Back to the Andes (or how to visit 2 countries in 4 days)

My great job had another pleasant surprise for me...a trip to my second home, Bolivia, even though most of the time was to be spent in Peru (since Puno, Peru is much closer to La Paz than to Lima, I got to fly into La Paz). This was a great opportunity not only to see the magnificent Andes once again, but also to see my Bolivian family, even though the visit was to be very short since I couldn't get a later flight.
This was also the first time that I flew into a country and went to work directly from the airport, especially considering the altitude. I must admit, proudly, that that it was actually the day that I felt the best (altitude-related headaches followed me the rest of the time). The research team picked me up at 7:30 am, and we drove directly to a small Andean community situated right on the shore of Lake Titicaca and featuring a mountain called the Sleeping Dragon (it resembles a dragon sleeping on the lake shore). This location gave me an extra boost of energy since this lake is one of the most beautiful bodies of water in the world---because of the altitude, the sun reflects in the lake and gives it several beautiful shades of blue, ranging from cerulean to royal blue. We met with the communal authorities, and after taking a walk by the lake, saw a presentation of the traditional Andean grains (quinoa, oka, canihua, etc) and a tremendous variety of potatoes grown in the Andes (the project that I was there for is aiming to preserve agrobiodiversity of Andean grains and tubers). I also got to chase around a herd of baby pigs trying to escape my picture-taking. In the evening, I got a chance to see Sara, my Bolivian sister, and her mom for a nice dinner, and also discovered that I got my nose and forehead burned by the Andean sun, so the rest of the trip I walked around looking like Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer.

Me by the Sleeping Dragon

The Lake

Andean agrobiodiversity

One of the piglets

The next morning we embarked on a trip across the Bolivian border and into Peru. Normally the trip takes 4-5 hours, but it took us forever because of the parades dedicated to the Bolivian Independence Day (August 6th) and the long lines at the immigration on the Peruvian side of the border. Once we arrived in Puno and found our hotel (it did take 3 tries since most of the hotels have the word "plaza" in them, we met the Peruvian research team for lunch (oh, I do love having cocktails for lunch) and began the meetings. Over the course of the next two days, we met to discuss the project, and I made 2 presentations, both in Spanish!!! (gold star for me)

Crossing the borders


On Thursday morning I left the hotel to go back to Bolivia---this time, the trip only took about 4 hours, and I was safely and soundly with my dear friends in La Paz by lunchtime. Conveniently, the whole family got together for lunch to celebrate Independence Day, so I got to see everyone. It really felt like I never left La Paz. It was great to catch up with Sarita and the rest of the family. After getting about 3.5 hours of sleep, I embarked on my plane back to the US. Even though it was a very short trip, I got to see the unforgettably clear blue Andean sky, my favorite mountain overlooking La Paz, and walk along the shores of Lake Titicaca.

Me and Sarita at the airport early in the morning

Some family time

After seeing Meg off in Moscow, I returned to Vladimir for a few days with my family. My brother came from St. Petersburg the next morning so we had a chance to hang out and catch up. During that week we made a day trip to Suzdal, which is about 45 min away from Vladimir and is an old historic town, which used to be the capital of the Russian kingdom at some point and was a home to numerous monasteries. Many of its old historic buildings are still preserved, so we walked around, went to a museum, and even visited an ancient church (build in the 12th century), which is now a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The night before I left we went to our cabin in the country, had Russian-style barbeque, and took numerous pictures of a seagull that made a nest in one of the trees, chasing the poor thing off her laid egg (This actually became a family obsession throughout the evening as we tried for hours to take a picture of the bird on her nest---she was very alert and would fly off the nest the second anyone would approach. My dad, who is an old-time hunter, had me put on a dark jacket (since seagulls apparently can recognize colors:), sit in hiding for about 30 minutes, and then go from behind the fence, where we were finally able to snap some shots of the bird on her nest). Here are some pictures.

View of Suzdal

Birdhouse on one of the trees near our cabin, which is occupied every spring with new tenants

View of the Russian countryside (I used to swim in this river every summer growing up)

With my bro (that's right, the t-shirt was a gift from me and the color is not accidental---Go Celtics!)

Finally, I was able to sneak up on the poor seagull and take some pictures of her on her nest

Red Square and other sites

After spending a day in Vladimir, we took a morning train to Moscow for about a day and a half before Meg's flight back to the US. After settling into our hotel, we decided to take a short nap, which actually turned into a few hours of hardcore jetlag-induced sleep. However, once we woke up and felt refreshed, we headed out to the Moscow city center to do some sightseeing. I had told Meg that a visit to Russia can be summarized by a picture of a person in Red Square---and we got it, so Meg can now officially say that she has been to Russia.

