I came to this country (without Hilda this time) after an 22 hr. layover in Lima, Peru, and a near-miss on landing at La Paz. Thankfully nobody died...just a few white knuckles (mine)! The altitude here is about 4000 meters (13000 feet) so, needless to say, it will be an adjustment. The city is either uphill or down and I quickly realized that what goes down must also come back up. I spent Sunday (December 1st) at my hotel relaxing and getting acclimatized to the altitude. Thankfully I had a prescription from my Canadian physician to help me with that. They also tell you to drink lots of of coca tea which I have been doing.
My hotel, Camino Real Aparthotel, is very comfortable. The "rooms" are all suites with a full kitchen (not that I will take advantage of that) and a large living area. The beds are king-size as well. No TV in the bedroom though so I can't watch TV in bed (never mind...it's all Spanish anyway)!
The CESO Country Representative (CR), Carlos Ramallo, came to check up on me yesterday (December 1st) and I spent today at the client's office, only a few blocks from my hotel, getting acquainted and finishing off the paperwork. The client is the Banco de Desarrollo Productivo (BDP), a public entity primarily servicing small agricultural loans. They want to eventually develop a climate risk application so I am here to consult with them on various aspects of that - limitations, data and processing requirements, risk analysis, usage, etc.
So...we'll see what adventures tomorrow brings. The workplan calls for a field visit but other than that I probably won't get to see much more than the hotel and the office. Hopefully on the weekend either the client or the CR can show me some of the sights. La Paz itself has a nice overhead gondola system integrated with their transit system which I would like to experience.
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