like the mud so leaps over any of that as well.  She can also just start off running in a split second, and you have to keep up.  She especially loves to run on the steep bits, of course.  

With our guidance Luna decides where she wants to walk and for how long.  The fact that we are even a few percent in control is I think an illusion Luna lets us believe!  When we arrive back in her cage area we put her on her ‘runner’.  This is a long rope between two trees where when attached with her rope she has a very long lead for running and playing.  Although this is pretty unnerving, she absolutely loves to play with a ‘ratata’, so it’s important for us to exercise her this way.  A ratata is a long palm frond that you can hide and drag around for her to chase and pounce on...the problem is she has so much free rope and can easily loose interest in the palm frond and turn it on you!  

After two weeks Acacia and I are able to read Luna’s moods a bit, know her favorite jumpy areas, and can recognize the signs she is getting playful…all of these factors, along with the fact I am sure we are a little less exciting to her now, have led to her being pretty calm with us and walking her trails well.  On a normal day with no strange outside circumstances typically we walk for 3 to 4 hours with only a few half-hearted jumps.   She will often stop on a log for a while and just sit and listen to the jungle; it is gorgeous to watch her in her element.  While walking Luna often purrs very loudly and also turns back to us for pats and affection.  It is such a cool feeling to know that we are enriching her life in this way and she is enjoying herself so much.  These quiet, serene walks however are not always the case, and certainly weren’t in the first week or so…

I am covered in bruises, bites, claw scrapes, and blood.  For the first couple days I like to compare myself to a shiny new toy for Luna and wow was I a popular new toy!  When I first arrived Luna had been walking with one volunteer for 3 months and Acacia for 4 days…the experienced volunteer was leaving in two days so the pressure was really put on Acacia and myself to take on a lot of responsibility very quickly.  In hindsight this was good, I was put into a lot of tough circumstances right away which helped me to become more comfortable and confident with Luna…but it was a pretty rough and painful introduction. 

In my first two days I was jumped probably over 15 times, a couple of which knocked me over and led her to become even more aggressive wrapping her teeth around my neck.  I was put as lead on the rope, and dragged through the jungle for at least 15 feet while Luna ‘hunted’.  I was playing with her in her ‘runner’ area, and over and over she would loose interest in the ratata, turn her crazy big eyes to me, run and pounce on me (the run and jump is terrifying).  I was needed to feed her alone on my second day and make sure she took her calcium pill.  

It was a lot of pressure and multiple times there were tears.  Some tears of pain, but mostly I think tears of shock and feeling overwhelmed.  There were points I really didn’t think I was going to be able to carry on.  I mean I knew it was going to be extremely physically challenging, but I didn’t bet on there being such a hard mental component to overcome as well.  I think Acacia and I really leaned on each other for support, as were the only two new volunteers.  We tried to remain positive about everything, but were also there for each other to share in the fears and pains we were experiencing.  I am so proud of us for all we have accomplished, knowing you can trust your partner is a huge piece of feeling confident out there, so I feel lucky to have found myself with a good one.  

I think I can make it two more weeks in the jungle as originally planned, so ciao, until I next conjure up the effort to hitch hike into the closest civilization (it took 3 hours of waiting for a ride, a 2 hour trip on a lumber truck, and then a boat ride to get here!)…