Bolivia at last

Our late night flight from LAX landed in Lima, Peru around 8:30am local time. We got off, stretched our legs, and rested a bit before boarding the 11:30am flight to Santa Cruz, Bolivia. Thankfully the flight was uneventful, and we landed in Bolivia around 3:00pm.


The whole flight I was nervous about several things:

• Miles had never flown before and I was worried he’d be freaked out from all the noise and jostling. Plus he had been 24 hours without food and fresh water. Would he be OK?
• Our checked bags were bursting at the seams when we dropped them off at LAX. I had the sinking feeling the zippers would give out and our stuff would get lost.
• I didn’t know if we could find a taxi in Santa Cruz big enough for us and our goods. I really didn’t want to split up and take two taxis.
• I wasn’t sure what customs would say about all the things we brought—particularly the electronics and music stuff. I didn’t want to get hit with massive taxes!

These fears dissipated one by one as we made it through the airport. First, they delivered Miles—shaken to say the least—but safe and sound. Next our bags came through the claim area unscathed. There were guys standing around with luggage carts and they helped us gather everything and go through customs. The customs agents didn’t even look through our bags, and let us pass without any questions. Then as we reached the exit, we immediately spotted a stationwagon taxi that had plenty of room for the bags. The porters loaded everything up and we were quickly on our way to the apartment in downtown Santa Cruz. Amazingly, this whole process—from exiting the plane to leaving in the taxi—took less that 15 minutes. Try that at an international airport in the states!