Blogs from Rurrenabaque, Beni Department, Bolivia, South America - page 14

Part 2 of the Amazon Basin.... After feeling so deliciously clean for 1 night it was off to the Jungle for a two day tour of more mankiness! We walked through the markets (my head was down as we passed plucked chickens and raw meats) and we jumped on a wooden long boat to travel the lovely Beni River that straddles the town of Rurrenabaque. Our guide, Nelson, was wonderful and we had been recommended this tour because it was one where the profits help out the local community village (where we were going to stay the night). The difference between a pampas tour and a jungle tour is that a pampas tour is on the river (a different river 4 hrs away) and it involves a lot of wildlife spotting. The jungle tours are also ... read more

The year was 1985. Michael Jackson was King of Pop, Sylvester Stallone was Rambo and NASA came to stand for Need Another Seven Astronauts. Swimming four hours a day and playing with Lego left little time for anything else. The A-Team took up another hour of my precious time so what else could I possibly do? Well, this curious little boys mind was preoccupied by one thing...animals. Capturing lizards and attempts at sizzling ants with the aid of a magnifying glass aside (it doesn't work, they're too quick), I was enamoured with the documentaries on TV. The only time my parents could get me to be (relatively) quiet was when a National Geographic documentary came on. Getting older but never really growing up (does anybody?) I came to discover the animal kingdom in person. The Pantanal, ... read more

Sat 31st we had our flight from La Paz to Rurrenabaque for our Pampas Amazon tour the next day. The landing strip was a dirt track that from through the pilot´s window looked verrry short but did the job. When we arrived there was meant to be someone from the company meet us at the airport but there was no one insight we got on what we thought was a free bus, but wasn´t, and got to the plane company office in town and there was someone to meet us and drive us to the tour office which was the next block over! We had an arguement with the guy in the office about the transfer and he said he would call the lady we booked through and speak to his boss. We had been in ... read more

This will be a short one cos im writing 2 weeks late while im sitting in freezing New York which is a lot different than the 40 degree heat in the jungle. We were pretty lucky to even get out to Rurrenbaque cos its rainy season which plays havoc with the grass runway landings. So one sign of rain and no flights. The question on every ones lips was why dont they build a bloody concrete runway and they would never have to cancel a flight?? Thats Bolivia though, no long term sense really. As i said we were lucky and only had a 8 hour delay for our 40 minute flight. We met people who waited 3 days for their flight to leave(the alternative is a 20 hour bus on mucky deathtrap roads) and gave ... read more

In the morning we arrived with our bags--one packed for storage with all the things we would not need for the jungle. Such as knitting needles, a summer dress, or full bottles of shampoo, for example. The second bag held my mosquito tent, toothbrush, pants, headlamp, and an extra shirt. I wore my shorts and my other shirt. Underware did not end up mattering much, I ended up wearing my swimsuit for the entire trip. Not only was it more breathable, but I could peel my clothes off in front of anyone without batting an eye. I had bought a pair of cheap Addidas Knock-offs in Rurre in one of the many stores lining the street to replace, at least for the jungle trip, my fading sneakers from home. The mesh was tearing, the soles were ... read more