Blogs from Rurrenabaque, Beni Department, Bolivia, South America - page 5

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South America » Bolivia » Beni Department » Rurrenabaque August 13th 2011

Vor einigen Tagen wagten wir die abenteuerliche Busfahrt nach Rurrenabaque, einer kleinen Stadt im tropischen Amazonasbecken. Insgesamt fuhren wir gute 3000m bergab, auf einer sandigen Strasse, die diese Bezeichnung nicht verdiente. Stellenweise betrug ihre Breite 3 Meter; blickte man aus dem Fenster, so eroeffnete sich neben einem ein bis zu 1000m tiefer Abgrund. Kam uns ein anderer LKW entgegen, so vollfuehrte unser Fahrer langwierige und wahnsinnig spannende Manoever - aus einem mir nicht ganz nachvollziehbaren Grund uebernahme wir (ca. 60 Personen) immer die Aufgabe, auf der Talseite auszuweichen, auch wenn im anderen Fahrzeug nur eine Person sass. Das alles hinderte unseren offenbar erfahrenen Busfahrer nicht daran, diesen Weg in einem Mordstempo zu befahren. Nach einer 20 stuendigen Holperpartie, in der Daphni kaum ein Auge zumachte, erreichten wir "Rurre", von wo aus man Tours in... read more
Daphni auf dem Boot
Affe beim Trinken
Kaiman

South America » Bolivia » Beni Department » Rurrenabaque August 2nd 2011

Before I write about the Pampas Tour itself, I absolutely have to write about the journey from Coroico to Rurrenabaque, one of Bolivia's most infamous bus journey's that travellers on a budget and stupid people must take if they want to see the jungle in Northern Bolivia. Wikitravel informed me that this bus trip can take between 19 and 56 hours, purely dependent on whether there is any rain. Most people fly to Rurre because of this fact. I decided for some morbid reason to check out the bus - it was not a pleasure... We waited at Caranavi, several kilometres from Coroico for the bus to arrive and pick us up. In true Bolivian fashion, it arrived an hour late - it had only been travelling for three hours at this point so an hour ... read more
Pathetic Tool to Dig Out a Truck
Doing Very Little
Buses in the Cities Have Bigger Wheels Than This


We love Bolivia. We got to do so many things here that would normally be either prohibited due to regulated safety restrictions or they would be just plain illegal. Welcome to our jungle-rafting experience, which honestly I don’t think was either…although an Israeli guy did die while attempting the same feat as us, but he went without an experienced guide. The idea of floating up river into the Bolivian rainforest on a raft that we would have to help construct was an idea sold to us without much hesitation. Normally people either get a 30-ish hour bus from La Paz, 40-minute flight, or 2-day speed boat trip to get to Rurrenabaque, the gateway to the Bolivian Amazon, but a homemade raft sounded much better to us. Here’s our story… “Really? We have to leave now?” It ... read more
Ze Germans!
In Rainbows
By the River


It was time to regrettably leave the jungle. I was back in Rurrenabaque, and like a dutiful passenger, was following Amazonas Airlines rules that I re-confirm my flight IN PERSON a day before my flight. Seemed ridiculous beforehand, but when I was there ready to re-confirm, I quickly understood why. I was supposed to fly out on a Tuesday. They said, “No, you can’t go tomorrow. No fuel. You will fly Thursday at 6am.” End of story, no decision to make, that was that. Seriously? The largest airport in all of Bolivia had run out of gas for their airplanes. I mean it just sounds comical, that is unless you are trying to get somewhere on a schedule. Having spent the last week lazing in hammocks and trying to identify the sounds of birds and monkeys, ... read more
Path to the village
Time to play
Mamma Pig and babies


While many think of the Amazon bush as being all thick and dense jungle, there are actually vast areas known as the pampas. These areas are most easily explained as swamplands. It still has areas with rivers running to the final Amazon River, but these take their own sweet time and go really, really slow to get there. In the winter, which is the dry season, these rivers shrink up to small areas where dense populations of wildlife live. The animals and fish like the slow moving waters. Unfortunately, in the case of Bolivia, to get to them does not mean taking a pretty, scenic boat ride. It means three and a half hours of the bumpiest, dustiest road I’ve ever been on in my life. When we passed a car going the opposite way, it ... read more
Pink dolphin
The elusive Toucan
Jump in, the water's fine


After 3 days in the pampas with Kikay, we were brought back to Rurre via boat and jeep. We met with Luis (our trip coordinator) who was kind enough to book and pay for a hostel nearby for the 3 of us, it had a private shower (so totally needed... we were covered in bugspray and sunlotion). We were also given a free drink at "Monkeys Bar" from Luis, so we enjoyed a "Caprihana"... a lime drink with lots of vodka. The next morning we were to be ready to head to the jungle via a 3 hour boat along the amazon river... so beautiful (even though it was raining that day). Our camp was slightly wet upon arrival (only to become a swamp lake with more rain later on), but we helped carry in the ... read more


After two days recuperating in La Paz and discovering the Submarino (thank you Stan and Helen!!) which is a chocolate bar dunked in hot milk and possibly the best drink ever on a cold evening, we headed to the jungle. Now...I knew it was a small plane that we were getting...but not that small! 18 seater, could not stand up, could see the pilots having a chat, run by an elastic band! Tom was absolutely loving it....I was clenching his hand trying not to cry every time it moved. I can see why everyone gets concerned in hospital when their machines are beeping (meaning nothing most of the time)...it was terrifying hearing it on an airplane! They kindly pointed out the mountains out of the window - announcing it in Spanish first meant that I thought ... read more


The day after enjoying the Gran Poder parade in La Paz was spent quietly - mainly watching the locals clean up the immense piles of rubbish from the day before and dismantling all the temporary stands lining the streets. We had been told that there was to be another transport strike the next day - not good news for us as we were to fly to Rurrenabaque, the small town which was the gateway to the Bolivian Amazonian basin. The planes are never included in transport strikes (the strikes were because the government was threatening to take all cars over 12 years off the road - most taxis and mini buses) but it meant that we wouldn’t be able to get to the airport. The airport is high above the city - at least a half ... read more
Our plane - too small......
The runway at Rurrenabaque
Rainbow over the church in Rurrenabaque


Rurrenabaque is a small riverside town in the Bolivian Amazon Basin. It's now a hub for tourists like us who plan on going to either The Pampas or deeper into the jungle. The Pampas are Amazonian wetlands that are home to thousands of species of plants and animals which is what we were hoping to see plenty of. There's a few thousand people living in Rurre, and tourism is their livelihood. The town buzzes with local shops, moto-taxis, and tour agencies. I think it was Sunday when we arrived via our raft. Martin, Wencke, Sarah and I got the same hotel accommodation sorted out. We looked around town that night and set about getting tours arranged for Monday. As I mentioned, There are two main options that you have to choose from in Rurre: Do you ... read more
Mono
King Heron
Monkeys!


Hola everyone! We just returned from the Jungle and the Pampas in Rurrenabaque, Bolivia (Amazonas). We took a 3 day tour in the Pampas with our guide "Kikay" or Kiki I called him, and another 3 days in the Jungle with our quite but fun guide "Jaun". Its a 35min army plane ride or 23 hour bus ride along the "Most dangerous road" - literally, two of the girls said the wheel was hanging off the edge, and they also blew a tire... Vanessa road this home from the Jungle 2 days ago... me and Siri flew!!) The Pampas were amazing, other than the 3 hour bumpy jeep ride to our boats, but there were 7 of us girls (including me, Vanessa and Siri) which was fun. In meeting Kikay within 10min of our boat ride ... read more




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