Rurrenabaque - The Amazon

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Since the beginning of my trip I was successful to circumvent the worlds most biodiverse region the Amazon without touching it. Safe the best for last could be my motto but the truth is that I was always to far away or it was just too expensive to go. I finally got my chance in Bolivia. The main hub for the Amazon jungle and pampas tours here is Rurrenabaque (or Rurre) which must the one of the best (and cheapest) places to go. The rainforest here is in near pristine condition as not many people live around here and it is quite hard to get to. That they put the whole place under protection and made a National park out of it might have helped.

The normal way to get to Rurre is to take an 18 hour bumpy bus ride from La Paz but honestly I’m over the long bus journeys and so I decided to fly. A good and bad decision as it turned out. Rurre has only a grass landing strip and is only served by one small company. The planes they fly there are tiny 20 seater twin propeller engine planes. That in itself is not a problem but it can be if the weather isn’t great. When I rocked up at the airport they told me that the flight is a little bit delayed. I thought I was lucky when I boarded the plane 5 hours later and took off. Well we turned around after 10 minutes as the weather changed for the worse in Rurre and landing wasn’t possible. As it turned out my flight was delayed by 24 hours. I was quite lucky to be able to fly the next day as one girl which I met at the airport had to wait for four days. Anyway we had a good time in the airport sitting in Burger King and watching the football.

To celebrate that we finally arrived in Rurre the whole group I met at the airport went to a karaoke bar. Needless to say that I didn’t sing as my cough was still not better…

Rurre is a nice small town with not a lot to do but has nice bars and cafes. The day after I arrived I booked myself into a 3 day jungle tour with two English guys I met during the mountain bike trip earlier. The trip starts with a 3 hour boat tour up the Beni river into the more remote parts of the jungle. Remote they are but that doesn’t mean that you can’t have a bit of comfort. The camp we stayed in had proper huts, beds with mattresses and great mosquito nets which are needed. The thing to do in the jungle is to walk around in it which we did quite a lot. I think in total we must have spent close to 12 hours wandering around in the three days and we saw … next to nothing. Honestly the jungle is empty or the animals hide quite well. We saw and smelled (they stink like well pigs) lots of wild pigs, two red squirrels which look exactly like the ones at home, one monkey high up in the tree and a couple of trees. It was still a good trip as our guide was very enthusiastic even about the wild pigs which he must see every day. When he heard them we had to be quiet and sneak up on them even if we saw some just 10 minutes ago.
The other “wildlife” we saw was in a form of an anteater but it doesn’t really count as it lived next to the ticket office. It is one of the strangest looking animals and was a very keen finger sucker. No idea why it did it but it was a funny feeling. After the second day all the others left and it was just the two English guys, me and our guide left at the camp.

After coming back to Rurre I booked myself straight into a Pampas tour. Rumours had it that you can see lots more animals (not hard really) than in the jungle. Right they were. During the lunch break on the first day we saw a toucan, a “wild” pig and another strange animal which all live in the restaurant we had lunch in.
The river we cruised down was full of crocodiles and piranhas which didn’t stop our guides to tell us to go swimming with the pink dolphins that inhabit these parts. Apparently the crocodiles stay away from the areas where the dolphins live… but they didn’t mention what the piranhas do.
The morning of the second day was dedicated to hunt anacondas. I always though that those snakes would live in a nice forest on solid ground. Wrong. They live in a swamp which stinks and where the water is often deeper than your gumboots are high. Thank god at least we found a Cobra and an Anaconda. In the evening we did finally what I was here for Piranha fishing. Not that I caught one nor were the ones that others caught really big but it was great sitting in a boat dropping a line while drinking cold beer.
Apart from the animals mentioned I also saw monkeys, lots of birds and a few Capybara. Capybaras are the worlds largest rodent look surprisingly similar to guinea pigs but are the size of a pig. Pretty cool (or stupid) animals as they didn’t run away when our boat came close (the alligators took off).

Next stop La Paz and then on to Potosi

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Photos

The plane
A really nice little 20 seater. Note the grass landing strip. The funny thing is that the departure tax was as high as it was from La Paz airport. Not sure what they do with the money as there is not a lot to maintain..

Finger licking good
This anteater lived next to the ticket office and was obsessed with licking everyone’s finger. No idea why but it was a funny feeling. They do not have teeth but a very long tongue
And please no inappropriate jokes.

Feeding of the alligators
There were two or three alligators which showed up around breakfast time to be fed by the guides.

One of the piranhas someone caught
Looks pretty but it has teeth like a shark