Bolivia Expedition Dispatch

May 23, 2017 – Visit La Senda Verde on the Upper Amazon

Today we decided to descend to lower altitude to the Yungas (upper Amazon). We visited La Senda Verde Animal Refuge, a farm dedicated to improving the lives of rescued native Bolivian Wildlife.

Their mission is to rehabilitate and take care of rescued animal, victims of illegal trafficking, cruelty as well as animals who are victims of destruction of natural habitats. They contribute to conservation of species and biodiversity by spreading awareness and promoting environmental education. It is a private effort financed mainly by scholastic ecotourism; organised student visits; volunteer programs; and some donations. The food, lodging and tourism services are offered to promote education and to sustain the sanctuary.

Here the animals come first, so they have a policy that limits the number of visitors. Reservations to visit are organized accordingly. They don’t allow large number of people to visit at the same time as this could cause animal stress or discomfort.

Chris really enjoyed the visit, she is extremely involved with animal rescue back home.

The weather has been quite cold in La Paz, with some rain. Tomorrow we will drive to the mountain where we will stay at Huayna Potosi base camp. On our drive to Huayna we will stop at Chacaltaya at an elevation of 5,421 meters (17,785 ft).

The glacier on Chacaltaya served as Bolivia's only ski resort. It was the world's highest lift-served ski area. The Chacaltaya's glacier — which was as old as 18,000 years — had an area of 0.22 km2 (0.085 sq mi) in 1940, which had been reduced to 0.01 km2 (0.0039 sq mi) in 2007 and was completely gone by 2009. Half of the meltdown, as measured by volume, took place before 1980. The final meltdown after 1980, due to missing precipitation and the warm phase of El Niño, resulted in the glacier's disappearance in 2009.