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Published: August 21st 2011
The biggest drawback about La Paz, is of course, trying to breathe at 13000ft due to lack of oxygen.
The biggest drawback about Rurrenabaque, is of course, trying to breathe at 700ft due to the excess of searing heat.
You cannot win in this crazy country.
Rurrenabaque was our base for a trip to the jungle/pampas. There is a difference between the two, but it is far too complicated to go into just now, and will take up valuable time that is better spent on animals. Oh well, ok. The jungle has lots of trees, while the pampas is wide open plains. Our trip proved to be a mixture of the two – a sort of “junpas”.
Our flight to Rurre (as it is known), was on a military plane and came with all the comforts that you could imagine. It served a purpose and got us there, where everybody immediately got out cameras to take photographs of the stunning scenery surrounding the terminal (wooden hut) . Sadly, nobody managed to take any decent photographs as every camera lens steamed up due to the intense heat. As most of you will be aware, your correspondent does not
function well in hot conditions, and indeed, I quickly scanned my surroundings for emergency supplies, but could not see any beer.
Hostal Oriental was our base and it was very tropical indeed. Hammocks were strung between trees in the patio and our room had a ceiling fan providing much needed air. It was roasting here. It was even too hot to stand still (this caused me much despair as that is my normal default speed) and even sat in bars was particularly uncomfortable. Thankfully, we had been informed that it got chilly here, so we had packed fleeces, jumpers and every item of cold weather clothing that we had. ‘Twas no wonder the locals stared.
Once we had stripped off (‘twas no wonder the locals stared again !!!) a wander round the town started. A market was in full swing by the river bank although we were overheating just walking along, so a friendly casa was found for cold beer and food. A pleasant town. Well, worth a visit if you have a spare weekend. Quite a colonial outpost feel. Sleep was troubled. Either one was kept awake by the noise of the ceiling fan, or if it
was turned off, one was kept awake by baking in bed – my scones were tasty though (a vain attempt at humour).
The next morning found us outside the tour company’s office awaiting our vehicle to take us on our adventure. Sitting there sweltering, I was hoping for a modern 4x4 type with tinted windows and air conditioning. Strangely, the car that arrived did not quite fit that image. After all bags and rucksacks and food was piled on the roofrack, eight intrepid explorers were piled in the back, sat facing each other, lined up four on a bench. It did have windows but there was as much chance of being suffocated by the dust created on the dry, dirt tracks, or being clumped on the head by a stone flying through the open window. We were told it would be a three hour drive to the river and boats to take us to the junpas – a very unpleasant journey beckoned.
A very unpleasant journey occurred – accompanied by a puncture. Some of the intrepid explorers volunteered to help change the wheel, although your correspondent was not one of them. He was too busy looking for a
tree to stand under in the shade – not one was to be found.
Eventually (after three hours funnily enough) we reached the river and boats. The boats were long canoes with an outboard motor at the back. It was long enough for four pairs of seats, space for all rucksacks and room for our guide and navigator. His name was Bismar and was all in all a first class chap. Burly with a mop of black, curly hair, he was frightened by nothing and full of information of our surroundings.
Our group comprised of a Dutch couple, an Israeli couple, a South Korean girl and a French girl, oh and a Scotsman and a Welsh woman who have appeared in these blogs on and off. We clambered in to the boat and set off. W and I were sat at the front for this journey up river to our campsite, which took about two hours. The heat was hotter than ever and with the sun beating down, we took to wearing our new hats which made us look like extras from a bad Foreign Legion film.
The boat took about a minute to reach the first
corner after which there was panic in our breasts. Bloody hell, alligators everywhere. In fact – gators to the right of them, gators to the left of them, into the valley of teeth sailed the shaken eight!! The boat had no guns, no sharp, pointy sticks to defend ourselves with against these rather large lizards with impenetrable scales and huge sharp teeth – nay not just lizards, these things are dinosaurs, pure and simple. They stared at us with baleful, unblinking eyes, with thoughts of feeding frenzies going through their minds – thankfully, in situations like this I always carry a small puppy or kitten as a suitable replacement, so any unpleasantness was avoided.
The banks were lined with these creatures. They are scary enough when they sit motionless on the riverbanks, but when the slip silently in to the water, just leaving their eyes above for a last look and disappear into the muggy, brown depths it is rather startling. Bismar told us not to worry as an alligator will not eat a human as it is too small!!! He didn’t mention anything about them tearing an arm off for a snack though. Apparently though, the caiman on
the river will happily attack and eat us. An alligator is about 6-7ft long, a caiman can grow up to 15ft.
Despite worrying about the boat being attacked by teeth, the banks were teeming with the veritable fauna and flora. Plants and trees the likes of which only grow close to the river housed no end of brightly coloured butterflies and birds. Herons, cranes and storks fished in silence beside the alligators, while paradise birds sat in the branches and made strange puffing noises as we motored underneath – almost like they were passing judgement on us.
Soon, we all felt eyes upon us and looking towards starboard we had a surprise. There stood quite peacefully and without a care in the world was a capybara. A what ??? I hear you cry. Why, a capybara, the largest rodent in the world. I have never seen a relaxed looking animal in my life. It did not seem phased by alligators hunting so close to it, nor did it seem remotely concerned about our presence. To imagine what one looks like, have a peek at the photographs attached. Bismar told us that they are remotely related to rabbits –
third cousins twice removed methinks as they look nothing like a rabbit.
