Senda Verde

Yesterday we drove to Senda Verda, an animal refuge located in Yungas. The trip started with a long ascent out of La Paz and we stopped at an area called La Cumbre to make a sacrafice of sugar to Pacha Mama (mother earth) because August is the month that she is hungry.
Here, at 19,000 feet, we had amazing views of the Andes Mountains. We were lucky to have very clear weather as it is often foggy in this area. As we descended the temperature rose and we began to see more vegetation, we could also see the Death Road winding along the side of the mountains. By the time we got to Senda Verde is was very hot! We has a late lunch of their homemade pasta and sauces, settled into our cabins, and then made our way to the pool. We encountered several animals roaming the refuge including: parrots, monkeys, hens, turtles, dogs, and an anteater. When we got to the pool, the owner warned us to put our valuables indoors because the monkeys enjoy playing with shiney objects, but didn't think that they would bother our towels or clothes. However, just as we got into the water, a monkey ran away with Meredith's water and sunscreen, Katies T-shirt, and Christen's sunglasses. Luckily, all items were retreived, and we were gathering all of our things to move indoors when another monkey ran away with Nikki's skirt. A few moments later we saw him swinging through the trees wearing it! Eventually it was returned, we decided we had experienced enough adventure at the pool, and we were invited to watch the bear feeding. Some of us even had a chance to feed nuts to the bear they had saved from a home in El Alto, which happened to be of the most endangered species in the world. We had a relaxing dinner of trout, played some games and then headed to our cabins for bed. Meg and Katie were brave enough to spend the night in the treehouse!
Today Malia, Meg, and Meredith started the day with a short run up the Death Road. For breakfast we had delicious quinoa and oatmeal pancakes and then we were on our way to Coroico, a small town about 30 minutes away from Senda Verde. There, we were given a tour of the hospital by the physical therapist. Despite being a very poor hospital, it was clean and the practicioners seemed passionate about their work. We were able to donate some diapers for the NICU, face masks, sheets and bandaids. We went to a German restaurant in Coroioco and then took a walk around the plaza. It is tradition that the women walk clockwise and the men walk counterclockwise around the plaza so they can meet. After our tour of the town we were back on the road to La Paz, it became much cloudier, so we we glad to have gotten so many pictures the day before.

Tomorrow there is a chance we will be seeing a surgery in the morning and then we will be off to the witches market!