After a serious case of city-itis contracted from 3 weeks in Sucre the doctor prescribed a large dose of the outdoors. Not normally ones to seek the advice of medical professionals this was rare advice we actually followed.

It was our first night under the stars in far too long. All the comforts like showers, beds, and cheap meals we had become accustomed to had disappeared but we couldn’t have been happier. The simple life of riding, camping and being outside is where we feel most comfortable and happy. The dirt roads were small, the villages not much bigger, and the hardy, dry vegetation began transforming into jungle as we made our way east towards the lowlands of Bolivia.

It was here that the freedom granted by our motorbikes was reinforced once again. Each night there was a beautiful stream to camp by, and every day we could venture off to visit parts of the jungle that would have otherwise been impossible.

Between watching soccer matches being streamed live from the Russian world cup we did our fair share of research into the region. The findings sent us 45km off into the hills on tiny dirt roads to one of the most beautiful waterfalls in history. It was such a blissful place we had to ourselves that we spent the next 3 days really relaxing and unwinding. The perfect reset.

Our seemingly endless run of sleeping under the stars came to an abrupt end one night when a whole bunch of water decided to fall from the sky and saturate everything. Cold and bitter from this unwanted surprise we motored on to a small town where we set everything out to dry in a pool bar which let us sleep outside for the night as well.

Things picked up when we made it to Santa Cruz to couchsurf with a great new friend, Chaci. The weather was warm, the city beautiful, and an abundance of delicious vego food. There was four of us living in a one bedroom apartment for the 2 weeks we stayed there but boy oh boy was it a good time. There were waterfalls nearby, climbing walls, rock gigs, and a bank that showed every soccer match. Perfect. But the real reason we spent so long in Santa Cruz was because we were organising a 10 day trip deep into part of the Amazon jungle with a local indigenous leader. More on that soon.