Bolivia: The end of the film…

…for a short time! I’ll explain. In 2005 I found myself in Bolivia, just like you! I’ll be honest and say I was a little worried. I had heard stories, drug cartels, violence, on the American list of dangerous visits etc. I loved the people, saw no demonstrations, fights or violence, in fact I even ended up at a wedding ceremony at one point, the event with a serenaded by local musicians (below), it’s a long story that I may share someday, but it’s too long here!!

I arrived in La Paz, the highest capital in the world. I visited the beautiful archaeological museum, one of the reasons for the visit. Altitude sickness is a thing! Especially for Brits who tend to live at or close to sea level! One night at dinner I was talking to a friend who decided: she was feeling a little strange, got up to go to her room and fell face down on the table! The oxygen and mask came out, a few minutes later everything was fine!

The next day I found myself in the suburb of Aranjuez. There is an area known as “Valle de la Luna” (above and below), a fascinating landscape, serenaded for a short time by Andean pan flutes! In the background you can just see the La Paz golf course. My travel buddy for the trip, Mark, is/was an occasional reporter for Sky Sports, and went there for a run and to catch a story while he was there!

Anyway, back to the title of this post. I only brought three (!) cameras on this trip. One of these was the Canon 20D, my first digital SLR camera, which I had bought a few years earlier. Why I didn’t keep it longer and wear it out, instead of spending thousands of dollars changing and “upgrading” I’ll never know, but that’s also another story for another time. I also took my EOS 5 (film, not 5D digital) and 20 rolls of Fuji Sensia 100. I loaded the first roll upon arrival and never ended up making a frame. I took digital video and photos. And so it continued for a few more trips, but slowly the film came back!

I’ve been going through my archives to pull out some of the better travel photos I took for a project I should be working on for a while, so I thought I’d share a few here!

Chatter: Canon 20D loaded with a Compact Flash card (exciting isn’t it!)