Trinidad...but not Tobago

No, not that Trinidad. The other one- Trinidad, capital of the Beni Department of Bolivia. The day we arrived the city was completely at a standstill due to a civil strike in solidarity with the current indigenous protests against the government. Waiting for a room in a guesthouse, we spent the morning in the plaza watching the world go by. The highlight was seeing a guy carry a sloth down from his garden and put him in one of the trees in the plaza.

Today we rented a moped and set off south of the city to explore a little. A few km’s out of town we hit a toll booth with a copper who asked to see our driver’s license- I showed him the aussie one along with our passports.

Martijn is thinking of trading the Harley in

“This isn’t enough. You need an international drivers’ license”; he told me.

“Hmmm, I didn’t know, sorry. Where can we get one from?” I was aiming for a combination of ignorance and innocence.

“Back in your own country”

“Oh. Sooooo, what do we do now?” I asked.

“Now, you’re going to jail”, he replied, miming putting handcuffs on me, and then he cracked up at his joke.

He waved us off and we continued putt-putting along the highway towards Puerto Almacen, whose name as a port is perhaps a little undeserved…though bizarrely it was home to a tiny branch of the Bolivian navy!!

Yes, that´s the navy. Impressive for a country without a coastline.

We followed the road a little further until we came to a river where in lieu of a bridge there were a series of barges ferrying people, cars, buses and trucks across. Some were listing worryingly to one side but they all made it….or at least, all the ones we watched did.

As if being back in a hot & steamy climate wasn´t enough to keep us happy, there is also now a steady supply of fresh and tasty fish to eat!!! And I have to say it´s much more enjoyable drinking beer in 30 degree heat than it was at minus 5!!

After lunch we found a schmick place by Laguna Suarez where we stopped off and enjoyed nice chairs, a view unspoiled by steel/concrete/rubbish and inoffensive background music (as opposed to pumping Bolivian cheesey pop). Aesthetically pleasing, peaceful places are hard to come by in Bolivia so we are planning to head back there tomorrow : )