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Published: September 14th 2008
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Monkey
We saw them everywhere Sorry about the number of photos!
Pampus Tour:
From La Paz I flew to Rurrenabaque. In a small propeller plane, 19 passengers, 40 min flight. It was much easier doing this then the 14 hour bus ride down gravel roads. The plane went from high Andies mountains to low land jungle. We landed on a grass runway. From there we got a bus, which got 15 ft and died. We all got out to lighten the load, gave it a push to jump start-it and we were off! 10min later we were in Rurre.
Rurre. is a small Jungle town pop. 13000. It seems to be set up for tourists. Full of restaurants, Bars, Internet cafes, shops selling all your jungle-travel needs.
You have 2 options for tours around here the 3 day 2 night Pampus Tour (the wetlands) or the Jungle Tour. I choose the Pampus Tour which I was told you would see more wildlife on it. I had booked it in La Paz 540bl($75-80) with Indigena Tours. It would have been a little cheaper if I had booked it in Rurre.
The Tour: 9:00 in the morning we start the first leg, 3hour jeep
ride (down one of the worlds dustiest roads) to the river Rio Yacuma. Where we then got in to an motorized Canoe. The second leg was a 3hour canoe ride that was very entertaining. within the first minute of travelling we saw our first alligator . This was the first of hundreds if not thousands of gators (or caiman) we will see. every 15 meters there would be another one and if it wasn´t a gator it would be a Canybara.
Now for any one who doesn´t know what a Canybara is! the easiest way to describe it is; think of a hamster that weighs 150 pounds. It is the largest rodent in the rodent family. They just sit along the river bank watching the tourist float by. We also saw a lot of different birds, monkeys, turtles and river dolphins.
We stopped for a while to swim with the dolphins. Yes. I said swim! The same river with all the alligators it is here we are swimming. Oh Yea! I have not mentioned the piranha. The river is full of Piranha. It was to hot of a day not to jump in and cool down. So we
Caiman
type of alligator jumped in. But the Dolphins didn´t want anything to do with us, and luckily the alligators and piranha didn´t care about us either.
The place we stayed along the river seemed like a jungle summer camp, with cabins, filled with mosquito nets, volleyball court, canoes, and monkeys (instead of squirrels). After sunset we did a night trip in the canoe. As we went down the river everywhere you shined your flashlight there would be eyes reflecting back at you. We pulled up along the bank where our guide jumped out, walked over and picked up a 2ft gator, to show us up close.
The following morning we went for a walk in search of Anacondas Away we go walking through the wall grass fields in search of a snake that can get up to 30ft long. Has also been known to swallow people whole. At this point I´m not sure if i really want to find any snakes. After about 1.5 hours of search we found a anaconda, a small 5-6ft one.Fifteen more minutes of searching and we come across a cobra, about 7-8 ft in length. This was the largest snake I have ever seen in the
wild. I´m glad we didn´t come across any 30foot snakes.
After walking back to the river we decided to take another dip, with alligators on shore watching us. This time no one told the piranha that we are above them in the food chain. Somini (British girl in our group) got a nice (or not so nice) chunk taken out of her big toe. (See Photos)
After Lunch we went to swim with the dolphins again. this time there was a alligator on shore teasing us. Sitting on shore between the boats watching us swim. Every once in a while he would get in the water and watch us. Too freak us out even more he would submerge totally for a minute or so. We would then all speculate which one of us would be the tastiest. then he would resurface in basically the same spot.
Later on in the afternoon Somini was to get her revenge. We went fishing for Piranhas. With chunks of beef stuck on our hooks. They would attack the hook as soon as it touched the water. By the time you pulled on the line to try and set the hook the
Me with the 8 foot long Cobra
And Yes he is very poisonness. meat was gone. We each caught a couple, but none were big enough to eat. I guess Somini did not get her revenge. That was OK, she is a vegetarian anyways.
The following day we headed back to Rurre. Overall it was a great time. for any one travelling to Bolivia the Pampus tour is a must and defiantly worth it.
Costs:
Pampus tour $75
Flight from La Paz to Rurre. $75
Flight from Rurre. to La Paz $75
Hostel in Rurre. 1 night was $4
Cheers
Tim
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Carmen Herrera
non-member comment
Your piranha bite photos for a TV documentary
Hello Tim, Would you be interested in making those photos available to me? I am currently producing a documentary on fish and am looking for still photographs of piranha bite wounds on people and animal as well footage of piranha attacks. Do you have anything I can possibly include in my documentary?? if you do, I'd love to hear from you so I can license them. Thank you, and hope to hear from you soon.