Tourist Attractions
Trip Start
Jun 27, 2004
1
10
57
Trip End
Sep 22, 2004
Santa Cruz and around, Bolivia
Wednesday, July 7, 2004
Yesterday I went out to the Botanical Gardens which don't feature in any guide books. They should as we saw more birdlife there than in the jungle. It was incredible to see flocks of parrots flying around. I've got some great photos so must get around to uploading them soon! We met a couple of ornithologists from Argentina who told us a lot about various birds. They got very excited about some of them - very rare apparently. It would be a great place to take a picnic and chill out for a day in the sun.
Today I took a trip to the nearby town of Cotoca with Rosario, my Spanish teacher. We went around the picturesque cathedral, the market and the ceramic shops. At the market I sampled a local dish called Zonso, a blend of yukka and cheese cooked over a barbequeue. I also bought a small ceramic toucan to brighten up my table.
Afterwards I went to the zoo. It's the first time I had ever seen a real toucan. They look like they are made from plastic! There were lots of animals in there but the monkeys all looked distressed which wasn't nice to see. Did manage to spot a sloth crawling up a tree though.
Now settling in to a quiet evening with a bit of Spanish study. That's because last night I went out to watch Bolivia play in the Copa America against Peru. It was a poor game though despite ending 2-2. Bolivia had led 2-0 so the atmosphere was a bit tense! We went to the Premium Pub, where they brew their own beer. Lemon beer was unusual but they didn't have any cola flavoured for us to try. Probably a good job too!
