Santa Cruz, Bolivia Trip: Sept 9 - 17 2005; First Day of Travel and Arrival

Santa Cruz, Bolivia, is where we're headed. We took the train from home, the R7, to 30th Street Station, and switched to the R1 to the airport. This was a great way to go, so easy, pretty quick, and much cheaper than driving with gas at $3.49/gallon and economy parking at $9.00/day if you can find a spot. We packed light, bringing just one pull-behind suitcase, one day-pack, and one carry-bag. There was no line at American Airlines check-in, so that was a breeze, and although I got angry at security for having to unpack my entire day-pack just to get out the video camera, we got through without issue as this line was very short too. We got to the gate with about a 30 minutes to spare before boarding, so we watched a Friends DVD on Vee's laptop, and I had a few Coors Lights from the bar located so conveniently right at our gate. Once aboard the plane, we were seated together in a row of 3 seats, with a guy sitting next to me, and upon seeing the emergency exit row was empty, we asked to move up there and did so with the benefit of much more legroom. Strangely though, some Argentinian (...we think) guy sitting behind the exit row decided, as soon as we sat down, that he wanted to re-claim his seat in the exit row, and moved back into "his" seat, right next to Vee. Anyway, the extra leg room was nice, despite this guy's intrusion into what we were hoping would be a row to ourselves. We got the customary bag of chips and a drink and were off to Miami. Just a hair shy of 3 hours later, we touched down in Miami, and walked to the next terminal for our connecting flight. Hungry, I persuaded Vee to take walk through the airport in search of someplace still open that would have some food. I eventually found a Cuban place, and got us a delicious chicken filled pastry, and a guava filled pastry. Yum. Back to the gate, and we realized it was going to be a full airplane. We boarded the big bird, and yeah, it was big, but yeah it was full. Vee was stuck in the middle, but the lady next to her was sweet. We tried sleeping some, but even though it was plenty late, it just seemed like every position was painful, and did not sleep a quality wink the whole trip. We flew into La Paz, and got a nice pic from the airplane of the big mountain Illimani while taxiing back onto the runway for our final leg to Santa Cruz. We had a few scary moments on this leg of the journey, with a few screams and gasps, as the plane unexpectedly pitched up and down a few times, but otherwise it was fine. The final leg of our flight was only 30 minutes, and before we knew it, we were touching down in the tropical flats of Santa Cruz. It was early in the morning, about 7:30am, and it looked to be quite windy outside. We got off the plane, through immigration without even a look, then to baggage claim, and on through customs, again without issue. We changed some dollars for Bolivians and took a taxi to Los Tajibos. My impressions of Santa Cruz, from our drive to the hotel, was that although it was flat, and full of palm trees, it was otherwise very similar to Cochabamba in the architectural style, types of businesses, types of people, signage, etc. Los Tajibos seemed to be plopped down in the middle of a very ordinary mixed commercial, industrial and residential area, which was surprising; I thought it would be nestled in a prettier area but it did not matter once inside. I was impressed right away with the service folks attentiveness, and the comfortable, quality of the resort. Despite check-in not being until 12noon, our room was ready, and they let us in immediately which was a huge relief as we were both exhausted. They showed us to our rooms and again I was very impressed. Our room was actually a connecting suite of 3 rooms. Our room has a King bed, a sitting area, a full bathroom with bidet, fridge, closet, cable tv, accommodative furniture, and a whole other separate sitting room with desk, chairs and loveseat. The middle connecting room has a granite wraparound bar, stove, cabinets, bar stools, fridge, sitting area, and a half-bath. The 3^rd room, where Chris, Vanessa and Mom are sleeping has 2 Queen beds, sitting area, and a full bath. Everything is very nice, and the views from the huge open windows are beautiful. In general, the landscaping here is absolutely gorgeous with lots of mature trees, perfectly manicured grass, exotic birds singing, flowers, pools, etc. Security is amazing with a number of guards stationed throughout, and keeping a close eye on everything. So, we were starving, or at least I was, and hustled down to the restaurant to gorge on the breakfast buffet, with omelets, French toast, potatoes, bacon, sausage, eggs benedict, 5 kinds of fresh cut fruits, tons of pastries, meats, cheeses, juices, coffees, teas, cereals, etc. We were about finished when in came the rest of the family, fresh off the 10 hour bus trip from Cochabamba. We changed tables to accommodate the larger group, and they dug into the buffet as well. It was great to see them, and they all look fantastic despite the grueling trip. After eating heartily, we wandered back to the rooms and relaxed in front of the tv for the beginnings of the U.S.Open Mens Semifinal between Agassi and Ginepri. Agassi ended up winning in yet another 5 set thriller. I went out to the pool, and eventually stumbled through a conversation well enough with the guy selling sunscreen poolside to get a bottle of SPF30 before I could fry. Chris came out and we talked and swam for a while, then the girls finally came out, and I swam some laps while they sat and talked by the pool. Everyone was pretty tired, so we went back to the rooms and caught the end of the Agassi match, and the beginnings of the Federer-Hewitt match which Federer won in four. Vee and I napped while Mom and Vanessa went swimming. We re-grouped around 6pm and headed back down to the restaurant for a delicious dinner. I had French onion soup and a delicious white fish, Vee had a salmon-topped green salad, Mom had ravioli, Vanessa had pique, and I can’t remember what Chris had. Then we shared 3 desserts: tiramisu, mousse, and lime pie. ALL GOOD! I enjoyed my two Huari cervezas too. After dinner, we began watching the Klijsters-Pierce match, which Kim won in two. I think we are retiring early tonight. This completes the day one blog. I will be uploading pics from today as well. Looking forward to a very relaxing week. Tomorrow I think we’ll get some groceries and explore the grounds and the immediate area more.