Rurrenabaque; a load of old crock (8-14/May/06)

La Paz, Bolivia

Because of the strike there was no morning bus to where we wanted to go and we had to wait until the evening, so we killed the day as best we could. After a bit of walking aimlessly around we decided to go to the cinema matinee (and saw a really appalling movie with Jennifer Aniston, but it was either that or Mission Impossible III - the Davinci Code was “coming soon”). After that walked back to the bus station and got on the night bus (not doing very well at avoiding these) to Trinidad. From there, after a few hours stopover, we caught another bus to Rurrenabaque and arrived there around 1am.

Spent the next day deciding which tour agency to go for. Rurrenabaque has 3 main tours - 3 days at a lodge in the Madidi (or, less famous but also less touristy, Pilon Lajas) national park in the jungle, 3 days at a lodge on a riverbank in the pampas (flat floodlands), and various days hardcore trekking in the jungle. We went for the pampas as we’ll do civilized lodge jungle with Esther’s parents in Peru (in fact the same jungle as Madidi) and we’ll do hardcore jungle treks in Brazil.

The pampas have a river going through it which is where all the animals congregate, especially during the dry season. When we went the rainy season had finished and it was drying out. And the amount of animals there was just phenomenal, much more than what we expected. In the jeep on the way to the river we didn’t see any sloths which apparently hang around there, but as soon as we got on our little motorboat and went round a couple of bends the menagerie fest started. We saw loads of caimans and alligators, capybaras (the world’s largest rodent, basically a 46kg water rat, but cuter), various species of monkey, turtles, river dolphins (never knew they existed), eagles, herons, kingfishers, vultures, river gulls, storks and a whole bunch of other birds I can’t remember the names of, and a species of orchid. We also went piranha fishing (and kept one each for a taste at dinner), went looking for anacondas in the floodlands and I was lucky enough to see one (Esther sadly missed it as she was at the rear of the group) and take a quick couple of snaps. We also went out at night with the flashlight to see alligator eyes, and saw an owl fly off at a distance. On the last day we went for a swim with the dolphins (they scare off the piranhas and alligators, which is handy) and also caught a glimpse of a toucan. All in all we did very well, and to top it off our group was really good and we got on really well together. Another great tour.

To get back to La Paz there is an 18h bus ride up a ridiculously dangerous road so we did the sensible thing and splashed out on a flight back, only $50. It’s a small (takes 19 passengers) propelled aeroplane and the view is amazing. A bit hairy near the end where the mountains create a lot of turbulence but we landed safely after 40 minutes and got a bus to what is becoming our local hostel. Not too out of breath - red blood cells hang around the blood stream for about 3 weeks and we’ve only been at low altitude for about 2. Now we will hang around here for a bit doing a few nearby treks and then do a couple of things in southern Peru before going to Machu Picchu to meet up with Esther’s parents.