Pampas Adventure

Our adventure started as soon as we tried to board our 18hr bus journey from La Paz to Rurrenbaque, we were told to go to the office around the corner due to a slight problem with our tickets. After 5 mins of confusion we were advised that there were only two seats available! However, there were four of us gringos wanting to get on this bus….mmmm slight problemo! I thought that’s it we’re not getting on this bus, but surprisingly after a few more phone calls we received new tickets and told to board the bus. All was ok, that was until we found our seats already occupied by 2 other people with valid tickets!! So we just grabbed some spare seats and hoped all would be fine. The first few hours went by with no problems, in fact we were surprised at how good the road was, tarmac roads are a luxury in Bolivia. This was short lived, two hours in and we had our first stop, 4 people got on and guess what, we were sitting in their seats. For a moment I thought we would be hanging off the roof!! Luckily there were 2 spare seats at the front of the bus, so all was fine for the time being. At this point the journey started to get interesting, the lovely tarmac road had turned into a dirt track only just big enough to fit one bus on. If this wasn’t bad enough there were sheer drops of 300m into the valley. We encountered many trucks, tankers and other buses along the way. Reversing around hairpin bends in the dark was an experience I don’t won’t to go through again! Eventually we made it to Rurrenbaque in one piece, if not rather tired and sore from the bumpy, scary journey.

Our pampas tour was due to start at 0845, we arrived in Rurrenbaque at 0500, so no hostel for us. Our only option was to hang out at the bus station for 3hrs, not much fun at all. We ventured to Indigena Tours around 0800 to check in ready to hit the pampas. However, due to some late incoming flights we waited until 11am for two people to join our tour. So 24hrs after leaving La Paz with hardly any sleep we started our tour. Joys of joys another 3hrs traveling on the road. We eventually made it to Yacuma river round 2ish, still a few more hours of travelling to go but this was on the river which was very relaxing. In just the first 10mins we had seen caiman, turtles and hoatzins (Amazon bird). Over the next two hours we saw an abundance of wildlife including river dolphins, squirrel monkeys, capybaras (largest rodent in the world) and much more. I can say I was very glad to arrive at the ecolodge after 30hrs of travelling. After watching a wonderful sunset and being fed a feast, it was an early night all round .

Day two started with a morning hike into the swamp to search for Anacondas, we donned on our wellies and off we went. It can take hours to spot an anaconda as they hide just under the surface of the swampy water. Our guide Lewis was a champ and spotted a 2-3 meter one only 30mins into the walk. What a sight, it sure was big and had just consumed something as there was a large bulge halfway down it’s body. Must admit I was rather nervous after seeing the snake, I had visions of stepping on one of them and been dragged under the water never to be seen again (isn‘t that what happened in the movie anaconda )!!

After lunch we ventured off to swim with the river dolphins, except when we got to the spot I didn’t like the fact that there were caiman on the bank side and the water was very murky. I value my limbs and thought best to not go in (wimp I know). All our other fellow travellers ventured in bar Ads as he wasn’t very well. We rounded the day off watching another great sunset and being fed yet more tasty food. Dessert consisted of a pancake cake yum yum.

Our final day we headed 20mins up river and fished for piranha, which was going to be our lunch. It was great fun, you need lots of patience plus the little buggers are fast movers. Anyway, I managed to catch three, Ads got one , Lewis caught another and a Norwegian guy snapped up the final one. An hour later we were enjoying them for lunch, there’s not much flesh on them plus they have tons of bones, but still great to try Piranha.

After lunch it was the long journey back to Rurre, which was eventful, it included a burst tire and a road block just outside Rurre. We had to get out the jeep and walk a few hundreds yards then six of us squeeze into one cab for the last 10 mins.

This was a trip well worth doing, we experienced so much and saw the most amazing wildlife, so if you are in this part of the world venture into the Pampas you won’t be disappointed.

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