Coroico: Almost Amazonia

Our journey into the jungle, began with a winding 3-hour van ride on The World's Most Dangerous Road as we descended 7,000 feet to Coroico. The town is built on steep mountainsides in Las Yungas (jungle at the base of the Andes, the geographic neighbor to the Amazon), thriving on coca farms (legal and illegal) and tourism. Salmon colored papayas, red bananas, and brick colored peanuts lay stacked in piles along the cobbled stone streets. Clouds hang over the lush greenery through mid-morning before being burned off by equatorial rays (16 degrees South). Every hotel boasts lush lawns and a pool to battle the year-round 30+ C degree heat and 85% humidity. The Andes loom in the distance, but the dry, high-altitude Bolivia we had grown used to over the past month couldn't have been further away from the muggy town. 

Center-mid is a van twisting along the WMD road
Sheer cliffs! The roadside cross-count was 70... rip. 

In typical Megan/Jihelah-style we breakfasted in the Mercado Central and then followed Lonely Planet's suggested 10km hike to Las Cascadas. Then, in more typical M/J fashion, we failed in finding the alleged waterfalls. Instead, we found ourselves outside in the heat of the afternoon, 1,000 feet above the town on a quickly-disappearing 14-inch dirt path. Within 2 miles, the path became overgrown with waist-height sharp grass and our exposed legs were rubbed raw and heavily scraped. Upon seeing a road 40 feet below us, we scrambled downwards, then continued down on the pitted dirt road for another half hour. Reminiscing on our previous failed waterfall hike in Sucre, we almost missed our chance to flag down the passing dump truck for a ride. Hopping in the back, we joined another 15 passengers and graciously accepted their invitations to recline on overflowing potato sacks. Despite the early turnaround, the views of the valley thousands of feet below us were spectacular. 

Lush jungle, a drastic change from the dry, highlands we've been exploring.

Skies starting to clear... time to hop in the pool!

Panorama

After two sleepless nights of relentless itching, we realized a) there is no escape from yellow mosquitoes and b) we weren't ready for the promised swarms of Amazonian insects. So, our plans changed again. Instead of heading north, deeper into Amazonia, we turned south.

Steep cobbled streets.

Jungle fever averted, we returned to La Paz to close our Bolivia chapter. We wandered on foot through the crowded capital on Indigenous People's Day and found ourselves in the same courtyard as Evo Morales... although sadly the throngs of people obscured our views as he spoke. Then we found our favorite peanut bar snack and stocked up. And finally took a precautionary trip to the doctor's office where we were diagnosed with salmonella (which sounds serious, but went away on its own after 4 days). Sadly, we missed a final goodbye with Ryan, Alder, and Mateo, but hopefully we'll see them again this summer when they make an Oregon visit. 

Officials watching the show in front of the capital building

Last doctor's trip for awhile... knock on wood.

So where are we now?  CHILE! Taking a series of 1-18 hour bus rides down the Chilean coast, stopping in large port cities and isolated national parks. More on that soon. Off to make the most of our final South American week. Ciao!