June 22 - June 26, 2013. Las Cruces, Bolivia.
"Seguro Travesía"
We took an overnight bus to Santa Cruz and stayed for a night at a hostel with a cool toucan. After a little research the group found a cool camp ground a few hours hike into the jungle and so the next day we took a couple taxis out to Buena Vista, our launching point for the camping trip. The next few days were a struggle since I had left all my camping and rain gear in Cochabamba, not anticipating this type of adventure. I caught a small cold and the stomach bug after three days of downpour and soggy clothes.
On the way back the rains had swelled a river we had been crossing to the point that it didn’t look safe to wade. Four guys linked arms and tried the crossing but were picked up by the current and swept downstream about fifty feet before catching their footing and making it across. The rest of us scoured the river up and down looking for a safer crossing but to no luck. Finally, we joined a small group of men and women who had a unique strategy for crossing the river without getting their bags wet. The men would hoist their bags, at one point even carrying small babies, on their shoulders and let the current carry them down river about thirty feet as they hopped their way over to the calmer sections of the water. It looked scary but we tried it and succeeded. We all came away with a newfound appreciation for bridges, safe crossing, and abiding by local wisdom.
Back at Buena Vista I said farewell to the CU team while agreeing to meet up in Boulder when I returned to the States to do a few follow up interviews on their experience. Back in Cochabamba it was great to finally rest, relax, and dry off from spending the previous week in the Amazon. My stomach quickly got better and my cold had gone away. I contacted Zoe, B2P's new country manager now that Netta had returned to the States, and moved into a spare room at the house B2P was renting.