We arrived at our camp. It consisted of wooden cabins and huts with a main dining room and hammock area all built on stilts – when the rainy season comes, you had better get up high here. The camp itself was alive with capuchin and squirrel monkeys. It was impossible to look anywhere without seeing them. The capuchin were brown and larger than the squirrels who were a brightish yellow with a black cap on their heads. I could have spent a lifetime sat watching them. The camp was surrounded by thick jungle on three sides and the river in front. We were discouraged from venturing away from the camp and with strange noises and growls from the jungle and with vultures in trees by the river and alligators and caiman patrolling it’s shores, it was an easy choice not to roam far.
After settling in at camp, we went back out in the boat and up river to watch the sunset at the imaginatively titled Sunset Bar!!!! I shouldn’t laugh at it for it sold ice cold beer, which in the hot, sultry and windless
trees was a treasure. While we watched the sky turned every shade of red, orange, purple and white as the sun slowly settled over the pampas.
Bismar had told us to bring torches and on the way back to camp, our beams picked out amber eyes in the darkness of alligators and caiman who were submerged in the river. If that was not enough, Bismar then told us to turn off all light and he cut the engine. The boat floated through complete darkness for 15 minutes. No noise apart from the occasional splash of a fish jumping and the quiet slither as the big beasts slipped in to the river, near the boat, to start hunting. The only colour or light came from fireflies who would occasionally light up the pitch black shadows with flashes of green and yellow and orange. Nobody spoke, nobody moved. It seemed like we had been suspended in the dark . W called it magical. I would have to agree.
At night there was the joy of sleeping with a mosquito net around the bed. This led to a sweaty and sweltering night listening to the monkeys having some kind of territorial
battle above our heads. There were screams and shrieks and noises of things being dragged in to the bush. Just like Bournemouth Gardens at night. In the morning though, peace had been restored. I say peace. That of course is relative as we were woken by the throaty growls of a nearby troop of black howler monkeys which sounded like an angry lion that has been cornered by hyenas.
This new day brought a feel of excitement amongst us. Today we were going to be trackers and hunters. Firstly, we were to track through the pampas in search of anacondas !!! This was exciting enough, but Bismar put an extra edge on things when he told us that we might also find cobras and green mambas, both madly poisonous. This had two effects on the group. The five girls took stock of this information and proceeded very carefully, while the three boys took on a Lord of the Flies approach and charged through the tall grass screaming out cries of defiance to all snakes !!! With such enthusiasm we could not fail to find a serpent. Oh yes we could. Nowt, nada, nyet, nunca, rien. In the end we
had to be satisfied at looking at an anaconda discovered by another group in the pampas. It was a very nice anaconda, but not as nice as the one I was going to catch !!! We trudged back to the boat in the painfully hot sun while vultures circled overhead. I kid you not, we had about ten black vultures following us. To make it worse we were walking in single file and I was at the back – the one who always gets taken first in Tarzan movies.
After lunch and a siesta during which I tested how close I could get to the alligators sunning themselves near our boat – within a few feet was my best before one blinked and I ran about ten miles in the opposite direction – we went native and took up the quaint pastime of piranha fishing. The closest this can be compared to is crabbing. A bit of string wrappwrapped around wood with a bit of meat attached to the hook which is then dangled in the water hoping for a bite. This is usually safe when carried out at a harbour in UK , but this was in a
man eating fish infested river, with caiman watching closely and any number of buzzing insects ready to bite.
Our South Korean comrade was the most proficient amongst us, while I was a close second. There was a tenseness in the whole activity and so engrossed was I about trying new ways of catching the ferocious fish, that one managed to bite me on the finger !!!! There was a crazed scene as blood poured from me and the fish escaped back to the river. Luckily I am not one to panic and coolly managed to clean my gaping wound with alcohol and iodine while all around me were losing their control. For some reason Wendy has a slightly different recollection of the incident, which I am sure she will happily relate to those who wish to hear.
Another beautiful sunset closed off the day.
Our last day started in darkness as we were taken off in to the pampas to witness the sunrise. Just as beautiful . This day was going to consist of breakfast, swimming with dolphins , lunch then boat trip back to where we started and in to our vehicles to return back to
Rurre.
The first part was successful. Sunrise, then back to camp under the constant throaty growling of the black howler monkeys. Breakfast was dealt with and bags packed then we piled on to the boat and went in search of dolphins. The ones in the river are Pink Nosed Dolphins and when you find them it is ok to swim in the river as the alligators and caiman are scared of the dolphins and will not enter the water when they are about. Sadly, we didn’t find any, although we had seen several when going to camp a couple of days ago. Not even Bismar would swim without the dolphins about. There was a considerable bit of excitement though when we came across a tapir. What a strange looking beasty. A soft nose like an elephant’s trunk, a biggish black body with a short mohican haircut down it’s spine, hooved feet ( yet an excellent swimmer) and small almost pig-like eyes. Quite rare animal to find in the pampas.
That was the end of our adventures in the pampas. The boat took us back down river and then our vehicle took us back to Rurre.
How to
sum it all up :
I have never done anything like that before and the initial awe at the beauty of the surroundings and the amazement at all the wildlife did not decrease in the three days. I would defy anybody not to be moved by what we saw. If this is what people fight to protect, then count me in.
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Albert
non-member comment
idyllic (even if hot and crocodyllic). Forget the rock, bring me back a tapir!