Bolivia Round Up

Bolivia Round Up

We spent just over a month in Bolivia. Not our longest visit by a far cry, but given the fuel shortages and regular road blockades (government protests), we decided to not press our luck. We entered Bolivia from Chile in the south on the Laguna Route and drove to Uyuni to visit the Salt Flats which we explored for several […]

Blessing Big Bertha

Blessing Big Bertha

Exploring Copacabana in Bolivia, we saw a lot of decorated cars around the town. Further investigation revealed they had been adorned with trimmings in preparation for their blessing by the pastor at the town’s church. Turns out this is quite a thing. Each day at 10am and 2:30pm, and especially at weekends, vehicles assemble outside the church ready for their […]

Wrestling in a Bowler Hat!

Wrestling in a Bowler Hat!

Francine told me she wanted to see the Fighting Cholitas – a group of female wrestlers that perform in El Alto (just above La Paz). Unfortunately, Francine caught a bug and did not feel like going. Given they only perform twice a week, Dave decided to go and report back. What a laugh! You either love or hate wrestling. It […]

A Day in the Life..

A Day in the Life..

Sometimes our posts make it look like our lives are exciting and extraordinary, but it isn’t always sunshine and roses, so I thought I would bring it all down to earth a bit.. Today was not a good day, mechanically-speaking! We had overnighted in a typical “panoramic-view” type of spot, with no-one around – just us and the stars. But, […]

Life is the Pits

Life is the Pits

Before leaving Uyuni, Dave visited the ‘train cemetery’ in Uyuni – a graveyard of tens of steam locos imported from the UK. Great fun! From Uyuni, we drove to Potosí, once the largest city in the world thanks to a silver mining boom. It is now a city of steep hills (being located on the foothills of the mountains being […]

The Salar de Uyuni

The Salar de Uyuni

The Salar de Uyuni is the largest continuous high salt desert in the world, with an area of ​​10,582 km² (4,085 sq mi ) – about half the size of Wales. It is located at about 3,650 m above sea level in southwestern Bolivia. It is on every overlanders itinerary and we were really looking forward to spending a few […]

The Laguna Route

The Laguna Route

The Laguna Route – an overlander’s right of passage. This 302km off-road adventure starts at the Bolivian Border, Paso Fronterizo Hito Cajón and goes all the way to Uyuni, although there are patches of tarmac towards the end. It’s not for the faint hearted. The entire route is above 4000m, is very cold at this time of year, and is […]

Going High

Going High

The highest settlement in the UK is Flash, Staffordshire, at 463 m (1,519 ft) and the highest point in the UK is Ben Nevis at 1,343m (4,406 ft).  The northern parts of Chile, Argentina and southern Bolivia are a lot higher and it was time to test our ability to travel at altitude. From the Chilean coast we climbed steadily, […]