I’m on top of the world, hey!
Okay, so I had to quote from one of my favorite songs,
because today and tomorrow we are in Copacabana, Bolivia. Two interesting
things about Copacabana: first, it’s the original Copacabana that all others
are named after. Second, it’s on the shore of Lake Titikaka (or Titicaca,
depending on who you ask), the highest lake in the world. The surface of the
lake is at 12, 500 feet. Our hotel room is a ways up the hill, and on the 4th
floor, so figure another hundred feet or so above that. Needless to say, the
stairs up to our room are gasp-inducing, even when we were in La Paz for a
couple of days first! Our hotel there is at (only!) about 11,000 feet.
We will post many more pictures and some videos tomorrow
night from La Paz, because our Internet connection here is kind of wiggy.
There will also be many from our trip last Sunday night to Senda Verde, the animal
refuge near Coroico. We stayed overnight so we could see the two Andean
spectacled bears, who have the largest enclosure in the world (for their
species in captivity) at over 3000 square meters – that’s more than a square
mile of rainforest where they can roam and nest and just be as natural as
possible. They are an endangered species, and have no protections in Bolivia. Both
were rescued from black market situations where they were horrifically abused,
but are now recovered and in excellent health.
They also have parrots, macaws, monkeys of several different
species, tortoises, and many other animals there, and it was a wonderful
experience. Delaney was very inspired by the volunteer work that is done there
by young people from all over the world, and is planning to return after high
school to volunteer herself. To see many photos from this week, including Senda Verde and Copacabana, visit our Google Plus page – just go to this address:
Jeff will do a separate post sometime this week with photos
and words about the progress on the library project. He and Delaney will be
madly working to finish as much as possible before we go…
Love to all, and see you soon!
Susan
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