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Published: August 21st 2006
Rurrenabaque Airport
Thats the whole airport in the background and our plane in the foreground! The difficulty in getting to the Amazon and its general natural power were forced on us before we even got there with our 60 hour delay, but after arriving every second was worth it. We were lucky enough to experience both the Jungle and pampas and neither of us will ever forget them
Before we left we´d decided to fly from La Paz to Rurrenabaque to save time and because the road is apparently awful! Little did we realise that delays to flights were so common due to bad weather, the pilot not finishing his breakfast in time or whatever. We expectantly turned up at 4.30am on Monday to get through to the gate and end up waiting there until every other flight had gone 3 hours later. Finally someone admitted there might be a slight delay due to rain in Rurrenabaque. We went back through to the terminal and a process of being told to wait one hour more began that continued until 5pm that night. Then all in a flash everyone was told to rush onto the 20 seater plane because it had temporarily stopped raining enough for the grass airstrip to be dry enough for landing. After everyones ironic cheering we finally taxied right to the start of the runway and braced ourselves for take off, only to see the pilot (who we were now friends with) slap his forehead and do a 360° turn back to the
gate. We were pretty gutted to say the least as La Paz airport had no facilities at all including internet (a bit like Coventry!). The next day was a repeat but we gave up at lunchtime and braved a collectivo (minivan type affair that stops at every street corner) to save cash as the airport was half an hour from town. After giving up for the day we met some other English travellers in the tracel agents and ended up spending the day and evening with them trying to think of other ways to get there. We were very close to hiring a jeep but one of the girls got ill so it wouldn´t have been the best idea (its a muddy track that descends 4000m from the top of the Andes to the jungle!). Eventually after another 4 hour delay the next morning we left and the flight was amazing. We sat literally 2ft behind the pilot and the change of scenery below us was incredible. The landing on the grass airstrip was exciting too! The airport was funny too being literally a wooden shack, we were told to wait by the gate for our bags and it turned
Caiman family in the Pampas
Wicked!!!! Tom loves em!!!!! out to be a literal gate!!!
After lunch with our new mates Jess and Dave, and some quick rearranging of our tours due to the delay, we headed straight off in a 4 x 4 to Caracoles lodge out in the pampas (its actually neotropical savannah but thats just Tom being a biology geek!). On the way the driver refused to pick up some guys from an outlying town but left us chatting to them. One was a soldier, one was a bit slow and the other was blatantly a drugs baron dripping in gold, diamonds and expensive clothes (when asked where he picked up English he replied in England on business - and the only businesses there were tourism and coca growing). We arrived at the lodge to find it completely deserted and spent 2 hours sitting in hammocks by the river Beni waiting for someone to do anything! The lodging was really basic and came complete with bats in the grass roof, dehydrated frogs under your matress (which Tom saved) and fighting kittens chasing the big frogs
and spiders! After dinner and meeting our guide Manuel we went on a night boat ride to look for Caiman (alligators). After her initial fear George was brilliant at spotting them by the reflection of the torch in their eyes. There were loads and it was a clear night with so many stars and amazing tropical noises, immense when the torches and engine were turned off. That night we also met the ony other guest, a complete french/mexican tosser who spoke perfect English but chose not to making it difficult not to hate him and leading to much silence around dinner.
The next morning was a really early start for a 6 hour hike looking for anacondas. We found a 3m one, a 4m one and a 6m one that some local idiot had shot and left for the eagles and vultures to eat. They were amazing and we got within touching distance to watch them slither off. They were in no rush and clearly are aware of the damage they can do. We came across hunddreds of Caiman
Sunset over the pampas
Beautiful and peaceful and so many species of birds it was incredible. Even for non bird enthusiasts macaws, kites, Jabarus, tiger herons and southern screamers were far more impressive than your average sparrow. Didn´t see any baggie birds though. The afternoon was another 4 hour walk through the woods where we got bitten loads and saw not much except a huge tarantula web. The guide suggested not waking it up and we definitely agreed!!! At dinner in the main hut we heard rustling in the trees outside and went out to find night monkeys pinching the fruit out of them. We slept soundly that night despite the efforts of the bats in the roof!!
