Pleasure Palate

1. This is a 6 day trip to Bolivia. I am only allowing PP members who have attended at least a couple of events already and whom I am already familiar with. You must be low maintenance, easy going, and okay if unplanned things happen and we can't stick to the exact itinerary because some things beyond our control can occur during trips. I am not being paid extra to hosting this trip. You are basically joining me while I'm on vacation. So keep that in mind.
2. Any deposits paid are not refundable after February 1st, so only sign up if you are 100% planning to attend and perhaps get travel insurance.
3. YouTube video of Salar de Uyuni: The Largest Mirror on Earth | BBC Earth Explore
4. A Sample of things to visit and eat at La Paz: You HAVE To Visit La Paz, Bolivia 🇧🇴: Top Things To Do & Must-Try Eats

Day 1 March 21. LA PAZ
Arrival into La Paz, the highest capital in the world and transfer to your hotel, La Casona
Boutique.
Day 2 March 22. LA PAZ (Breakfast)
After breakfast, enjoy a full city tour of La Paz, with a unique topography containing few flat
areas and protected by its eternal guardian, the snow peak of Ilimani (6402m). You will visit
Calle Sangarnaga with a visit to the witches market, Iglesia de San Francisco and Mirador Killi
Killi for an excellent view of the city. Housing the seat of government, La Paz is a city of
contrast, between both ancient and modern. The city center sites include the Plaza Murillo
(with its presidential palace, national congress and metropolitan cathedral), museums, and
many interesting markets. A visit will also be made to the Valley of the Moon, just on the
outskirts of the city. Enjoy a ride on the cable car before returning to your hotel.
Day 3 March 23. LA PAZ - UYUNI – COLCHANI (Breakfast, lunch & dinner)
Early transfer to the airport for the flight to the Salares de Uynui, or Salt lakes.
We will have an unforgettable trip across 12 000 km2 of fantastic salt landscape. We will enter
the Salar by Colchani, where we will stop to visit the salt factory and we will receive comments
on the salt family economy which command the life of this village. Once the first visit done, we
will enter the Salar and stop at the salt mounts from where we will continue to the dominating
and magic Thunupa Volcano. We will ascend a part of the volcano with the car to the Coquesa
Mummies. From this point we will have a nice view upon the monumental Salar. Then we will
descend to Tahua where we will have lunch. In the afternoon we will depart for Chillima
village, at the north, from where we will start the second ascension still with the car toward La
Pucara. We will start 60 to 90 minutes walk to the impressive flat landscape of La Pucara de
Chillima.
Day 4 March 24. UYUNI SALT LAKES (Breakfast, lunch & dinner)
This day we will cross the Salar from north to south with the first visit at the Incahuasi Island
which is one of the central tourist attractions. We will follow the little path to arrive at the top
of the island from where we will get the amazing 360o view on the Salar. Then we will continue
toward the Mala Mala Bahia, to find the Galaxia Cave where we will find a cactus sanctuary and
petrified stromatolites and finally a Chullpas cemetery (ancestral burying) .
The cave presents a very weird sub-aquatic geological formation from the era of the Michin
Lake (300 000 years ago) and from the Tauca Lake (40000 years ago).
We will continue the expedition towards San Pedro de Quemes where we will have lunch and a
rest in the Tayka Stone Hotel. In the afternoon, we will head towards the lagoon chain of
Cañapa, Hedionda, Chiarkota, Honda and Ramaditas, where we will see three types of flamingo
and other kinds of birds. These birds live on the lagoons alongside the volcanoes After the last
lagoon, you will enter the huge and great desert area with no roads. Accommodation.
Day 5 March 25. UYUNI - SAN PEDRO DE ATACAMA (Breakfast & lunch)
We will start early to visit the Stone Tree which is a stone in a tree shape. Then we will arrive to
one of the gems of the Eduardo Avaroa Reserve, the Coloured Lagoon. This lagoon is the main
nesting centre of the three kinds of flamingos and its colour produced by algae and plankton
activated by the sun and the wind give the red and pink colour to the flamingos.
Then we will witness the geysers of Sol de Mañana. At this point we will be at the most elevated
altitude of the trip (5000m above the sea level). The cold is intense and we will walk among the
smoky and noisy vapour springs. In Polques, we can even have a bath in the hot springs and
have a good open air breakfast. We will then approach another huge place the Desert Ladies
Valley. After this valley we will head towards the Green Lagoon which is at the foot of the
Licancabur Volcano. We will arrive at lunch time, which is the best time to see how its waters
change colours from emerald green to deeper green. After this, we will continue toward the
Chilean border and cross the border into San Pedro de Atacama. Accommodation.
Day 7 March 26. SAN PEDRO DE ATACAMA – CALAMA – SANTIAGO (Breakfast)
After breakfast, transfer to the airport for the flight to Santiago and connecting flight to
Guatemala City departing at 12 noon and arriving in Guatemala at approximately 8pm.
End of Bolivian services
Tour Price based on 4 travellers in 3* hotels: US$3795.00 per person for single occupancy.
Double occupancy is $3,400.
OUR PRICE INCLUDES:
Accommodation in single rooms at selected 3 star hotels and some simpler lodges in the Salt
Flats
All meals as indicated on the itinerary.
Transfers, tours and excursions as per itinerary with English speaking specialist guides
All internal flight tickets (economy class) La Paz – Uyuni, Calama – Santiago
International flight ticket Santiago - Guatemala
All entrance fees
OUR PRICE DOES NOT INCLUDE:
International flight to Bolivia
Meals not indicated
Personal expenses such as telephone bills, laundry expenses, beverages, etc
Insurance against theft, loss, illness and/or accident etc
Gratuities, baggage porterage and other extras not specified

