Blogs from Beni Department, Bolivia, South America - page 34

South America » Bolivia » Beni Department » Rurrenabaque May 4th 2006

The big jungle trip began with a very early start in La Paz, around 5am...some fellow travellers didn´t make it back from the pub that night so we were delayed until the agents finally decided to ditch them. Once on our way, pretty much having an entire bus to ourselves, we headed off for the Death Road which leads down from La Paz to the jungle below, and which crazy Gringos choose on a regular basis to mountain bike down. The bus journey confirmed my fears about this road, and I´m quite happy not to have taken the bike. Imagine, if you will, an essentially single-track road winding down a valley from 4km up through the clouds, hugging the side of the mountain. On one side, you have a cliff face with occasional waterfalls running over ... read more

Welcome to the Jungle, We've Got Fun and Games!

South America » Bolivia » Beni Department » Rurrenabaque April 24th 2006

Jungle Love

Amanda and Griffin Schutt

He stopped like a bird dog on the prowl. His left leg frozen in a bent, half-way-there position. His ears perked and his head cocked slightly to the side. We had learned after days of following him though the jungle that whatever movement he made, we were to do the same, and so, we froze. For three days we followed our fearless Amazon leader, Orlando, like children playing a game of “Follow the Leader”. If one of us failed to do as Orlando, we were in a very grown-up way, considered to be “out”…out of luck that is. We followed this stranger as if we had known and trusted him for years, fully aware that if he were to leave our side, we would be lost for a long, long, time. Knowing what we wanted to ... read more

Rurrenabaque

South America » Bolivia » Beni Department » Rurrenabaque April 12th 2006

Trolley Dolly

So...on to Rurrenabaque, which is the deepest into the Amazon Basin we have ventured. We decided against taking the bus for the 24hr journey across un-paved road (the route by road takes you down ´The Worlds Most Dangerous Road´again!), but instead settled on a TAM (bolivian military airline) flight. The flight itself went smoothly, and the flight crew was most attentive, serving dodgy sandwiches and REAL coca-cola (which is more than you get on sleazy-jet!). The landing was interesting....on descent from the clouds all that was visible was grass and trees, see pics! Getting off the plane, we were hit by the intense heat and humidity. The landscape was totally different to that of La Paz and the altiplato, even though we were only a hundred miles or so North. In Rurre ourselves and another couple ... read more

Searching for pink dolphins

South America » Bolivia » Beni Department » Rurrenabaque April 7th 2006

Through the pampas

Hayley

We left La Paz for Rarrenabaque by plane, not wanting to take the bus as you have to go down the Death Road. We went with Amaszonas airways, in a tiny 12 seat plane. It was amazing, the views were just stunning, we could see all over La Paz and went through the mountains, and when we left the Altiplano we could see the drop to almost sea level. The landscape was completely different just 15 Min's after leaving La Paz we were in the tropical rain forest. We were here to go to the Pampas, a trip along the river Beni to see tons of wildlife. We left the next day with Anaconda tours, in a jeep - with our guide and our cook, 3 other girls and 3 guys. The jeep trip itself was ... read more

Stumble in the Jungle

South America » Bolivia » Beni Department » Rurrenabaque April 6th 2006

On our way to Coroico

jimandmel

Sorry for the double-whammy but there is a bus strike in la Paz, so we are stuck here and bored. Hope you enjoy our walk on the wild side, or just flicking through the photos. The World's Most Dangerous Road runs from La Paz towards the rainforest and is so named due to its accident rate. The road meanders up the side of the mountains, with a drop approaching 1000m in places. The worst single road accident in history occured here, when a truck carrying 100 people plunged over the edge. Not really our cup of tea! We had three options: to do what everybody does - ride Death Road to Coroico with one of the many tour companies (we had already done a much higher, better and more interesting ride); catch the bus (err, see ... read more

