September 18th -22nd

Sometimes, on the road you find yourself much in need of an oasis, a place to relax and wile away a few days doing… well.. very little.  I found myself in such a headspace after bussing from Puno Peru all the way across Bolivia to Santa Cruz, three buses and about 30 hours without a break, is enough to leave anyone tired.  But I’ve done it for good reason, I’m meeting my friend from way back in highschool Sara Jackson.

First off I’ll say this, Santa Cruz de la Sierra, is hot.   Too hot, so as I climb out of the long bus ride from La Paz and into a taxi with a Basque friend from the bus I’m just praying that La Jara backpackers has the pool it advertises online.  After maybe 15 minutes in the taxi we pull up and are welcomed warmly by the family who runs the impressive hostel, complete with pool, two colonial houses, and air conditioning, something a Canadian thoroughly appreciates in the tropics.

I settle in to spend the next few days chilling in hammocks, swimming and relaxing, as well as making some awesome new friends.  Lillians from Cuba, Nico from Italy, and Thea from Norway, all of whom met while studying in Canada. You see Canada brings awesome people together.

The day before Sara is due to arrive we end up going a little overboard preparing a tournament for a pool sport Nico and Lillians first invented, which we somehow never named so we’ll just call it water contest.  It involves two people, pitted against each other in a contest almost to the death, throwing a volleyball at each other from opposite ends of the pool and trying to get it past the other person, much like a soccer goalie.  I first joined in some games the night before and we all got too excited so we organized a tournament among the hostel owners and guests, so thats why the next morning we find ourselves in one of Santa Cruz’s many trophy shops.  Every major international sporting event needs a trophy right?

We end up buying a large trophy and three medals and head back to the hostel to start the tournament, which is way too much fun.  As the day progresses so do I, all the way to the finals, so as I head to the airport that evening to pick up Sara I’m nervous but secure since I’m guaranteed a silver medal at least.

The Santa Cruz airport holds a very pleasant surprise in the form of a Cinnabon where i Spend a few hours waiting for Sara’s delayed flight, and watching the blue Jays as I indulge my gluttonous side.

Sara arrives and it’s very nice to see a familiar face, even at about midnight, and as we head back into the city we catch up on each other’s lives and talk about plans for Bolivia.

The next morning I’m woken up by some of the other competitors to come watch the second semi final and see who I’ll be playing for the gold medal match.

Llilians ends up beating Rodrigo the hostel owner in a hard fought match and I hope into the water after losing the coin toss and starting in the shallow end for the first time in this tournament.

I start slow and cant seem to recover, so deeply heartbroken, and wishing I’d bribed our referee Thea I end up losing the final 10-8.  Its heart breaking to watch Lillians holding that glorious trophy, and the silver medal offers only minor solace for my competitive spirit.

Sara makes everything better though, by delivering a package of liquorice nibs from Canada and the 5 of us end up enjoying a pleasant and delicious dinner at El Ajibe all together, which sadly leaves me very ill the next day, delaying Sara and my departure To Samaipata, our next stop in Bolivia.  Luckily this delay seems to also make it possible for Llilians, Nico and Thea to join us in the small town nestled high in the cloud forest three hours from Santa Cruz.  Stay tuned for more updates from there.