Warming the Bones

There's nothing like a blast of hot humidity after living under layers of clothing and fighting dry skin and bloody noses. I tried to save up all the humidity I could in my pocket to remember during the coldest nights that at one time, my body did feel warm.

Coroico is a town in Los Yungas, an area of Amazon lowlands within the department of La Paz. Many Paceñas (people living in La Paz) travel to Los Yungas during feriados (holidays), and some even have houses in Los Yungas that they travel to on the weekend. I completely understood why once we arrived. Los Yungas are only a 2-hour trip away from La Paz but are like a completely different world. From La Cumbre, the highest point of the trip, to Coroico is about 67km and a 12,000 foot drop in elevation. The journey is unbelievable. You go from snow-capped mountains to jungle plants (and mosquitoes) within two hours.

We went to Coroico as a whole group, minus one of our team members. Even our director joined us, although he had to make a return trip that same day because he was flying back to the States in the morning. The mom and brother of one of our team members were visiting, and they made the trip there and back in one day as well. The rest of us stayed the weekend in the jungle.
When we arrived in Coroico, we went to this German restaurant called Back Stube that was recommended in my Rough Guide: Bolivia book (thanks, Dad!). I got sauerbraten, which I realize is a strange thing to eat in the jungle, but it was really good!





The first day, we also went to a waterfall that was a little outside the city. The boys decided to swim under the waterfall, and the rest of us watched. The Bolivians really enjoyed watching them swim and took a lot of pictures of them. I'm not sure waterfall swimming is a very common thing to do during this time of year. The water was pretty cold!


We had a pretty enjoyable time trying to get back to the city. There weren't very many buses going back to Coroico, and it was dark before we caught a bus. There was only one road leading back to town, so we would have been fine. Luckily, though, a bus eventually came with enough room for the nine of us.

On Saturday, we took an amazing hike down a valley to a river where there are some good swimming spots. I got a good number of mosquito bites on the way down, but it was totally worth it. The further down into the valley we got, the hotter and more humid it became. We were actually sweating! The views were amazing on the way down, and the river at the bottom of our trek was a sweet, sweet ending.

We spent most of the day at the river, eating tuna fish sandwiches we had brought along and enjoying the sunshine. There were a good number of families down at the river as well, and one family shared their mandarins with us and taught us how to fling the peels like frisbees.

The girls at the river

We ended up having dinner at the same pizza place two nights in a row. It was run by a French woman, and her dishes were amazing! We shared a four-cheese pizza one night, and the second night, we shared the same pizza and each got individual pasta dishes to try. I got the homemade pesto gnocchi. It was absolutely delicious. Again, another weird thing to eat while in the jungle, but it was good!

On Saturday night, the town of Coroico went crazy! Sunday night in Bolivia is San Juan, the shortest and coldest night of the year. In the plaza, firecrackers were going off all night long. There was a clown that was putting on a show for the children, and at the same time, a movie was being shown and a folkloric band was playing. It was definitely sensory overload, but it didn't seem to faze any of the Bolivians that were there. We tried going to bed a little early, which was a joke. The entire town was having a party!

The plaza in Coroico

View while eating breakfast

On our final day in Coroico, we took it easy. Ate breakfast, walked around the market a little bit, collected our things at the hostel. We made it down to the bus station by noon, but by that time all the buses to La Paz were booked until 3pm. All the Paceñas were making their way back home after the holiday weekend. So, much to our dismay, we had to enjoy the wonderful views and warmth for a few more hours.

I feel refreshed and recharged after our weekend in the jungle. I brought back with me some mosquito bites, a sun-burnt nose, and some hope that my body will again see sunshine. For now, I will use the memories from this wonderful weekend to propel me through the working weeks to come.