So by now, many of you have seen the pictures of Torotoro National Park from April 4th and 5th. (Fun fact: Torotoro, when translated from Quechua, means something like Mud-mud. Repeating the word at the end of the initial word simply adds quantity or intensity to the word--meaning, there is a lot of whatever they were describing in that particular place... in this case: mud.)
It was a holiday weekend and originally, Mike and I had planned on visiting Uyuni to see the famous Salt Flats. So, on Thursday night, we packed everything up and Mike set his alarm clock for 4:30 because our flight was to leave at 6:30am and we wanted to make sure we had plenty of time to shower, recheck our gear, and make it to the airport without rushing around. I asked him if he wanted me to set a back-up alarm, but he said he had it, and at that point I figured setting a back-up alarm would just show mistrust, so I let it go. We went to sleep peacefully, knowing that we wouldn't get much sleep, but that it would probably be enough. Some time later, I felt Mike nudging me and heard him saying my name. I hadn't heard the alarm clock, but was content to find I felt more rested than I thought I would be; although, something seemed off... when I opened my eyes, some rays of morning sun were coming through the window. When I asked Mike what time it was, we both freaked out-- it was almost 6:00am! Poor Mike had set his alarm for 4:30PM, not 4:30AM. (Who could be mad, though? We've all done it at least once. Plus, there wasn't time to be upset.)
We wheeled out of bed, changed, and grabbed some food as we ran out of the house within seven minutes. I locked the door as Mike rushed down our steep hill to wave down a taxi, then sprinted down after him, praying I wouldn't trip and roll down the rest of the way. Luckily, the taxi driver was expedient as well--even if he did get pulled over by a policeman (not for speeding... something about his ID or license...) in a line of other cars on the way to El Alto. He must have had a silver tongue or a bribe or something, because we were on our way within a couple of minutes and arrived in front of the airport by 6:25am. (A record, I'm sure of it.)
We sprinted into the airport, were allowed to hop to the front of the winding line by friendly patrons who had more time, reached the hostess, told her of our flight and dilemma (granted, we left out the part about the alarm), and... were denied getting onto the airplane to Uyuni. It was the last flight from La Paz to Uyuni that day. We weren't going to make the tour we had signed up for. We pleaded and inquired and searched for another way, but there was none to be found that morning. Mike felt terrible, which was just as disheartening to see written so plainly in his posture and face.
Well, I though about how I had been wanting to see Torotoro for a while, because it's littered with naturally well-preserved dinosaur footprints. (DINOSAUR FOOTPRINTS. Who wouldn't want to see those?!) So, I asked him if he thought there was a way to get to Cochabamba and find a tour through the National Park. He gained some hope from the prospect and we began to search for a way to make that work. By 7:00am, praise God, we had managed to arrange a private tour and get our plane tickets simply changed without any fees.
In one hour, I had had one of the most eventful mornings of my time in Bolivia so far. At this point, though, our flight wouldn't leave until that evening; so, we took the rest of the morning to shower, make pancakes, repack our things, shop a bit around the market, take a nap, and eat something for dinner before restfully taking our time up to the airport.
Day 1
Our tour guide picked us up from our hostel in Cochabamba and we began our four to five hour journey from Cochabamba to Torotoro National Park in the back of a minibus. Once there, he took us to a restaurant, where we had a filling lunch and took our things to the room he had booked for us. Unfortunately for me, somehow diesel fuel had been spilled on my backpack, and unknowingly, I had set my jacket and scarf on the bag, and for the whole weekend, our room, my things, and I smelled strongly of the pungent fumes. Oh well, at least we had arrived to Torotoro relatively smoothly. |
| Found in the bathroom at the hostel. |
There were no designated pathways, so much of the tour was walking, hopping, crawling, climbing, and lowering yourself from rock-to-rock. There were also algae-slick, smooth, sloped rock faces that you had to slide down on the soles of your shoes at times (if you were to slide down on your pants, it would be hard to tell if you had sat in dirt or gotten quite frightened and simply lost control of your bowels). Most of the time, at the end of the chute there was a puddle that you had to avoid, adding to the complexity of the situation.