We walked around the square, which was already decorated for the Victory Day celebration (May 9th), went into my second most favorite church building in Russia (St. Basil's cathedral), witnessed the change of guard ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier right outside of the Kremlin, walked through the Alexander Gardens (alongside the Kremlin wall) all the way to the magnificent Church of Christ the Savior (very tumultuous history) and then down Old Arbat, a very old cobble-stone street that is filled with artists (similar to Montmartre in Paris), and finished the night by eating at my favorite pancake chain.

St. Basil's Cathedral in Red Square

The Kremlin clock tower (we did hear it chime)

Church of Christ the Savior

On the banks of the Moscow river overlooking the Kremlin

Quick trip to the homeland

Even though it has almost been two months, I wanted to post a quick recap of my trip home to Russia in early May. Considering that this was a very unexpected trip (you simply cannot pass up a $230 ticket to Russia!), it didn't have a whole lot of adventures, but included a quick trip to Moscow, this time actually for fun, and not for an errand. My travel buddy Meg came along for a few days (hey, her ticket was only $213!), so it was fun to show her around my city and then spend a day in Moscow walking around some of the most famous sites. Here are some pics from Meg's 1 day in Vladimir---we walked around the historic downtown, went to a couple of museums, stopped by my favorite tea shop, and even had lunch at a Soviet-style cafeteria (a restaurant made to look like the caf with decorations and food).

The Golden Gate, the symbol of Vladimir, a former fortress now a museum

In front of the Church of Assension, a beautiful orthodox church in Vladimir

South Africa, Last Day

After some work-related meetings at the University of Western Cape, I decided to have one last adventure. I wanted to see Stellenbosch, a very quaint town near Cape Town and a wine capital of South Africa, which also happens to be a location of a cheetah reserve. Cheetah was the only animal that I didn't see at the Masaai Mara in Kenya, so needles to say, I was dying to see one. Well, I got more than that: I actually got to pet two cheetah cubs at the reserve while peppering the animal keepers (all volunteers) with a million questions. It was quite an interesting experience. Even though the two male cubs were about the size of a tall dog, you couldn't just come and pet them like a big cat. You had to go from behind and very calmly stroke them on their backs without touching the heads. Since cheetahs are one of the few big cats that purr, these guys enjoyed my company and were happily purring while being interrupted from their afternoon naps. The reserve, though a small run, does a lot of work in promoting cheetah conservation. Cheetahs are extremely endangered with their full extinction predicted in the next decades unless drastic measures are taken.




For example, in the area around the reserve the farmers often kill cheetahs because they hunt and kill their livestock. To prevent this from happening, the reserve rears sheep dogs and gives them to the farmers in exchange for a commitment to preserve the cheetahs. These sheep dogs were really cute as well:). The reserve also had an extremely funny meercat and a few more animals. After briefly enjoying this lovely outing and still thinking about the beautiful animals that I got to hang out with, I went to the airport, waited a few hours for my flight (yay for Wi-Fi), and happily took off for my home.

South Africa, the conference

The conference was very interesting. Even though I was a bit under the weather when I made my presentation, our session went fine. I always enjoy interacting with African researchers as they are very dynamic and have a fresh perspective on the issues relevant to our work. I also got to meet some really cool female researchers, who are truly inspiration. Besides the presentations and discussions, I enjoyed the incredibly delicious foods, great South African wine, and good company.

South Africa, Day 2

The next day marked another remarkable sightseeing outing. Since Cape Town is located on a peninsula sandwiched between the Atlantic and the Indian Oceans, we decided to dedicate the day to exploring both sides of the peninsula. We started out by driving around the city to see the different neighborhoods, including some of the poorer areas and the black townships. We then proceeded down the Indian Ocean side of the peninsula through a series of quaint seaside towns and beautiful beaches. One former navy town had a cute statue of the dog, who used to accompany the sailors when they were docked.

The highlight of the morning was a lovely visit to Boulder Beach that has a resident African penguin colony. To an animal lover like myself, the whole experience (save for the strong northeaster blowing sand in my eyes and mouth) was amazing. Just watching these adorable happy creatures hobble around, hide in the sand, play in the water, and just sit and stare at us was absolutely invigorating and inevitable made me smile.




After spending about half an hour just looking at them and snapping a gazillion of pictures, we finally left Boulder Beach to travel further down the peninsula to the southwestern most point of Africa---Cape of Good Hope.

On the way down, our car was accosted by a crowd of traveling baboons---they were crossing the road, rummaging through the trash cans (sad), and playing with their youngsters. I was almost in heaven since I absolutely love monkeys!!! Actually, they are considered a hazard in Cape Town, and there are warning signs everywhere.

After snapping some pics at the Cape of Good Hope, we went to the nearby lighthouse, where we hiked a bit, got some more amazing views of the Cape Point, which is the tip of the mountaneous range that stretches across the Cape Peninsula, and had an amazing lunch at a table overlooking the Indian (or the Atlantic?) Ocean (that's right, two oceans in one day). We drove back along the Atlantic side of the peninsula and at one of the numerous beaches we even got to wet our feet in the freezing water.