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Published: January 13th 2009
Happy New Year to one and all!!!
Our next point of embarkation was Puno and it was from here that we would enter Bolivia and head straight for its captial, La Paz. We got what we expected to be a harmless bus ride but we were a little off the mark. We were all told to get off the bus when we reached a narrow part of Lake Titicaca and like sheep we were herded to a little boat that had certainly seen better days and ferried across to the other side of the drink. About half way across the lake we turned around to see our bus on what can only be described as a rather unstable floating device. A boat it was not! It was quite strange but we´ve now come to expect the unusual and we just don´t seem to be questioning things as much as we used to. THIS IS SOUTH AMERICA!!
We soon arrived in La Paz and quite soon after we booked a trip to the jungle. Bolivia is cheap as chips and so it is where many people make their trip into the wild and we were no different. Aside from a nice
Boat to freedom
Note the local ladies at the frontInidian meal we didn´t do a whole lot in La Paz. There is plenty to do but we were feeling a little under the weather so we used the time to watch some DVDs and recouperate in the hostel bar. Being an Irish owned hostel, there is a certain party ethic that we couldn´t help but be infected by
We opted to fly to the town from which we would make our trip into the jungle rather than the 18 hour bus journey through among other death traps, the world´s most dangerous road. We flew in on another flying matchbox and the steep descent into a clearing in the jungle and onto a clay and grass runway is something that everyone should experience if you enjoy that level of panic
Having spent one night in the town of Rurrenbaque we stocked up the jeep and with 3 others in our group, a chef and a tour guide we set off on a 3 hour jeep ride to the river Beni. The integrity of the roads were questionable and the tanker that got stuck on a particularly wet and muddy part of the road presented our driver with an opportunity to
The bus follows
Only in Bolivia and a number of other South American countries show us what he was made of. We drove up over a clay mound and narrowly avoided toppling into a ditch, with hilarious results. Unfortunately the jeep that followed us was not so lucky and we watched from the comfort of a flat road as they slid and barely skidded to safety. We made it to the river Beni and waited for our next mode of transport to arrive. Having thrown our stuff on the boat which seemed unnecessarily long at the time, we set off again on another 3 hour trip up the river to our lodge. Within the first 15 minutes on the boat the trip had been worth it. The amount of wildlife we saw was unbelievable. The Amazon has about 30 percent of the world´s land species and we must´ve seen it all. As we moved down the river an alligator surfaced right beside the boat and to just within a few feet of Vicki. With a cat-like reflex Victoria, armed with insect repellant and her lungs, unleashes an aggressive surge of spray in the general direction of the beast and a scream the likes of which hasn´t been heard in the Amazon since a tribal
Dinky plane
Rurrenbaque bound war. Our chef got a great kick out of this and was laughing for a good 10 minutes after it happened. Along the river there were more alligators than we could count along with turtles, monkeys, a huge variety of birds, pink river dolphins and capybaras which are the biggest rodents in the world. We were like a young group of David Attenboroughs!
