Hiking to the waterfalls in Marquiri

Sunday, 2 weeks ago, Christian, Monica, Valentina and Sebastian (Monica's daughter and son), Isabel and I went hiking up to the waterfall in Marquiri. It is a short drive to San Lorenzo, just north of Tarija. From San Lorenzo on, you leave the paved road and do some great 4wheel driving. It was a very nice scenery and fun drive. 
At the end of the track, we parked close to a farmhouse and hiked all the way up to the waterfalls. There was nobody else up there, just us. I think mainly, because the last part of the hike is not without danger, as there is no clear trail and the drops are steep and deep.....
With the waterfall in sight, we had a little pick-nick, before heading back before it was getting dark.
I definitely like to go back here soon, early morning and hike down to the waterfalls, take a swim, some more pictures and enjoy the beautiful nature and tranquility. 

< Click on the photos to zoom in >

4 x 4 driving

Awhile ago, I saw some 4 wheel drives in town, with a sticker of a 4 wheel drive club in Tarija.

Ever since I wanted to join the club and get some 4 wheel driving experience. After finding their page on Facebook, I joined and got invited for a GPS event. So 2 weeks ago, I joined the 4x4 club of Tarija for an GPS event. 
All teams/cars received a paper with photos and GPS coordinations. Goal of the event is to find the exact GPS coordinations as provided and take an exact simular photo with your car. For every coordinate you can earn points. Who ever returns the fastest and has the most points, wins.
We started off well, finding our first GPS coordinate (under a bridge) after 20 min driving. But from the following locations on, things got more difficult. Since it had rained a lot the night before, some riverbeds had become clay and mud pits.....
After pulling another car out of the mud, I myself got stuck....... in a bad way. One car tried to pull me out of my ordeal, but he couldn't manage.  The following car came to the rescue, but got himself even stuck more..... after I got pulled out, it took 2 hours and 3 trucks, one broken rope, a shovel, 2 huge jacks and a lot of man power to finally get every one free.
In the whole process, I cracked my oil carter (as I found out days later, when checking oil), and tore off a part of my body trimming of the car.
Overall, an exciting, fun and new experience. The guys from the club are nice. In April I will buy some new tires and make some small adjustments to my car, so I am better prepared for the next events.

< Click on the photos to enlarge them > 

You have to match your photo with the one provided....

First one to get stuck in a muddy riverbed

And I got stuck as well....... seriously stuck

But luckily help was on the way......

....... so it seemed. He got stuck as well.

After I got pulled out, we tried to pull the other one out.... with little luck

So we called in some bigger help......

And even bigger help with additional weight.

At the end, nothing beats raw manpower....

..... and 2 huge jacks. Finally we were free, free at last :-)

 

Carnaval in Tarija

In Bolivia, Oruro, Santa Cruz, Tarija and La Paz hold carnavals but although the carnaval in Oruro is the most famous, I celebrated carnaval in Tarija with my friends. It takes place for the eight days preceeding Ash Wednesday.

The photos are from 2 parades, one on Sunday March 6th, and the other parade was on Saturday March 12th. The first parade is a typical Tarija style parade, and the second parade is in the style of northern Bolivia (La Paz), named Carnaval Andino.

Unfortunately, most people do not dress up for carnaval, nor is there special "carnaval music" like for instance in the south of Holland. Drinking is the main goal. There are concerts in the street, with as always lots of food and alcohol. Special and different is the fact that everyone throws water balloons at each other of sprays water at you with water soaker guns. The spray cans with foam are very popular too! And since I stick out as a sore thumb, I received a lot of wet surprises......

< CLICK ON THE PHOTOS TO ENLARGE THEM >

 

Carnaval Andino