Welcome To The Jungle, We've Got Ice Cold Coke.

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4:15 in the morning and we drag ourselves out of bed in preparation for our Pampas adventure!
Taxi to the airport for our 35min flight, as opposed to a 20h bus trip!

Stepping out of the twenty seater plane we were hit by a wall of hot, humid air. After breakfast in a nice French bakery we were ready to begin our trip. We bundled into the back of an old land-cruiser for a sweltering 3h drive to the river, stopping for petrol and queueing for about twenty mins was torture!

We clambered aboard the boat (traditional Amazon style, with 15 horse power motor cobbled on the back), for the other section of the journey to the lodge. Whilst on the boat we saw loads of different animals and birds. Including, but not exclusively, Alligators (not crocodiles, Adam!), camen, squirrel monkeys, pink dolphins, howler monkeys (red and black), capybaras, prehistoric chicken thingys, herons, eagles and other birds.

When we arrived to the lodge, a little after schedule as the propeller got jammed causing us to have to be towed by another boat, we were welcomed with much needed cookies and ice cold juice. Before dinner we went up river a little way to watch the sunset, and after a great meal we went out star gazing, reptile watching and firefly spotting before getting into our mosquito netted beds.

Next morning was another early start as we went to see the sun rise before heading back for breakfast. After breakfast we wellybooted up and traipsed off to a swamp area to hunt for anaconda. After finding two anaconda, a crab, some giant snail shells and getting a fleeting glimpse of a rattlesnake, we returned to camp in the stifling eleven O'clock heat for a well earned lunch and couple of hours hammock time!

Feeling rested, Domingo the guide, took us out on the boat again to catch our own dinner. Hopefully piranha was on the menu! Although ironically getting the little blighters to bite was a lot harder than previously thought. They seemed to be able to take the meat and swap it for a leaf without being felt on the line. Stuart eventually managed to catch two big ones, one red (most aggressive) and one white (least). We headed back with a total of 15, most of which were caught by the chef, who fried them later for our dinner. Very tasty they were too!

Nice late start for the final day of the tour. The day before Domingo gave us the option of dolphin swimming or jungle trekking. Everyone opted for the jungle trek so we went down river to a supposedly haunted old camp where we found fire ants and many medicinal trees and even put flowers on our faces to look like pixies. We also saw a lizard which was the high point of the day for Charlene.

Back for lunch then headed back to Rurrenbaque where we spent a hot and mostly sleepless night before heading back to La Paz tired and bitten.

Now planning to relax in Sucre for a bit, will update again soon.

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