Josh Renaud

Fishing, sheep, and other photos

My brothers-in-law, some of Alcides' relatives, and me before setting off on our fishing adventure.

A look at all the traffic backed up by the problems on the bridge Paila. We were stuck for hours.

After a while, most of us got out of the truck and walked across the bridge over the Rio Grande to the town on the other side. As you can see, it's a one-lane bridge with wooden slats for cars to drive on and metal rails for trains (yes, they share the same bridge deck).

The first fish I ever caught in Bolivia. Pretty much all the fish I caught were this size.

Alcides poses with the cooler full of fish we caught.

Yoli and Jadzia near the end of the dirt road that connects the place where we stayed (Cabañas de Traudi) to Samaipata.

There were sheep at Traudi, along with other animals (dogs, cats, parrot). Jadzia loved to see all the animals, though she didn't look to excited about taking this photo.

I wanted to try and get some photos that showed off the views we had from Traudi

This is the wedding cake Yoli worked so hard on while we were in Samaipata.

Jadzia was antsy during the wedding reception, so Yoli and I had to take turns with her outside while the other one ate. As you can see from her expression, she loved dogs.

Corina and Marco cut the wedding cake.

Jadzia holds up a buñuelo that Yoli made after we got back to St. Louis. She consulted the film we made of her dad.

Yoli's finished buñuelos.

Eating breakfast.

Strollers and wheelchairs in Bolivia

I meant to write about this topic during our stay in Bolivia, but I forgot until recently.

This time around, we took an umbrella stroller with us for toting Jadzia. We took it everywhere, but found it didn't do well in every circumstance. Dirt roads were very tricky, especially the one from our country cabin in Samaipata to the town. And in cities, you have to be cognizant of sidewalks.

Sidewalks in Bolivia are unlike those in the U.S. They are the responsibility of the home or business owner, not the city. So, as you walk on the sidewalk along a street or avenue, you will find yourself stepping up, then down, then up again, as the level of the sidewalk changes from building to building (or house to house). You will also notice the sidewalk materials change from one building to the next.. concrete here, nice ceramic tiles there, dirt and weeds there, etc. Quality varies widely, obviously. And in the heart of Santa Cruz, most street corners have even higher curbs with no curb cuts at intersections.

This poses a problem for those who would push strollers, but it's not an insurmountable problem. It didn't cause us any huge issues.

But imagine you are someone who is confined to a wheelchair. That's a whole different ball of wax.

Yoli has a friend who uses a wheelchair all the time. The first time I was in Bolivia, we visited him at his house to eat empanadas. This year, we saw him again, but he wanted to meet us at a restaurant downtown.

When his taxi arrived, I helped him get from the street to the restaurant. And later on, we all went together a few blocks to a photo store to pick up our photos so we could show him.

It was quite a task for me to push him along. The curbs were very difficult because they were so high. And of course in Bolivia, there are no signals to help pedestrians cross. You are at the mercy of the prevailing traffic.

I can't imagine how he could navigate the downtown alone. It is simply impossible. The truth is that because so much of Santa Cruz is inaccessible for folks in wheelchairs, he can only get out of the house by taking a taxi and driving directly to whatever place he's trying to get to.

This was eye-opening to me. And it makes me think of how good we have it in the U.S. Obviously there are many areas where things could be improved, but it's worlds beyond the condition of streets and sidewalks in Bolivia.