For those learning Spanish, there is an excellent podcast called “Notes in Spanish” which offers three levels of difficulty and accompanying worksheets.
This episode of the advanced podcast is an interview with a Bolivian lady called Silvia who now lives in Madrid.
If you can understand Spanish, take a listen and hear the Bolivian accent as well as a comparison between the Bolivian and Spanish cultures.
This article from Radio Megawelle reminded me of something that I forgot to mention in my Iberia article.
Why do people take direct flights to Lanzarote? Most seem to think that a direct flight is more convenient, even cheaper. I prefer to fly via Madrid for the following reasons:
– often, as stated in the article, the normal flights are slightly cheaper
– the departure time is usually more convenient in Frankfurt
– the luggage and hand-luggage allowances are sometimes bigger
– the queues in Arrecife for the return flight are much shorter
Of course, a direct flight is quicker and you spend less time in the aeroplane as a result. But the first time I flew out I had another reason for going via Madrid – I was just plain curious to see somewhere in Spain that was new to me – even if it was the airport!
How do you fly to Lanzarote?
If you go into a shop in Europe, then the prices of the items on sale are usually on display. They are fixed an non-negotiable.
If you take a taxi in Europe, then the price is shown on the meter. It depends on the distance travelled and maybe the time of day.
In Bolivia, things work a bit differently. For a start, taxi fares are agreed in advance, and are normally a fixed price for anywhere within the local town, but per person. It is, however, possible to arrange a discount when travelling in a group and you fill the taxi up.
Then there are the shops and the markets – you can bargain with the vendors and arrange a lower price if, for example, you want to buy more than one item.
This obviously takes some getting used to, and is made easier if you can speak Spanish well enough. If you don’t, then your efforts will be less successful.
It is a fact of life in Bolivia, that tourists who speak Spanish (or at least attempt to) get a better deal when buying products and services.
But there is another factor in the buying equation that should not be ignored – being accompanied by a Bolivian. This can often knock the price down a little more.
And if know exactly what you want and can get a Bolivian friend to go into the shop on their own and buy it for you, you may even save an extra Boliviano on top.
I remember that a taxi ride in Sucre used to cost 3 Bolivianos per person, regardless of distance. For 3 people I could knock the price down to 7Bs, if one person was a Bolivian, they might even get it down to 6Bs.
In Cochabamba our Bolivian friends even stopped the taxis to ask them to take us for 1Bs/person. There were so many taxis in the queue (and we were 24 people in the group) that if a driver wouldn’t agree to the price, then they would just ask the next one. It worked!
So it really does pay to speak Spanish!
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