Jodi in China

The nights we weren´t camping, we stayed at a family´s house inhabited by the parents, their 14 kids, and this big, mean, hairy tarantula. They claimed they found it under my bed....until I got sufficiently worked up. Then they claimed they found it in the storeroom. They had a good laugh at my expense and then killed it. They really like to tease gringos.

One night we camped in a family´s yard. That is their house on the right, our horses resting on the left, and in front, the chicken we at for dinner that night.

By the time we finally got back down to the lowlands, the sun was setting behind the mountains we had just climbed.

On our way back down.....

here we are drinking from the river, the water here was very pure and clear as there was nothing above or around but forest. in general, we drank water wherever we could get it, and somewhere along the way, i drank some bichos, which are still gurgling around in my belly 2 weeks later. oh well.

bathing in the river....i ducked just in time.

another waterfall......

After camping by the river, the next morning we went to visit all the waterfalls and swim in the river. This waterfall is about 250 feet high. It is kind of hidden in a cliff to the side of the main river, though, so as you are walking up a tranquil river, all of the sudden you round a bend and you hear a deafening noise and see all this water crashing down. It gave me chills when I first came upon it.

The view in the opposite direction is the next valley and ridge we have to climb over to get to the waterfalls, 4 hours more hiking in the afternoon heat ahead of us.

This picture was shows me and our guide, Elio, resting (and picking off ticks) on the top of the mountan we had to climb on our way to the waterfalls. We had started at 6 am on horseback in the flatlands below, way far away in the upper right hand side of the picture. We still have a few hours ahead of us to reach the river, waterfalls, and our camping spot.

Our first trip was to some waterfalls in the mountains. First we had to pass through the flatlands on horseback. Then when we got to rougher terrain, we started walking. The mountain that we had to climb over to get to the waterfalls is in front of us in this picture.

My next few entries will show pictures from my recent trip to a reserve called Parabano, in the Santa Cruz region of Bolivia. It is a transition zone between the lowlands and the Andes and has three different ecoregions. We hiked, horsebacked, and camped for several days. Getting acquainted with the landscape and the rural rancho lifestyle of the people who live there was a very striking experience. Also, it was incredibly hot, dirty, and there were an unbelievable number of ticks. At times I was thrilled and others I just wanted to escape. This picture shows me and another woman, Maya, safely mounted on our horses. Which is deceiving, because it took me several tries and spills (to the delight of the locals) to actually get safely mounted on the horse. I learned that it is not as easy as those cowboys make it look. Another lesson I learned: one thing they never talk about in those cowboy movies is raw butt cheeks after extended riding. But I assure you, it happens. Yep. Raw.