Our final day in the pampas was a 7 hour boat ride where we saw loads of the same animals again along with turtles capybara families and pink river dolphins along with our favourites, the tiny squirrel monkeys (sorry Jessica, they wouldn´t let me bring one back but I´ve got lots of photo´s you can have - and they would fit on your finger!). They came right onto the boat
Birds from Pre-historic times
They look like pterodactyls!!!! and haven´t changed for hundreds of thousands of years to say hello and stole the guides banana from right behind him! The pictures don´t really do it justice, the place is incredible (and very similar to the pantanal). We both went swimming with the river dolphins (and caimans and piranhas!) but Tom got out when the fish started nibbling at his feet!! George got scared by the sight of the black caiman (and the slime!) and stopped at her knees! On the way back, George fell asleep in the sun (it was about 35-40° the whole time) and lost Tom´s hat when it blew off into the river. After lunch, we got the same rubbish 4 x 4 (an adapted corolla dad) back to Rurre. He blew his tyre on the dirt road, then half an hour later, blew the under-inflated replacement! He didn´t seem at all surprised (or bothered) so we sat waiting in the heat, by the side of the dirt track waiting for something to happen. Then like a mirage, a jeep full of Irishmen, that we´d broken down with on a bus in Peru, appeared and made room for us and our bags! We were thankful to get back to Rurre, and stayed in a
Turtles
aaaagh..you´ve gotta love the way they just plop off the logs! really nice family-run hostel on the main square. Rurre itself was a brilliant sleepy jungle town where the elcetricity went off between 11 and six. That night was an early one ready for the jungle trip early next morning.
The trip to Mapajo indian reserve and jungle lodge in Pilon Lajas was via a small boat with 6 tourists and 4 guides. We hired a translator because most of the Indians only spoke local dialects even more rare than Quechua and Aymara. The journey there was a great adventure. The river was low due to a huge drought although you´d never guess it as torrential rain lashed us for the whole 3 hours and the rest of the day. The boat was a motorized dug out canoe and all the blokes had to get out and jump in the river to push the boat when it got stuck - which it did about 5 times!! The rocks are surpisingly sharp but the water really warm so it actually warmed Tom up!! Due to the rain we had to spend
Squirrel monkeys
aaaagh..you´ve just gotta love em! the day inside the "interpretation hut" where we made Chonta seed rings that we´re both still wearing. It was actually quite hard and took a few hours but are cool things to have from the Amazon.
The following day Jess and Dave met us again and brought better weather allowing us to do some walks through the jungle. We saw amazing walking palm trees, Mapajo trees, bullet/fire and leaf cutter ants and George the nature girl spotted a few baby Tarantulas! It was more the general feeling of being in the middle of a huge forest like the Amazon that was incredible rather than the individual things but when the guides explained to you more you realised how important every tree and every bug is (like the tree whose bark is used to poison the river for half an hour and make the fish drunk so they´re easier to catch!).
The last day in the Jungle we visited the
In the jungle, the mighty jungle....
A big tree. There were lots. This one was being strangled by the vines. community proper and watched and had a go at their daily chores and customs including weaving reeds for mats and bags, peeling rice with a huge hammer, spinning cotton and most fun of all using hand made bow and arrows to try and catch dinner (well actually we just shot at a coconut!). We also did a walk on the macaw trail to find these amazing birds. That night, back in Rurre we saw a school parade, tonnes of kids climbing over speeding lorries dressed as bible characters, and got a bit drunk at Mosquito´s bar after finding Paçena Ouro (gold) - the best beer yet - and some wicked cocktails. We had to be up at 6 the next morning and getting ready in the dark with a hangover was interesting. This stretch of the trip was the most useful that the headtorch we bought in La Paz was! Tom looked hilariously stupid in it as George enjoyed pointing out! Especially when he forgot to take it off in restaurants and the street (as expected he later lost it!).
The
Tom "Jungly"
I got the closest but the indians hit it everytime! flight back to La Paz was blissfully uneventful and the week in the jungle had fully restored our flagging faith in South America. Even enough for 4 nights in La Paz to not be dreaded too much! Anyone travelling in this area should definitely visit Rurre and its surroundings. Its by far the cheapest way to visit the Amazon = we were kind of glad our flights to Manaus were cancelled!! There was time to recharge our batteries and buy you all loads of presents before we left the cold of La Paz for Foz do Iguassu in Brazil.
******** By the way we´ve just added a photo of the witches market to the Where has all the milk gone journal!! ***************
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dad
non-member comment
boring boring brussels
Just sat in my hotel room in drab grey brussels feeling really jealous looking at your Amazon pictures - Fantastic, can i come stay with you?