La Paz, Bolivia

Since I can't go anywhere now to bring you photos, I thought I reach back to travels before we started the blog and show a little of what was happening in that dim dark past 10 or more years ago. This is the first of several installments on these "ancient" travels.

Thirteen years and three cameras ago, E and I visited La Paz, Bolivia. We were visiting a young woman and her family that we were supporting through the then named Christian Children's Fund.

The airport is located on the Altiplano at 13,325 feet is the highest airport in the world. On the way into the city, I asked the taxi driver to stop for a moment so I could take a few photos before we descended the 1,000 or more feet into the heart of the bewildering maze you see in the image above.

B&W Retrospective

Seems like a good time to revisit some recent photos and explore them in monochrome. A few of the images from our trip north of town benefit from the conversion. This bush is just putting on it's wet-season clothes. The clouds, the photogenic star of the day, brings drama to this seasonal event.

Cactus Wren

Under a bush near the road we found a Cactus Wren rummaging in the litter for a bit to eat.

Along the Coastline

North of La Paz, along the Sea of Cortez, is a bare coastline filled with life. The Great Gray Heron is surveying for his lunch.

Magnificent Frigatebird

On a drive up the coast headed north from La Paz, we found a many Magnificent Frigatebirds circling along the shore. These pirates of the air are fascinating.

Dancing in the Streets

As is the case in many places in the world, people in La Paz solicit money in the streets at stop lights. Sometimes they juggle, sometimes they sing. This morning we saw them dancing what seems to be traditional dance in the street for money.

Along the Malecon

The world of house sitting is an interesting one. A house sitter we "met" online a few years ago, Deborah, we've now met in real live while she is also house sitting in La Paz. We've enjoyed several outings together including a nice dinner at an Italian restaurant. After our meal, we had a pleasant walk along the Malecon and participated in a Friday evening perambulation by the sea.

Jardin Velasco

A common resident of the parks in La Paz are the White Winged Doves. This one we found Jardin Velasco.

Cathedral of Our Lady of La Paz

The cathedral is modest affair. Certainly compared to the Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe, this is an unimposing facility.

Driving North of La Paz

Hurricane John is lurking of the west coast of Baja and is bringing in some clouds. We learned this afternoon that towns farther west of us have had power outages due to wind but so far, no rain.

With the clouds comes a reduction in the oppressive heat and a more interesting sky for photos.

Museo de La Ballena

We choose to head over the Museo de La Ballena to learn about whales. Naturally, we assumed it would be air conditioned. Naturally, we were wrong.

The Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe

As the heat continues, we thought it'd be smart to visit a nice cool church to take some photos. Well it was nice to visit this church but it was far from cool. You will notice in some of the photos that you see fans. Of course they are off today since there is no service in progress.

A Bit of Breakfast

Yesterday we decided to rent a car for the duration and our first outing was to have breakfast at nice restaurant in El Centro. The best freshly squeezed orange juice ever.