Blogs from Rurrenabaque, Beni Department, Bolivia, South America - page 15

A traveller without observation is a bird without wings - Muslih-uddin Sadi This trip to the jungle turned out to be one of the best 4 days I have had in the last 18 months. Easily on a par with the Inca trail. I had no idea what to expect with it, all I had bee told was there would be a lot of wild animals to see, sweet. Easy enough small plane flight to Rurrenabaque and a night in the town with two Kiwis, Rowan and Kath, who became two very good travel companions and we kept meeting up again and again. The road trip via jeep to the river was uncomfortable to say the least. Stopping off for lunch at a restaurant called “El Shaday” was an, well, interesting little affair, and shady ... read more

Day 612 (30.11.08) After gathering ourselves together and taking a walk into town to pick up our cash from the Pampas tour operator, we walked laden with bags in the intense humidity to the bus station. Boarding our bus we were all suffering from the heat waiting to leave. Eventually we were off and with all the windows open we quickly cooled helped along with the impressive wall of water that decided to fall out of the sky of which most of which seemed to find our bus. Most of the bus seemed weatherproof apart from the section of roof over Chirssie's head which unfortunately incessantly dripped on her. Wrapped in a towel and donning a sun hat most of the water was intercepted temporarily until the rain and dripping subsided a couple of hours later. ... read more

M writes: Enjoyed our last moments at our La Paz 5* in the morning, as our flight to Rurrenebaque, in the Bolivian jungle, has been changed to late PM. After chatting with an annoying europhile Argentinian in a cafe on the Prado, who insisted we could not be French & English and be together and that he knew better than we did where we lived in London, off to the little La Paz domestic airport. The propeller-plane is tiny! 18 people - we get the 2 seats at the front with view on pilots and cockpit; for someone who doesn't enjoy flying (sudden moments of panic), this is surprisingly therapeutic as I can keep my eye on the altitude-meter etc. Rurre is a small, pretty village on the river Beni - there are hammocks absolutely everywhere. ... read more

When I look out of the window at my first jungle dawn, all the discomfort of the previous 20hrs melts away. It´s so good to be down from high altitude and surrounded by lush green...didn´t realise how much I missed trees! And the air is rich with oxygen and moisture, it´s a heady mix and I feel wide awake and really excited. My skin, which at altitude had been parchment dry with old lady hands is now reborn baby soft...god I love the tropics! We get off the bus in Rurrenabaque just after a rainfall...it smells great and must be the most I´ve enjoyed rain in a long time. It´s like we´ve woken up in a different country: lush and green, hot and humid and humming with life. We choose Hostal Tucans de Rurre as it ... read more

Ross: Rurrenabaque is a laid-back town in the Bolivian department of Beni, located on the banks of the Beni River, a tributary of the Amazon. It is located within the Amazon basin and as such is at a much lower altitude than La Paz. This is reflected in the heat, humidity and mosquito population. It's economy seems to be mostly supported by the likes of us using it as a gateway to visit the Amazon jungle (or selva) and the pampas (or savannah). Jimmy and Nic (from our week in Portillo) had strongly suggested we visit Rurrenabaque, and so here we are... After our 'bus ride from hell' we finally enlightened at Rurrenabaque's bus terminal with buttocks still clenched. As soon as we stepped down from the bus we were simultaneously accosted by three tour operators ... read more