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Published: March 17th 2006
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Hoatzin on the Watch
These unique birds were everywhere along the river, watching us and making alot of noise if we got too close. Well, after all the difficulty of getting to Rurrenbaque, we were a bit tired and could have used some rest. Our tour guides had other ideas. We were picked up at the airport at 11:30am and taken to the Anaconda Tours office to confirm our tour and check in. By 12:30 we were ready to go, a full three and a half hours after when we were supposed to leave Rurrenbaque. It was a three hour plus 4x4 ride to reach our destination of Santa Rosa, where we ate a late lunch. The cook was riding in the back with Sara and pointing out birds that she might see from our camp, along with pointing of those of interest along the side of the road, including the Greater Rhea, which is similar to an ostrich. Sara didn´t quite turn her head fast enough to see it, however, so it was not added to the list. After lunch, we went looking for our guide and since he wasn´t at home, headed to the Rio Yacuma where we were to catch our boat. The boats, shaped similar to a dugout canoe, were located at a small opening in the river. While we waited
Anaconda in the Hand
No, we are not holding it, though Sara did venture to touch it. I doubt the snake was having much fun. for our guide to show, we watched the wildlife which included many birds and the animal we had come to see, the pink dolphins! I was expecting them to be somewhat elusive, but it seemed there were several right here in front of us. Unfortunately, these are not like the high jumping ocean dolphins, and the most one might see is a beak or the upper back. Regardless, we were already feeling better about the tour when our guide showed up.
Now, after having very professional guides throughout the trip, it stood to reason that at some point, our luck would run out. This was that point. Now, he could have been much worse, but he seemed to inherit the characteristics of the others on our boat, who were 18 to 21 year olds. The first step of the journey, getting to camp, went fairly smoothly, arriving just after dark which allowed us to see many birds (though mainly the Hoatzin, a very odd looking chicken-like character), a lovely sunset and a chance to locate eye shine from the alligators, crocidiles, and caiman that live in the river. We had a few bites, figuratively speaking for the eye shine
Perturbed Alligator
One of the other guides taunted this gator out of the water, though it make for a nice view of it. and literally for the mosquitos, but our guide was moving too swiftly for more than a passing glance. Camp was reached around 8pm and after a quick dinner and briefing from our guide regarding the next day, we headed off to bed. The task for tomorrow: anaconda.
We woke early to head out before the sun got too hot, put on high boots, while our guide finally realized that less than half the group understood what he was saying in Spanish and switched to English. A little about our guide. Though nice enough, he tended to brag a bit and had taken to calling himself ¨Rambo¨. Apparently, most of his English was learned through watching American action movies. After a short boat ride, we reached to true pampas with no trees and alot of water. Here, we began our search for the anaconda. The first hour or so was trekking through the pampas, finally reaching an island of dry land, where our guide showed us several useful plants of the area, including a soap and a fruit that tasted a bit like avocado and pumpkin. Then, he split us up as he search for an anaconda. It didn´t take
Quiet Howlers
The howler monkey, usually a reliable alarm clock, remained fairly quite the entire trip. Usual, you think there is a construction site nearby when these monkeys pass. long, but I don´t think any of us got quite what we were expecting. Though fairly large for a snake, a 5 ft long, 10 lb snake was not what movies and tv had prepared me for. Still, we got to see the tour´s namesake. The walk back was quite disorganized, with our guide wrestling with the three 18 year old Dutch boys on our tour and having a mud fight. At least they took care to not be in or vicinity. On the boat trip back, one of the other camps spotted on alligator, which one of the guides managed to get out of the water, without touching it. It was pretty cool, but was indicative of the tours themselves, with a more interactive nature rather than just observing. We weren´t comfortable with alot of the practices, and don´t think that the pampas, even with its national park status, will stay quite the way it is.
After heading back, we spotting 10 or 15 howler monkeys in the canopy above camp and had lunch. While our guide and the others went off to find bait for pirahna fishing, the three of us stayed at camp and looked for
Blue and Yellow Macaw
This was seen on several occasions from our campsite. Fairly easy to see, mostly because they are so noisy. wildlife. Four macaws, hundreds of parrots, two trogons, and several interesting woodpeckers later, the others returned without anything to show for their trip. Apparently, our guide just wanted a trip to the bar, which didn´t bother the rest at all, but we were glad to have stayed behind. Next up was a trip to the dolphin swimming hole, where we all jumped in and went for a swim, as dolphins supposedly scare away the dangerous creatures such as anaconda and crocs. Of course, once all four boats worth of people jumped in, the dolphins seemed to disappear as well. I decided to not stay in too long. Following the dolphin swimming, we saw toucans and eagles and then had a short soccer match where our boat was matched up against another, 6 for us and 7 for them. We managed to win since the Dutch boys seemed to have played together quite a bit, and I managed to injure the guide for the other team, though not illegally. Oops. More eye shine on the way back and another good dinner later, and we were ready for bed.
Day 3 was the final day, spent with an early morning sunrise
American Anhinga
This is a good looking bird, though not the first time we have seen it (way back in Iguazu)! followed by a quiet trip to the dolphin swimming hole, where I finally got a half way decent picture. Additional, the birds were really out we saw many more than the previous day, including a stork and a odd looking bird appropriately called a screamer. The trip back was slow to observe wildlife, though it was getting a bit hot for us and the birds. After an early lunch we got on the boat to head back to our starting point, with one stop. Other than the howler monkeys, we had seen several groups of squirrel monkeys which seemed to come out of the woodwork whenever we went past. We now found out why, as our guide fed them bananas and I had them crawling all over me. We were leaving a bit more than footprints, though that is exactly what the monkeys were leaving on me. The remainder of the trip was uneventful and we arrived back at the 4x4s for our long trip back. A few birds later and we were back in Rurrenbaque. We found a comfortable place to stay, ate the closest to real Mexican food so far, and hit the sack (after entering last night´s
The Best We Could Do
These dolphins are not much of the jumpers, so this head and bit of spray are the most we ever saw. Its is, however, better than anyone else on the trip could do. entry).
So far today, we haven´t really accomplished anything other than checking the tourney scores (Duke won, Ohio State plays today), looking for a Bolivian bird book, checking that our flight is still on for tomorrow, and writing this entry. Other than a slight cough still remaining for Jill, an irritated throat for me, and a couple hundred mosquito bites between the two girls (I seem somewhat immune to the itch of this species), we are all in good, and hoping our malaria medication will keep it that way. It will probably be a few days before I write again, as we will be moving fast to see Amboro National Park just west of Santa Cruz, the largest city in Bolivia.
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John Timberlake
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Matt, Sara and Jill, This portion of the trip seems to have more interesting wildlife to see. Too bad Sara didn't see the Rhea - seems hard to miss. A larger anacondor would have been nice, but the birds and howler monkeys seem to have made up for the other animals. You have not mentioned the weather very much. Hope it is pleasant. It is in the 30's and sunny here this weekend. Still not much snow this winter. We went to the local Mexican restaurant last night with a marioche (sp?) band last night. Update us as often as possible. Love, Dad