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Suelo Feliz.

Translates to “happy soil” and was the name of the Ecosystem Restoration Camp that we got to work at the other week. It’s a true oasis a bit north of Cochabamba. And “wauw” we have learned lots!

This farm is managed and maintained by a network of communities, which in reality are families living nearby. It’s also these people who we were welcomed by when we arrived, and made us feel like family for our time there.

The camp exists only for 6 years and yet already grows an abundant amount of food, flowers and trees. The main secret for the lushness is water. We got to help with digging a waterdam and terraces on the contour-lines during our stay. It is hard work… really hard work! We have the uttermost respect for the people on the farm doing this every single day (especially the powerhouses Philip and Juandino). Also enjoying many of the locally produced fruit and veggies gave us enough strength to keep going all day (thanks to Corina’s cooking skills)!

We are so grateful for this experience and the hospitality of German, Marcelina, Corina and Freddy.

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Toro toro

Once the land of the giants, this natural reserve transports you back in time.

65 million years ago it all looked completely different. Image lush forests, rivers and even an ocean.

PWith the moving of two tectonic plates it all changed. Forests turned into mountains and oceans ran dry. This resulted in the landscape we see today, with solemnly some reminders of what it used to be.

Dinosaur footprints, turtle skeletons and dry riverbeds.

And even though it has lost its lushness, it is still breathtakingly beautiful.

We walked trough a canyon to a fairylike waterfall, we explored natural cathedrals where indigenous people lived and left their story behind via wallpaintings and we explored a cave leading to a deeply blue pool with albino fishes living their live in the dark.

Toro toro is a place where you feel like a single page in an enormous book. Its for the wonderers and for the grounded people. It was magical!

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The highest capital of the world: La Paz, Bolivia.

This city is known for their public transportation. As the city is located on 3900+ meters above sea level, with highly differentiated altitude and low oxygen levels, it’s hard to just walk around. It’s because of this that the city opted for cable cars. We must say we found it quite spectacular!

We spend an entire morning riding the cable cars alone. From above you can clearly see how big the city is, but it’s also colourful and vibrant.

Close to La Paz you have Death Road, the most dangerous road in the world, connecting the city to the rainforest up north. This is where you can mountainbike for 30 kilometers, starting at 4700 m.a.s. and ending at around 2000 m.a.s.

It was very adventurous to say the least. But we must state proudly that our dutch genes made us strong riders; Bob being the fastest of the man and Femke the fastest woman. 💪🏽

We ended the ride in semi rainforest where we offered our legs and arms to the many hungry mosquitoes. That made us realise it was time to move along and cross borders again.