When the time came for the ferry to depart, there was no ferry as this had left on time an hour ago - that is, on Bolivian time . . . 1 hour before Peruvian time . . . the time we were still on!! Some crafty locals saw our predicament and offered to take us accross for some rediculous price, so we resigned ourselves to spending a night in Copacabana! NOT the hottest spot north of Havana!! On arrival on Isla Del Sol the next day, we found a gem of a place right on the beach and spent the next 3 days doing nothing other than eat, walk rediculous amounts around the island and watching the abundant farmlife roaming around (this was more amusing than it may sound because it was mating season for practicaly every animal!!)
We eventually had to leave our sanctuary of animal hormones to head to La Paz, the capital. Despite being at seriously high altitude in a type of bowl-like valley, there wasn´t much to see so we booked our near-death experience for the next day. That is, the infamous ´Road of Death´ on which there was a fatal accident every 2 weeks before someone with half a brain cell closed the thing down and built a new, equally questionable road elsewhere!! So the three of us teamed up with some French Froggies and actually paid money to speed down this death trap on equally dodgy bicycles for 5hours from 4000 odd meters to just over 1000m above sea level! So thankfully it was mostly downhill and they were thoughtfull enough to stop us to show us a wreck every now and then (as though the crosses lining the side of the road weren´t enough) and also where some stupid tourists had gone over themselves!! My brakes were used somewhat more frequently after that!!
The lack of suspension on our bikes, coupled with the abundance of stones and rocks on the bumpy road made for two very sore backsides with which to enjoy the 20hr bus ride that awaited us to Rurrenabaque - Bolivia´s gateway to the Amazon. It was unanimously decided that it was the worst bus ride of our entire 10 months of travelling, with the bus looking like it clawed its way back from the 1940´s, almost losing the battle, and the road being as narrow and bumpy as the road they closed on it´s behalf!! We didn´t get a wink of sleep while getting tossed around so badly, and were relieved when the bus pulled in to Rurren at 5:30am the next morning! Here we met our first fellow South African traveller but she was older and a lot more psyched about getting on a tour and moving on when all we wanted to do was get into a bed and sleep, so we very tactfully lost her (as tactfully as you can be at 5:30am in the morning) and went to sleep!
When we eventually woke up, we booked a 3 day tour into the jungle. Shaun being the David Attenborough-lets-all-hug-a-tree-and-get-dirty-in-the-jungle type, opted for a lot of walking deep into the jungle and sleeping away from the nice tourist camp. The thought of joining another group in a nice camp crossed my mind on more than one occassion! Luckily I wasn´t alone. Two Polish guys who were liquored to over-flowing point (as Polish generally are), opted to come too, not hearing the company´s warning about Shaun´s Indiana Jones request - something the company should have stressed when they clearly saw that these guys had not seen the inside of a gym in a while!! Well, what was on the whole a thouroughly enjoyable deep jungle experience, was at times overpowered by their wingeing, complaining, moaning and awefully bad body odour (they seeped stale vodka). So when we did manage to stay up-wind from them, the weird monkeys, butterflies, birds of all kinds and pigs (not the Polish!) were amazing!
Not wanting to miss out on the obvious Amazon animals you only get to see in the Pampas (rivers), we opted to do a 3 day tour there too - in relatively more luxury and without the Poleskies!! The boat (read dug-out log with a faulty prop) in which we spent most of our time was painfull to say the least but the sights of Capybaras (the world´s largest rodent - they honestly looked like bears crossed with rats, but uglier), aligators and camans, pink dolphins that look more phalic than I can legally describe, as well as monkeys and more weird birds, managed to distract from the pain! We even saw an anaconda- not quite the size that ate J-Lo but who could realistically swallow that ass anyway!?!?
We eventually had to bid farwell to our jungle retreat and first warm place in South America, and brave that aweful 20hr bus trip back to La Paz. From there we headed south to Uyuni where the massive salt flats are. I can confidently say that the world will never run out of salt! We were running out of time though, so after arriving in Uyuni at 7am in the morning having just survived another hideous bus ride from La Paz, we did the day trip and then hung around in the train station until 4am the next morning to catch the only transport out of there for 2 days! So when we arrived in Tupiza the next morning, we were shattered and well over all forms of public transport! So we took a day out to relax and walk around the place near where Butch Cassidy and The Sundance Kid finally met their demise (they were infamous cowboys apparently for those of you who know less than I do) before booking our 1 day horse riding tour! 
With my first experience on a horse ending in a bolt for home over anthills and ditches and me losing the reins in an episode I´d rather forget, I should have quit while I was ahead and opted for a donkey instead. Shaun was however not getting dissuaded in the least so I had to put on a very fake happy smile and not run for the hills when I met my horse, which was as stubborn as a mule in any case! It started off well with a few trots and I managed not to choke on my heart! It was only when Shaun (we shall refer to him as Butch from here on out) decided to kick his horse into a gallop through the narrowest gorge and mine following suit just as my foot slipped out of the styrip, that I screamed like a girl, shouted obscenities at Butch that can not be repeated - ever - and saw my life flash in front of my eyes at least 3 times as my horse just wouldn´t stop. It was only when Butch brought his horse to a stop that mine contemplated slowing down so that I could clamber back onto the saddle, collect my cap from the guide and check that my pants/trousers were still dry!! Thankfully we met an Irish couple who were just as reluctant as me to go faster than a crawl so the rest of the day was great, passing through some beautiful scenery. On the home straight however, my horse once again tried to bolt and it took all my remaining strength to keep him under control (this time I didn´t let go of the reins Trace!!) and I was all too happy to get/fall off the beast from hell after 7 painful hours! Only after a photo session with Shaun and his new love (his horse) could I eventually leave it all behind, as the two of us hobbled into the sunset!
