We left Bolivia this morning and are now in Buenos Aires. Things seemed to be getting worse in Bolivia since my last post on Sunday with reports of injuries and possibly even a death in Santa Cruz.
On Monday we got a message from Therese’s sister, Michelle, that she actually knew someone who lives in Santa Cruz that went to high school with her as a foreign exchange student. After contacting Claudia, she told us that she just helped some friends get to the airport the other day and would help us get there too, so we quickly changed our flight and accommodations. Soon after, we were told that the taxi could not reach us due to the blockades. Claudia then generously offered to let us stay at her place last night since they were in an area that the taxi could reach, but the only problem was that it was at least a 45-minute walk from us. Without any other options, we decided to take her up on her gracious offer. Her son, Sebastian, even said that he would come to our place to walk with us just in case we had any issues. That doesn’t seem like too long of a walk, but with having to carry all of our luggage in the 90-degree heat and not knowing exactly what we would encounter, I wasn’t looking forward to it. But it ended up being a pleasant and uneventful walk where we talked the entire way, which made the time fly by. We had a lovely dinner with Claudia and her family and we chatted with them for hours! We were happy that their entire family spoke English. Claudia’s family was so wonderful and we greatly appreciated the hospitality that they showed to complete strangers! It was especially interesting to get a local perspective on everything that was happening.
This morning we had to leave early, at 5 AM, because the early morning is really the only time you can get around. We ended up having to go through fourteen blockades, and our driver had to pay a small fee each time in order for us to pass. Not sure how I feel about being charged a toll, especially since our taxi driver had a special permit to drive people to the airport, but I was just glad to be leaving. The drive was uneventful except for one blockade where the guy was asking for much more money than everyone else, and it didn’t seem like our taxi driver was happy about it. In the end, it took twice as long to get there, which was much faster than we expected. And it was easily the most expensive taxi we’ve ever taken.
It’s too bad that is how we ended up leaving Bolivia, but we plan to return in a couple of months, so hopefully things are resolved by then and democracy prevails.
Now where can I get an Argentinian steak that I’ve been hearing so much about?