Mariposas

Monday, January 28th we decided (we meaning Matt the other Loyola 4th year student, and Erin, a Med-Peds Loyola resident) it was time to explore the natural beauty of Bolivia at a Mariposorio, a butterfly sanctuary, about 40 minutes outside the city. We got up early, found a cab, and negotiated a price. I put my foot down at a cab fare of 50 bolivianos, and we were off chasing in and out of rush hour traffic. Our driver took a detour through the Aeropuerto Trumpillo, a military airport right next to our neighborhood, and when I inquired about the detour he mentioned he had 'something to drop off to his brother' who worked there. Only in Bolivia does your driver take care of personal errands on the job. After the detour, we had our first Bolivian traffic accident. Yes, my crazy driver merged into another car. Both drivers exited their cars with hands up, ready to rumble, screamed a few Spanish profanities, acknowledged the damage and returned to the cars. My driver blamed the other driver for being drunk (it was 9 am) and said everyone in the car was drinking cervezas. In retrospect, I think that my driver's cataracts (his left eye was completely clouded and he couldn't read any street signs) along with the fact that he was probably tipsy himself, contributed to the little crash. Of course we were all fine, since we were only going about 10mph (or whatever the equivalent is in kmph) in bumper to bumper traffic. Traffic laws are absurd and don't protect anyone- If you get in an accident, you can't just call the cops to settle the issue. Cops don't care- in fact, I'm not sure they exist since I am yet to see a policeman here. You can't call the insurance company to cover it- b/c I'm not sure that exists either. You just yell and scream and go home with yet another dent in your car.

So anyway, we braved the traffic and rain-soaked dirt roads (aka small rivers drenched from the recent floods), past skeleton-thin cows, thatched homes surrounded by clotheslines and chickens, brightly colored cemeteries covered in flowers, and finally made it out to the Mariposorio. So much for the 50 bolivianos we negotiated - he charged us 100. But we got there safely, and that was a bit of a pleasant surprise. One comment on driving through drenched roads- when the road is a giant river, and the water collects in an enormous pool in the middle of the road, the drivers always choose to drive straight through the deepest section instead of around the pool. I personally would choose to go around the water, but that's just me...

We arrived at the Mariposorio to find that we were the only people there- and would be for the entire day- because in addition to the fact that Santa Cruz isn't that touristy, we're in the middle of rainy season and there are few tourists now anyway. We had a private tour with Raul, a 20-year old Bolivian student studying biology with a special interest in Butterflies. He taught us about the life cycle of the butterfly, showed us live displays of eggs, larvae, cocoons, and butterflies, and then took us out to show us the real thing. I was a little less enthusiastic about the termite farm, but I appeased Raul by feigning interest. I soon forgot about the termites as we strolled through stunning jungle flora. Saw an orchid garden where they raised orchids, and then out to where 215 species of orchids grew naturally (mom and grandma you would have loved it!) Saw unusual trees, flowers, spiders (they were big, and I walked through about 20 webs), and we were told that on some days you can spot a monkey or two. The butterflies were beautiful, but not quite as numerous as we'd expected since it was cloudy in the morning. Went up to a watchtower and had a spectacular view of jungle treetops with Santa Cruz in the background. Concluded our day with a dip in the pool with a Huari Bolivian beer, good conversation, and a lunch of yuca fritas and warm 'chicken salad' sandwiches which I opted not to eat secondary to the large possibility of ingesting staph aureus or salmonella. Spending all this time with fellow med students and doctors takes the fun out of exploring food in latin america! Altogether a great day, and a nice conlusion to our vacation weekened. We were ready to start using our brains and doing what we came here to do!