Parrots and cows

It took me just about 3 weeks to bust out of this wild city to the nearest national park and was it ever a glorious few hours. For our orientation, we spent one night outside the city at this awesome house on the side of a mountain. The fresh air on open space was very welcome. Becky and I hiked in with an enormous dog named Apollo and headed straight for Mt. Tunari, the highest mountain in the Cochabamba area. No, we didn´t climb it, just touching the base was enough of a hike. The late afternoon sun on the peak was breathtaking. It was especially neat to see some awesome green parrots at such an elevation flitting around. The only other wildlife to look out for were some cows that were grazing with some very large horns. It was everything I could do to keep Apollo and his drool from getting into it with the cows. He didn´t get charged, but he certainly did playfully charge two young girls who were hiking up later in the afternoon to retrieve their herd. No one was hurt thankfully as this horse of a dog is just a puppy and doesn´t quite understand how big and scary he is. The peace and quiet of the park was rejuvenating for me as was the great conversation that Becky and I had, even though it was in English...