The Caravan Leaves Santa Cruz

Spending a few days in Santa Cruz was good. It allowed us to shop for a few bulky things that we hadn't been able to bring on the plane (i.e. guitar stands and a mic stand). We also found out that there's a lot available in Santa Cruz—they even have a Geox shoe store! So next time we're there, we'll be able to stock up on whatever we need.


Time came for us to move on to Tarija, where we will be living for the next year or so. Remember all the bags we brought with us? Well, we couldn't take them on the plane to Tarija, so we decided to take everyone's advice and send them by bus. It sounded pretty simple—just drop off the bags at the bus station, pay the agent, and then pick them up when the bus arrives in Tarija the next day. We figured, what could go wrong? Answer: A lot.


So Sunday morning we woke up and got ready to leave. Our flight was that afternoon, so we had all morning to drop off our bags at the bus station. As we were getting ready we thought "It's strange how quiet it is outside. There aren't any cars going by... Oh well, that must be how it is on Sunday mornings." It turned out, there was a reason for the peace and quiet: That Sunday was the annual "Dia de pietones" (day of the pedestrian). No cars allowed in the city center. Military blockades were keeping vehicles from entering the city and disturbing the pedestrians. Which meant we had no way of getting our caravan of bags to the bus station—short of walking, which definitely wasn't going to happen. 


Thankfully in Bolivia there is always someone willing to risk arrest to make a few bucks. The doorman called up a taxi who somehow snuck through the blockades and entered the city center to pick us up. We loaded up the car and made it to the bus station in time to drop off the bags.