27 October 2010
This evening you´re going to have to deal with Helisher ´unplugged´, a stripped back version of a Year Full of Saturdays that finds itself, out of necessity, having to deliver its impressions through simple words rather than having its narrative aided by the standard visuals. For those of you than scan my write-ups only for the happy snaps, well, this one isn´t for you - I´m aiming an arrow squarely at you on this one Frichot! Read the damn thing will you!
In a few days time D and I will literally be dropping ´off the grid´ and finding our way into the midst of the Bolivian Amazon, volunteering at a wildlife sanctuary whose main purpose it is to rehabilitate rescued animals - if you´re interested in understanding what it´s all about, check it out via this link http://www.intiwarayassi.org/articles/volunteer_animal_refuge/home.html
For the next month however I´ll be out of touch with most of the world, so there will be no impressions, no solemn moments of introspection, no moments of wild reckless abandon and certainly no moments when I´ll question out aloud, ´hey, does anyone know where I left my pants?´, JJ and Kim, you still have a lot to answer for. For my part it´s kind of a shame as I know that when I make my way back to Sucre at the start of December I´ll be playing catch up on such fantastic places as Mendoza, Bariloche, Villazon and a wicked 60hr bus adventure to Sucre that ended with me getting a friendly reach around from a guy named Pablo, (well I assume), under a brilliant moonlit night on the high dusty roads of the altiplano. Ahh, the high Bolivian plateau has ALOT to answer for, and whatever cheeky ´blanket action´that Pablo tried to pull in the murkiness of the witching hour I know will haunt me for quite sometime. Bolivian bus PTSD, it´s a reality and it´s a problem!
A couple of words about Sucre before I drop off the face of the earth for the next few months. This place is the constitutional capital of Bolivia and is located at an altitude of 2750 mtrs, which may explain why I´ve had a dull throbbing headache over the last few days, a sudden gain in altitude whilst walking up to the heavens tends to have that affect on you. It was very much a Spanish city during the colonial era, and the style, architecture, layout of the town and even in some ways the people, reflect the Andalusian culture that has embodied the city for the last several centuries. As D and I walked around the town this evening, taking in the place amd absorbing it, we both commented that aesthetically, it´s not the most appealing town/city that we´ve seen but it certainly has a feel that´s warm and inviting. It has the capacity of quickly drawing you into its realm and I guess in that sense you feel extremely pleasant and at ease. It´s for this reason that I´ve decided that once my pirate sidekick, aka D, and I finish our Amazonian expedition, that I might settle in here for 7 to 10 days, get a true feel for the place and throw myself into an intensive Spanish course - those guttural sounds of very vague Castellano need improving, and muy rapido!
So, until I walk out of the jungle in approximately a month´s time, enjoy what November has to offer, especially if you´re in the Southern Hemisphere and not having to cram for law exams! Just to let you all know that I´m having an absolutely amazing time and I truly think that from this point on, well, it´s just going to get better!
Your Explorer on the road,
H