Better than the Zoo / Mejor que el Zoo

South America » Bolivia » Beni Department » Rurrenabaque March 26th 2006

Up close and personal with Federico / Un primer plano de Federico

Mark and Marias Great Adventure

After arriving well early in Rurrenabaque ("Rurre" to the locals), we found ourselves a place to sleep and after a hearty breakfast we spent the rest of the morning in bed trying to recover from the journey in that meat grinder we mistook for a bus (see previous blog). In the afternoon we went out looking for an agency to take us on our next adventure. There are plenty of agencies to choose from, and they offer pretty much the same services and charge more or less the same price. The most popular trips entail spending 2 or 3 days either in The Jungle or in Las Pampas (literally The Flatlands). So our first challenge was deciding on which type of tour to go for. Las Pampas was described as a pleasant journey down the river ... read more

Sunrise in Las Pampas - Amanecer en Las Pampas

Roaming the Pampas with Anacondas and Dolphins

South America » Bolivia » Beni Department » Rurrenabaque March 17th 2006

Hoatzin on the Watch

mjtimber

Well, after all the difficulty of getting to Rurrenbaque, we were a bit tired and could have used some rest. Our tour guides had other ideas. We were picked up at the airport at 11:30am and taken to the Anaconda Tours office to confirm our tour and check in. By 12:30 we were ready to go, a full three and a half hours after when we were supposed to leave Rurrenbaque. It was a three hour plus 4x4 ride to reach our destination of Santa Rosa, where we ate a late lunch. The cook was riding in the back with Sara and pointing out birds that she might see from our camp, along with pointing of those of interest along the side of the road, including the Greater Rhea, which is similar to an ostrich. Sara ... read more

A Long Bike Ride and Longer Plane Ride

South America » Bolivia » Beni Department » Rurrenabaque March 14th 2006

Blessing Before the Ride

mjtimber

Hi all, back from an exciting three days of seeing wildlife in steamy regions of Bolivia. Currently, we are in Rurrenbaque, a small jungle town that caters to tourist visiting Madidi National Park, one of the most biodiverse places on earth, with over 1,000 bird species (more than all of the United States) in a space only slightly larger than Rhode Island. We did not see all of them, but Sara made an honest effort. On a separate note, I am welcoming all comments, good or bad (please, not ugly), either just to hear from people enjoying it or from people telling me to shorten my entries (yes, sometimes they drag on too long). Now, back to La Paz for our supposedly short plane ride to Rurrenbaque and our additional travels in the city. Well, after ... read more

Welcome to the jungle.....

South America » Bolivia » Beni Department » Rurrenabaque March 14th 2006

Sunrise over the Pampas

Rich and Zoe

....and we´ve had fun and games!! We have just returned from a week in the jungle in Northern Bolivia (Rurrenabaque). We spent 3 days in the Pampas, lowlands plains which last year got totally flooded, and is now waist high in water) and then 2 days in the Selva (tropical jungle with lots of insects and very hot!!). Instead of describing everything we did, we are going to let our photos do the talking! From here we have now slightly changed our plans, as we have found out that Manu Chau is doing a tour of South America right now, and is playing in Cochabamba (a city towards the south of Bolivia) tomorrow night! So we are on the bus down there tonight, and hoping to get tickets tomorrow!! Lots of love to you all, sorry ... read more

Rurrenabaque and the junglist massive

South America » Bolivia » Beni Department » Rurrenabaque March 2nd 2006

Sunset over the pampas

George the Greek

We've been on the road now for about 3 months, more or less, and the whole time we've been up in the mountains (except for the Galapagos excursion, which was something of a holiday within a holiday). Many moons ago my good friend Pete had also travelled these parts, and the one recommendation that I remembered was that we should go to Rurrenabaque, or Rurre as it's more often called. Having spent so much time up in the clouds we were looking forward to getting down to jungle level, and seeing some of the teeming wildlife that we'd heard and read much about. The journey there was, well, different. We'd biked down from La Paz to Coroico and from there caught a bus bound for Rurre. It was claimed that this bus had toilets and fully ... read more

Brief history of Bolivia

Bolivia, named after independence fighter Simon BOLIVAR, broke away from Spanish rule in 1825; much of its subsequent history has consisted of a series of nearly 200 coups and counter-coups. Comparatively democratic civilian rule was established in 1...more history

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