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| Motorcycle-taxi stand: the common means of transportation in Villa Tunari! |
I have arrived in Villa Tunari actually back in mid February, as a casual stop-over in a small town to visit an animal refuge park from the non-profit organization in which I had intended to volunteer. As life has it, nothing in the paths of my travels, even by reading the stars would have been able to give me a slightest inch of a hint that this will be the tiny town that I will spent the most of my time in Bolivia! (on and off for... 5 months now!) Was I prepared for it? Hard to answer to this question, as I was prepared for everything. This was a trip in which I was willing to let my emotions run freely and my spirit run wildly and embrace whatever may come :)
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| The fun night where it all began... |
Here is the story of Villa Tunari... my tender love in the sub-tropics lowland of Bolivia, where in the rainy seasons the mosquitos abound and the heat almost suffocates you to the point one cannot focus without a running fan! But yet, I manage to tolerate it for the experience that I was about to live: a true cultural exchange, a true life in Bolivia amongst the Bolivians!
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| "Las Pozas" |
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| The boys making a sand man |
Villa Tunari is a town where once you arrive, one is submerged in a serene atmosphere, as it is small town where things happen slowly, where everyone knows one another, and has a very laid-back style of life. My initial goal was to spend 2-3 days before heading onwards to Santa Cruz. I had visited the park and relaxed in the town and when I had intended to leave, the infamous yet frequent "derrumbe" (there's no direct english translation, but the closest I can find is falling rocks) that are caused during the rain season had caused the roads to be blocked, and at times the river would even eat away the highway... thus trapped in Villa Tunari, I started to meet locals. And when I tried to leave again a few days later once it had cleared, there were road strike toward the opposite direction... so I continued to hang around until one day I met a nice girl with whom we quickly became friends and she later invited me to "Las Pozas" (see pic above), which is a type of pool formed by a calm part of the river. Since the heat is unbearable, the only way to really cool down is to go to the river. It didn't take long to convince me :) Prepared, I got out of my hostal, and saw a station wagon taxi FULL of folks, inside and in the open trunk! My friend and I were the only girls with 9 boys. I was a bit surprised but ready for an adventure!
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| Gas pump full of rum! |
Together, my girlfriend, Silvia, a med student and her classmates and I, enjoyed the afternoon playing in the pool. Later on that night, I met up with 3 of the med students for dinner and later on one of them decided to show me how Bolivians enjoy their "trago y la vida nocturna" (drink and night life). I couldn't be more thrilled!! As a lone girl traveler, I have taken all the precautions and avoided night life for the lack of company and for my safety. We headed out to the only bar in town, "Cueva de Lagarto" (Lizard's Cave), with a group of 10-12 Bolivians playing a complicated local drinking game "Cacho" where one plays in teams and rolls 2 dice and based on the result, the whole team dinks or the opposite team drinks. What do they drink? The local favorite is a Panamanian rhum called "Abuelo" (Grandfather) and they serve it on a "surtidor" (gas pump) straight up. A picture is worth a thousand words :)
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| Drunken Bolivians singing for me! :D |
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| Charango-ist !!! |
Later on, we headed over to the sole discotheque to continue the evening. Dancing to some hip hop, mainstream Shakira, a few salsa and menrengue songs and then... nothing but Cumbia!!! Once we got tired of the Cumbia, we headed over to the camp and continued the party with guitar and
charango (a South American stringed instrument of the lute family of 10 strings and traditionally made with the shell of the back of an armadillo) playing accompanied by drunk singing :) The charango-ist was once a national champion!! (contest held yearly). What a show I had all evening long!! Drunken men singing and playing music at my disposal :) The charnago-ist was so talented that he actually fell asleep in the midst of playing, continued playing, and then woke up playing... the man is born to play the instrument !!!
Attached is a video of one of the evening song :)
(Later on that night, the charango-ist' fingers got tired and took out his comb and continued playing!! lol)
Without going into further details, from that day on, I got hooked with a Latin America, the first one that had managed to capture my attention... :)
