Speaking of safety and security issues, this is a technology highly utilized in the South African market – wireless credit card machines. Why? Because you shouldn’t let your credit card out of your sight in this country – it’s a well-known scam to steal your info while the card is being processed. Sucks to have to worry about issues like this…
Wireless Credit Card Machine
Hot water heater in Mozambique. Though this was our first, we’ve since encountered a lot of wood-fire hot water heaters. Not exactly what you’d call sustainable…
Apparently, there is a tourist demand for packaged elephant crap. Who buys this sh*t?!? 
This is a hotel, made almost entirely of salt. Aside from tourist tours of the Uyuni Salt Flats, the region is also a major producer of…SALT! From the bricks, to the chairs, to the flooring, to the beds – it’s all pure NaCl.
And here is a photos of Sarah ensuring that the bricks really are salty. This is what happens when you lose a game of euchre in Bolivia…
Have you noticed that there have been a lot of WTFs in Bolivia? Here is the latest. This sign translates as “Tourist Zone, don’t pee or litter”. You wouldn’t think that in the middle of a central public tourist zone, you’d need a sign that says don’t pee here, but in Bolivia, you do. Locals are known to relieve themselves on any corner or wall they choose, at any time of day. Not sure how effective this sign is, but hey, at least they’re trying to keep the city clean…er.
This is an alpaca fetus. They are sold along the streets of La Paz in the Mercado de Brujas, or the witches market. Supposedly, you bury one of these under the porch when you buy a house and it brings you good luck. Personally, I prefer a 4-leaf clover…
On one of our first bus rides in Bolivia, we encountered a river with no bridge. The Bolivian solution – float the buses across! Cars, trucks, motorcycles too.
Floating islands are a big draw around these parts. The Uros islands on the Peruvian side of Lake Titicaca were interesting, though not exactly authentic. But, when our return boat from the Isla del Sol stopped at these floating “islands” on the Bolivian side for a paid visit, I just felt sorry for the locals. These “islands” are no more than a wood dock floating on plastic bottles, with reeds laid over the top. It was the most pathetic attempt to make a quick tourist buck that I have ever seen. But hey, at least they were reusing plastic bottles!
Remember your first furry little pet, that cute guinea pig?
In Peru and Ecuador, they double as a delicacy, a food for special occasions. We gave them a try – not much meat on them, kinda fatty, not all that great. But the locals sure do love them!
