Monkeying around with the pink dolphins

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After an evening relaxing in Rurre at a dream of a hotel, complete with hammocks in the garden, we were refreshed and ready for stage 2. Complete with a new guide and cook we set for a dusty three hour drive through villages towards the Rio Yacuma from where we caught another narrow river boat.

The previous trip had been through more remote and unspoiled territories, where we only once briefly spotted other foreigners. The pampas tour was quite different, as it appears to be the main trip that gringos do in the area. We were quite glad that our group only consisted of the six of us, as other boats looked somewhat overcrowded and cramped, whereas we had to luxury to lie back and watch the wildlife all around.

I´m no twitcher, but I couldn't fail to be impressed by the sheer numbers and diversity of the birdlife we saw over the next 3 days. Condors, eagles, toucans, kingfishers, vultures and countless others whose names we´ve forgotten, including some of the largest birds I´ve ever seen. Every corner we turned seemed to reveal more.



On the first night we arrived at our campsite just before sunset. Unlike the jungle trip, we were housed in little huts on stilts with mozzie net walls and additional individual nets over the beds, a wise move considering the ferocity of the insects when the sun went down. Those Christmas gifts of high strength DEET spray came in very handy! Another good reason for not camping at ground level was the local residents - alligators and caimens. A camp a short distance away had one happily sitting outside the kitchen door like a guard dog. We stopped to take a closer look (but not too close), although our guide was unfazed and fed him meat. The noise as he snapped shut his ample jaws will stick with me for a while.



Later that same evening we ventured out in the boat to spot alligators in the dark. Mindful of the large specimens we´d spotted in daylight, we were somewhat aware of the relative flimsiness of the boat as we shone torches around, looking for the orange glow of their eyes. We spotted around five or six, but none seemed too interested in us.

One option for the trip was to go traipsing through the pampas, looking for anacondas in the mud. Having no real desire to stand on one, our group unanimiously elected to take another boat trip instead. A wise choice, considering a friend in another group reported back that it was a miserable, muddy and snake free venture anyway. Meanwhile, we spent four hours watching pink dolphins swimming in the river, playfully leaping around the boat but tantilisingly being too fast to photograph well. A capybara was spotted on the shore (think of a big pig crossed with a hamster) and sat there unconcerned as we got close enough to almost touch. Dozens of little spider(?) monkeys inhabited the trees near the water, coming close to examine us, with tiny babies clinging to the mothers fur. Howler monkeys called all around us, whilst turtles sunned themselves on logs and more caimen lurked in the shaded waters.


We had further opportunities to try our hand at piranha fishing, with more success this time, as Luke caught one and others took the total to five. Sadly, in my case, the fishing gene has been passed to my sister instead.

Bearing in mind the pirhana and caimen filled river, we were slightly apprehensive about the afternoon swimming excursion. Heartened by the news that the pirhanas prefer to swim in shallow water and are scared off by pink dolphins anyway, we jumped in when we saw the dolphins, eager for the opportunity to swim with them, or at least within a metre or two. Another (futile) fishing excursion followed, only fair considering they´d decided not to bite us I guess, followed by a trip to the sunset bar. Amazing what you can find on the middle of nowhere!




Our final day was an early start at 5.30, with a boat ride to a spot on the pampas to watch the sunrise, followed by a lesson in natural medicine as our guide sought out the specific tree type for bark to cure the upset stomach of one of our group. Added to hot water, it tasted as you´d expect water and bark to taste, but seemed to do the trick.

Before heading back towards civilsation, we had the chance to try our skills at some handcrafts, making pendants and rings from various nuts. Looking somewhat like a tribe in our matching necklaces, we headed back towards Rurre for another go in those hammocks and a night at the Mosquito (what else?) Bar.

Fears of delayed/cancelled/ overbooked planes the next day proved to be unfounded as we took off the next morning in the smallest plane I´ve ever been in. Despite the airfield resembling a ploughed field, the journey passed smoothly with spectacular views of the jungle, followed by more opportunities to closely admire the mountains encircling La Paz. The journey got a tad bumpy at this point, if the nervous gasps from the person sitting behind me are anything to go by, but after a few sharp and steep turns over the city, we landed safely. Back to the heights of La Paz for another breathless day of shopping and organising ourselves for the onward journey to Lake Titicaca.

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