We got to our lodge filled with anticipation of what was yet to come and we had barely thrown our bags down and we were off down to the shop. We use the term shop loosely. It was more of a family hut on the side of the river and only to be reached by boat. Here some of us got drawn into a game of volleyball with the family as Vicki occupied herself with a tiny pup. There were two young lads of about 10 and 12 indescriminantly thumping each other around while also playing volleyball with us. They were like young Bolivian Cunningham brothers and Conor was in convulsions watching them unable to play and laughing like an idiot. Having narrowly lost the game we bought some drink and headed back to the lodge for
The face of wonder
The first 15 minutes of the boat ride the first of many slap up meals courtesy of our Darina Allen-esque chef. After dinner we went out on the boat armed with a torch and a camera. As we moved down the river at night we could see nothing but as soon as we turned on a torch there were hundreds of alligators eyes reflecting back at us. It was really something else. They were everywhere! This was followed by a few quiet drinks in the hammock until the generator was turned off and we were left in darkness. We could do nothing but crawl under our mozzie nets and into bed with the soothing sounds of the jungle to lull us to sleep. The following morning we were up early and set off on a forest trek in search of snakes. We had to cross 'the Pampas' or savannah in the blistering heat with no shade and this was a killer but well worth it. Mozzies, mozzies everywhere! We´ve come to the realisation that we don´t mind being bitten, it´s the high pitched buzzing that´s would drive you insane. If you´re going to bite us please do it quietly! In the forest there were all sorts of spiders
The face of fear
The first 15 minutes of the boat ride as well and we walked down through a dried out river bed looking for those evasive serpents. With Conor´s eagle eyes he saw what turned out to be a cobra nipping into a whole and when we called Yuri, our guide, over he tried to entice it out only to point out that there was an anaconda at a tree trunk about 5 feet away. It wasn´t as big as those in Venezuela but it wasn´t a bad effort. It bit Yuri´s water bottle a few times which was fun. Of course Vicki wanted to keep the group from harm and offered to wrestle the creature for our amusement and safety. We eventually managed to convince her otherwise but she sure is a wild woman! Having lost half our weight in sweat we made in back across the pampas and after a brief respite we set off on the boat for a spot of piranha fishing. Their methods are basic but the locals catch them by the dozen. We amateurs began by catching little more than a few mackerel but eventually we got on the points board with some piranha. If it wasn´t for Yuri it would have been a
lean dinner that evening. The guy was catching them for fun. Then it was off to watch the sun set in a river side bar. We were amazed by the size of a caiman (breed of alligator) skull in the bar and were told that this 15 foot monster was killed a few years ago when it tried to eat a local boy. Mad stuff! Then it was back to the lodge for an interesting dinner of piranha and rice. There is not much to say about piranha meat. As far fish meat goes it´s quite bland and there´s very little meat on it. Give us a battered cod any day! The next morning Yuri took us to swim with the fishes and not in a mobster sort of way. We went to an embankment along the river and Yuri coaxed out some alligators with meat. Of course some of us patted one of them on the head, as you do. Then we hopped into the river for a swim. In the river there were alligators, river dolphins and piranhas but we couldn´t see anything because the river was far too muddy. As we were swimming Yuri told us that
no touist had ever been injured by animals since these tours were being done but 2 guides had. An alligator bit one guide on the face. Our jungle tour came to an end and we made the boat trip back up the river and the jeep ride which seemed a lot longer this time and finally we got back to Rurrenbaque. That night was...unpleasant. We must have got food poisoning or something because we were both suffering. The sweltering heat and lack of air conditioning were a few little daggers but we´re still here and better off for it. God Bless us everyone!
Another hop, skip and jump on the toy plane and we were back in La Paz. We spent the next few days recovering and then it was off to Sucre. This is a popular town in the south of Bolivia and we enjoyed the laid back atmosphere. We spent a lot of time here eating and we also visited one of the biggest palaentelogical sites in the world...or so they claim. It was a sort of dinosaur museum with fossils, life size dinosaurs and a very enthusiastic tour guide like Ross Gellar from friends. There are also
Vultures
They sensed we were close to the end a few thousand dinosaur footprints which Conor found amazing along with pretty much everything else in the museum bringing back the days of his school projects when he was nowt but a lad. One evening we made our way around the Christmas markets sampling a number of the chocolatey delights and general niceties
Due to time constraints we left Sucre and got a bus to Santa Cruz. Courtesy of our families we got to spend a few nights in a 5-star resort with our own suite, 3 swimming pools and all the amenities that we haven´t see hide nor hair of since we began our travels. It was more than a welcome change. Thanks guys! It was hugely appreciated
Thanks to those dear to us we had time to recover and laze about for a few days before leaving Bolivia and testing out the waters in Brazil
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The Egg
non-member comment
New Year, New Times
First of all I'd like to say please stop looking like Abercrombie models while snake hunting! You're asposed to have torn clothes and dirty faces. I'd appreciate it if you could post that puppy home, he's very cute. I dont think I'd like the jungle much.....plus, nobody likes the squits. I'd like to see that dinosaur place and your comments on Ross Gellar? Kudos my friend, kudos. Have more times and blog some more. I might even start a scrap book!! Layhers guys, keep on rockin' xx