Imagine a courtyard where the gentle notes of a guitar flit upwards to meet the rays of the sun. If you were to swoop down into that courtyard, you´d find the doors to about 12 rooms, and in one of those rooms you´d find a familiar, sweaty couple playing their umpteenth game of cards, backgammon, Connect 4 or Scrabble.

This has been our home here in Santa Cruz for the whole week since we last wrote. The lorry blocade which kept us here has exploded into demos, riots and shootings, and now a ´State of Emergency´. What started out as a protest about the peasants not having enough water in the coutryside has resulted in curfews and armed patrols in 3 of the 4 big cities. The 4th, Santa Cruz, remains mercifully out of the action. Fate definitely dealt us a kind hand because with no transport between cities, this is the best one to be ´trapped´ in.

Having recklessly taken in the 2 tourist attractions here on our 1st day here (only expecting to stay 24hrs), our time is now spent hunting the shade (mid 30s by day, really humid by night too), reading, and basically waiting for the situation to improve. We´re getting a bit bored.

To add to our misery, we´ve been engulfed by the quite remarkable phenomenon that is the "Israeli Wave". Hundreds of Israelis have flocked en masse to South America to celebrate completing their compulsory military service. Until now we´ve had no opinions of or dealings with Israelis, but now we can´t move for ´em! Unfortunately the vast majority have been less than friendly, preferring to just stare at us without ever acknowledging us. They seem to travel/hunt in packs, and the mentality that goes with that is one of insularity and acting as if they own the place...Add to that the fact that they routinely shout (as opposed to talk) until 4am in our communal courtyard, and you can safely assume that International Relations aren´t at their best!

To make matters worse, no-one has been able to leave Santa Cruz all week, but the "Wave" continues to flood through from Brazil, on the same route as we took. So the "Wave" is in danger of becoming a "Tidal Wave", at least in this town, and we´re in danger of drowning.

As there´s nowhere too safe to go right now in Bolivia (apart from here in Santa Cruz, and we´ve rather exhausted that option!) we´re trying to fly to our next destination - Peru. However, this may mean landing in the wake of the current Peruvian Presidential Elections, which are shrouded in vote-rigging and corruption, so we´ve been warned of the likelihood of similar troubles there too.

Money is running far lower than we thought, so all in all, we may be seeing you all sooner rather than later....

All part of life´s rich tapestry, and a great story to tell the grand-children!