It was the usual story- we were to visit Valle des Lunas, a
park with unusual geological formations, but it was closed. (They were, however, using the time to do
repairs and maintenance.) We were able
to walk around the perimeter while the guide explained what we were seeing. The odd formations were caused by water erosion of the mountains, which were composed primarily of clay. One group member noted that they were similar to hoodoo formations in some of the US national parks.
From there we drove to one of the wealthiest neighborhoods
in La Paz, with a large, flat area cleared out for gated communities of
palatial estates. One of the largest
belonged to a cell phone magnate- others belonged to doctors, corporate
executives and the descendants of politicians from previous regimes.
We stopped for lunch at Oberland Restaurant, which was
founded by a Swiss family (hence the name).
The gardens included passionfruit, peach and fig trees. Our guide explained that the Inn that was
part of the complex was a place where people came for peace and quiet-
including writers and soccer teams focusing before a game. As with most of the restaurants we’d visited,
the food was excellent. Lunch ended with
passionfruit mousse in a lemon sauce.
Heavenly.
We had been told that the government was to make an
announcement tomorrow about new restrictions, which would undoubtedly affect
travel. They made it today instead- all flights
in and out of Bolivia would stop in 48 hours.
It was the first time laws had changed with actual lead time. We knew of one couple, for example, who were
able to get to Lima on their way home to Canada- and were then ordered to be
quarantined for 14 days.
The four of us met in one woman’s room for Happy Hour- we’d
gone shopping for wine, cheese and crackers that morning. We then joined our guide for what we hoped
was a final dinner and headed to bed early- we were leaving for the airport at
3:30 the next morning.
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