With blue skies, extremely hot and humid weather, I took my last therapy dip into the pool at Gran Hotel Santa Cruz. Walking about twenty minutes back and forth in the shallow end then a few full brisk laps all in effort to keep the ankle joint moving without putting too much stress on it. […]
Two things had to be done before I could load Doc on that truck and kiss Santa Cruz goodbye. First, I needed to get legal documentation permitting me to have my motorcycle in Bolivia. And second, I had to take care of the minor repairs to the bike. With these loose ends tied down I […]
Santa Cruz seems like home. I’ve been here ten days. Each day the bellboys ask me if I’m feeling better. A couple days ago I ditched the crutches. And yesterday broke ground and left the hotel on foot. Visited the local barber down the street for a haircut and shave. It’s been that long. I’ve […]
Hobbling around Santa Cruz, Bolivia with a bum knee and sprained ankle, Allan makes friends with an ex-Auto Rally champion of Bolivia who helps him get his bike fixed and a agent and specialist in customs and immigration who works hard to legalize Allan’s motorcycle so he can safely continue his journey through Bolivia without […]
This morning Jeremiah took off for Cochabamba. His play is to try to get to the Salar by early next week. It’s a days ride to Cocha. Then another long day to Potosi. He had Nicky, the mechanic we came to know and love in Sucre, ship new tires to Potosi. There he’ll change the […]
Time is running out. The weather is changing. Allan must remain in Santa Cruz to allow is ankle and knee to heal. Jeremiah must move on and visit the Jesuit Missions where just a few days ago Allan had his second accident while touring Bolivia. Jeremiah goes, returns and goes again while they discuss the […]
In Bolivia, and elsewhere in South America, you can ask the same questions to ten people and you’ll either get ten different answers or simply the same answer which will turn out to be so far off. When we asked people about the road from Sucre to Santa Cruz — remember the one that took […]
It’s hot in Santa Cruz. Jeremiah recovers from his asado food poisoning and recalls the shady digs we stayed in Vallegrande. Allan recalls events of the first week that once again change the course of his journey. In the 12th episode of the WorldRider podcasts they sit in Santa Cruz over unlikely Italian food lamenting […]
There’s nothing more demanding to your all your senses than riding into a large Latin American city. We’d been warned that Santa Cruz was hot, and that it was a huge city. We were advised that here we might find the most beautiful girls in Bolivia. And that this was the perfect launching pad for […]
Sometime in 1966 on a remote farm not far from here (Vallegrande, Bolivia) Che Guevara along with a rag tag team of militants set up a military camp. He hoped to liberate South America from social oppression and American Imperialism. He helped Castro topple the Fulgencia Batista Cuban dictatorship in 1959. As such was granted […]
