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Published: April 18th 2007
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Rurrenabaque
The main shopping street in peaceful Rurre. After the delights of our jungle expedition, we decided to stay in Rurrenabaque for an extra day before flying back to La Paz. We hadn´t banked on it being so very hot and humid though - far worse than it was in the jungle - and so we pretty much spent most of the day wilting in our room and catching up on sleep. So much for that idea!
In the evening, we hunted around for somewhere cheap to eat and ended up at a little chicken roasthouse where we ate for under 20 Bs instead of the whopping 80 Bs we paid last night. We both tucked into big portions of rice and chips with fried bananas while Glynn also had a big bit of chicken. Well worth the money.
While we were wandering around the small town in search of food, we bumped into Lizzie, one of the English girls from the other group at our camp. She said everyone was meeting in the Mosquito Bar for drinks so after dinner, Glynn and I headed over that way and partook in a couple of nice cold beers in the company of our new friends.
During
Jungle Coms
Even in the jungle it´s possible to get internet access although it will cost you at least 15 Bs an hour (it´s only 3 Bs in La Paz!) the course of the evening, an English lady whom we had met in the chaos at Reyes airport when we arrived here, came over to tell me what a nightmare trip she had had with Anaconda Tours in the Pampas. It reinforced our feeling that we not only chose an excellent agency in Inca Land Tours but also that it was worth spending just a few dollars more to get a better standard of accommodation, food and guide. We´ve since heard from other people that Anaconda are quite terrible unless you´re Israeli and like to booze and drug it up every night. We paid just US$75 each for the 3 day trip and I don´t think there's a single thing I would have wanted to change about it. It goes to show that in some cases, you really do get what you pay for!
Our final day in Rurrenabaque was seriously hot but not quite as humid so we made the most of the opportunity and went exploring on our own. Across the river from Rurre is a small town called San Buenaventura and just 1 Bolviano got us a ride on the little wooden passenger ferry.
We
Where is Everyone?
There´s not much going on in Rurrenabaque! spent a good hour walking down almost every alley and street and didn´t encounter a single tourist along the way. The houses here were far simpler and more traditional than in the more tourist-orientated Rurre and we happily snapped away on our cameras, capturing the charming laid-back way of life of the people here. Along one street we found a little craft shop where a woman came out to meet us with the biggest ever smile. The shop was full of jungle jewellery similar to the necklaces and rings we made yesterday. The lady seemed so chuffed that we were there that we felt we couldn´t leave without buying something so I bought a pair of sleeper earrings made from the same type of nut as my finger ring.
Down another street in the town, we stopped to look at a sign in a language we didn´t recognise. A man came out to greet us and explained that the sign was in Hebrew as he does a lot of business with the Isreaeli tourists who come to Rurrenabaque. He invited us into his workshop to show us what he makes and we were stunned to see all sorts of
Boat Park
Long Boats parked at the river´s edge. animal skins lying about the place. It turned out that he makes machete covers from these animal skins which are apparently legally killed in areas outside the protected national park. We saw the skins of a caiman and jaguar, armadillo and he even had a hat made out of the head of a plucked puma. It was too freaky!
Heading back to Rurrenabaque, we jumped back on the public ferry and I pulled out my camera to take a photo of the ride. Just as I did so, the old man at the helm beckoned for me to come to the back of the boat and placed the engine steering rod in my hands! I commandeered the boat just long enough for a stunned Glynn to take a picture and quickly handed it back to the old man before I ran us aground.
Before checking in for our flight, we popped into a grocery store to pick up some drinks. A young lad was busy doing his homework and when I got chatting to his mum, she told me he was learning English. The boy was called Carl and he proudly showed me his homework and was happy
Corner Shoppe
Little grocery store in San Buen. to practice reading to me. Glynn then had a go at reading some Spanish - I was proud of them both! Carl seemed really excited to have us take an interest in him and his work so I gave him our email address in case he one day gets up the courage to write to us, which would be cool!
Our TAM military flight was due to leave at 4.30pm so we checked in nice and early, paid our 5 Bs each for the shuttle bus and made our way to Rurre's tiny grassy airport. The plane was late coming in and we didn´t take off until well after 5.30pm but we amused ourselves by watching a family of lizards skitting about in the grass near the landing strip and chatting to a friendly young German couple. The flight back was pretty noisy and not even the cotton wool handed out by the stewardess could dull the engine roar in our ears (I guess that means we experienced the same flight as you, Claire!)
When we landed back in La Paz, we briefly considered getting a taxi back to the hostel but at 40 Bs we turned on
Game Station
Glynn checks out the local arcarde in San Buen but they didn´t even have House of the Dead 1... our heel, headed outside the airport and flagged down a collectivo (shared minibus) for just 2 Bs each instead. That´s more like it! Arriving at Arthy´s Guest House felt like coming home and it was wonderful to see everyone again especially Ruben, the owner. We didn´t have the energy to fight our way through the crowds to a restaurant for dinner so we lazily ordered a takeaway pizza and spent the evening zonked out in front of the tv. It´s so good to be back!
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