Some places had a roped fixed into the rock, so you could repel yourself down especially large, textured, or slippery segments. There were also places that didn't have a rope or any type of support, which forced you to climb up semi-slimy wall faces with only your courage and any dexterity you might have. At some points, the tour required you to lie on your stomach and snake your way through sand and rocks, or half-crawl, half-creep your way through rock panels that were too close to pass through normally.
Toward the end of the tour we climbed down to see a lake that pooled at a lower point of the cave. It made for a brief, but lovely break in the escapade. It even had eye-less, ghostly fish! Then, we climbed up to see the waterfall that created the lake with it's dark, pooled water. After a few moments we had to continue the climb and finish the tour. This included more segments of cautious climbing and at one point, there was a horizontal rope affixed to the sloping, lubricious cave "floor". There were a couple of points I hesitated in self-doubt, but a couple of firm guides shouting, "Vamos!" did the trick and I scurried up or down the difficult parts without much thought.
By the end of it all, I was just glad to be out of the cave. Although, I found I had significantly more energy when we did leave the cool, dark adventure tour. --Our guide even showed us some dinosaur footprints on the way back to the small town.
Day 2
On Easter Sunday, the focus of the day was to check out some dinosaur footprints, but first, we woke up just after sunrise to take a small hike to see the area a bit better. On this day, Jalapeño, my plastic, green dinosaur, decided to come along as well.
I thought the landscape was simply beautiful. Plus, the way the mountains here had formed reminded me of the backs of dinosaurs. Jalapeño seemed to enjoy himself as well. You will see him in most of the pictures... actually, the other people on the tour with us later that day really got a kick out of seeing me take pictures the tiny, green dinosaur, and a few people wanted pictures of me holding him --awkward!
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| Jalapeño is here as well, but you'll have to look closely to find him! |
After finding a shop that had breakfast for sale on Easter Sunday, we piled into an off-roading minivan to tour some more of the valley. Here we got to see both herbivore and carnivore footprints that were fossilised into the ground before the dinosaurs became completely extinct. The scenery in this part of the valley was absolutely stunning as well.
If you can pick out the three-toed footprint to the left of my right foot in the photo below, our guide told us this type of print belonged to a carnivore.
Below are some herbivore tracks. Michael could have sat in one as comfortably as one sits in a beanbag chair.
Jalapeño really paled in comparison to this herbivore's footprint, but he did love the view that followed. In the rainy season, the guide told us that the area in which we were walking becomes a cascade of waterfalls that stream into a river.
Then, the main attraction: a tyrannosaurus rex footprint. Jalapeño is at the tip of some space between the second and third toe, but wow! This is where a man and some others asked me to stand with Jalapeño, so they could have a size gauge. This print was easily four to five feet long and perhaps two to three feet wide. It was amazing.
Due to the currents caused by the rainy season, some parts of the riverbed were formed into natural bridges that were walkable. Some parts were quite thin, but this section actually held in place, allowing groups of people to use it without problem.
After seeing the massive footprint of the king of dinosaurs, what could be more or just as impressive? Well, this view, for one:
As a bonus, we then walked down the stone stairway (that was built into the cliffside) and got to swim in the waterfall that you see in the picture above. The picture below was another waterfall that we passed by on the way.
We also had the chance to see other stunning views, flowery vegetation, ancient rock paintings, and more waterfalls on our walk back to Torotoro. The waterfalls that we swam in were warm, even though the water pools beneath them were quite chilly. I expect the cloudless day had something to do with it, especially since the waterfalls were high enough to soak up more of the rays that didn't quite reach the pools in the gorge.
When we returned to Torotoro, we had just enough time to collect our things and eat lunch before climbing onto the huge tour bus that would return us to Cochabamba. In the giant bus, the four-to-five hour trip turned into a six-hour trip, but after the hike, that was fine, too. The guide was friendly, informative, and honest; the National Park did not disappoint; and we did not miss our flight back to La Paz. Definitely a successful weekend overall.
*The photos were a combination of memories taken by Michael Niemann and me.
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