101 bites and counting

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In rainy season Rurrenabaque can take upwards of 22 hours on a bus from La Paz, this seemed like one bus journey too far so we decided that we would splash out and fly.

After shopping around we found that TAM was the cheapest carrier. I had never heard of them but the agent assured us they were perfectly safe - the only difference being they flew from the military airport as opposed to the commercial one.

We arrived at a dark terminal the first thing to hit us was the smell which was akin to a farmyard- our eyes adjusted to the light, to see a platoon of soldiers lying about - there were no civilians. At this point we saw a sign and realised that TAM stands for Military Air Transport.

After 20 minutes of feeling very awkward an official walked past and told us that we were in the wrong place. Relieved we headed to another terminal to be confronted by a habbit of nuns (what is the collective for nuns? - Tom votes for covern) needless to say this was definately preferable.

The flight itself was an experiance - they didnt worry about the niceties of a safety announcement. Mind you there weren´t any tray tables to stow. Things you are used to such as door seperating passengers from pilot and cargo just werent there and you got on and off the plane using a step ladder.

After 40 minutes we arrived in Rurrenbaque and headed straight out to the Pamphas. The first thing you notice is the mosquitoes, they literally swarm around you and no repellant seems to deter them. After half an hour Tom looked like he had come down with a bad case of the chicken pox.

Jumping into a motorboat you get some respite and have the chance to see the abundant wildlife along the river banks. An ornotholists dream, we saw birds of every shape, size and colour. We also attempted to swim with the Dolphins but they always swam in the opposite direction to us. We saw ubiquitos Cayman (crocodiles to you and I) which made me question why I thought swimming in the river was such a good idea.

Rurrenabaque is also home to the worlds biggest rodent which looks like a giant guinea pig and Toms favourite animal the sloth as he believes it is an animal with an attitude to life that every red blooded man aspires to.

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