1. This is an all-day event held in San Diego County with multiple stops. We will first have breakfast at Henry in Coronado then go on the Spring Garden Tour and then have a late lunch at Caesarina in Point Loma before heading back to LA.
2. You must prepurchase a ticket online for the Spring Garden Tour here: SD Horticulture
   The cost is $45 per person.
3. Bring at least $60 in CASH for breakfast at Henry and lunch at Cesarina.
4. Menu and pricing for Henry: Coronado, CA - The Henry
5. Menu and pricing for Cesarina: Menu - Cesarina
6. I will be renting a minivan and offering a carpool for this event. We will carpool at a designated address in Carson at 7 AM. The minivan rental and gas costs will be evenly divided among all the people riding in the minivan (including myself, the driver). The estimated cost per person is between $40 to $50 for minivan rental and gas.

So Springtime is just around the corner, which means garden tour time. My fave garden tour to attend each year is the one held by the San Diego Horticultural Society since they tend to have larger gardens (but not always) to visit and tour. This year, the gardens will be in Point Loma and Coronado. So come join me for a day trip to San Diego County for breakfast, lunch and a garden tour!

1. This is a family style dining dinner, meaning we will order as a group and divide the bill evenly excluding beverages.
2. You cannot have any dietary restrictions for this event.
3. This is a limited seating dining event which requires a non-refundable $25 deposit. You need to send me the deposit first, before you can be allowed to join in on the event. I am only allowed to bring 5 other members with me for this event.
4. You can send me the $25 deposit to my PayPal/Zelle/Venmo account. You can find me under email: rjhemedes@gmail.com or phone number: 714-658-4099
   The deposit will be applied to the portion of your bill at the end of the meal.
5. Menu and pricing at Witch's Cottage: Restaurant | The Burbank Witch

I recently read about this pagan themed restaurant in North Hollywood. The menu looks fine, but what really stounds out here is the ambiance they have created inside. So I want to check it out and see if it lives up to the hype. So come join me at the Witch's Cottage in North Hollywood for a delightful early dinner!

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