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Hola amigos,
My last entry was just as we were leaving for the jungle, a 40 minute plane journey north from La Paz to Rurrenabaque, Bolivia, a popular place to visit the Amazon Basin from. This however was no normal flight, and no Boeing 747, as lined up against the large jumbo´s was our plane which seated about 9 and in the front seat as I was, you could see into the cockpit and oversee the pilots reassuringly cracking jokes and enjoying themselves. Just as we were getting over the size of the plane, we descended deep into the Amazon Basin, landing on a grassy strip cut out in the middle of the jungle, onto the formalities in the shack that was the airport. Apparently flights become cancelled when it rains, luckily however we were greeted by tropical weather conditions on our arrival.
From the airport we had a 3 hour hellish jeep ride and then a 3 hour float down the river to get to our "ecolodge" situated in the heart of the Amazon Basin. It was on this float that we witnessed our first wildlife in the pampas, as we saw howler monkies swinging about and howling,
Alligator
As I said, metres away from where we just were, eekparrots perched on trees making a lot of noise, and turtles clinging on to dear life on branches just above water level. We also caught our first glimses of the pink dolphins we were promised, they were numerous, splashing in and out of the water along the route to the lodge.
We arrived in the lodge at about 6pm, just in time for a quick change and another boat trip to a nearby sunset viewing point. We got off the boat and climbed onto a balcony, only to look down and see a huge alligator about a metre away from where we got off the boat, scary stuff. It was a pleasant enough sunset over the grassy pampas, although it can be easy to get used to sunsets having seen so many. Our lodge was fairly basic but luckily it had huge mosquito nets protecting us from the plentiful pesky things.
On the first morning of our trip we went on an anaconda hunt. I was unfortunately subjected to the film Anaconda in our hotel last night, it was terrible, however did illustrate the size of the killer snakes, which in real life can grow metres long, not
sure how sensible hunting for them was. Either way our guide was extremely knowledgeable, picking up snake skin and unearthing snake nests throughout the trek, however, disappointingly, no anacondas found. The trek was informative however, as we were shown trees containing poision, anaesthetics, and even branches which we cut down to make bags out of. After hours of wading and sweating we eventually navigated back to the boat and back to the hostel, for another cold shower. Later the same afternoon was another highlight of the trip, swimming with pink, and also non-pink dolphins. Though swimming with dolphins normally has a reputation for being therapeutic, fun, and calming, it seemed far from this in the murky waters of the Amazon. A group of about 6 of us jumped in the piranha infested waters and looked around unnervingly until every now and then the dolphins brushed past us, even nibbling on one girls toe until it bled. This is apparently friendly, and they were friendly creatures, playing with a water bottle our guide threw into the water. At one point one of them swam up to me and Sam, stopped, then splashed us repeatedly. All in all it was good fun
though, and a once in a lifetime experience for many. After a tiring day we went to a local grass field to exert ourselves even more, this time by playing football with some local Amazonians. It was quite a serious affair, but we gave a good account of ourselves, though the bare foot option was a bad one, as sandflies gnawed away at us, still have the scars as proof.
In general the trip was quite similar to our one to the Pantanal, and it was piranha fishing, and piranha, on the menu for the next morning, something we tried unsuccessfully in Brazil. Alas, this time it was less difficult, and after a couple of hours of the girls alongside me and Sam catching all manner of fish, we finally caught one each. They are feisty devils and upon landing them on the boat they snap around until eventually they give up and die a horrific death. Not much meat on them, but they were served as lunch nonetheless. This was our final activity and in the afternoon it was another arduous journey back to the town of Rurrenabaque. The Amazon was a fascinating place, and the diversity of
Ingenius
Branches for a bag flora and fauna made every other minute interesting. The town Rurrenabaque was a little less fascinating, however it did deliver us the opportunity to flex our karaoke muscles on the night; Roxeanne, Don´t Go Breaking my Heart, and Lady In Red being among the classics we stunned the locals with.
The next morning we were back in La Paz, and into the Wild Rover hostel where the fun was had before our flight out. On our return to La Paz, the Death Road awaited us, or rather awaited Sam; this is a road which has been dubbed the Most Dangerous World in the Road due to the amount of deaths recorded on it, and it is a popular mountain biking tourist attraction for the views afforded and ride offered. It awaited Sam, and not me, as during our week in La Paz sadly 10 people passed away on the road in separate incidents, including a 22 year old British lad and an American tourist. I, therefore, did not trust neither my balance, coordination, nor bowels to hold up on the road, which drops 12,000 feet in just 40 miles. Sam thoroughly enjoyed his time however, and whilst he was
there I visited the Valle De Luna with two Irish lads we had met in the hostel, this is a rock formation in La Paz which resembles the Moon, the highlight of which being a man perched metres up on a slim rock singing and playing a banjo. Bolivia and safety don´t seem to go hand in hand. On the night, me and Sam dressed in drag for the themed Wild Rover disco which was fun if not a little disturbing, and we met plenty of people and had a good time in the club after (this time we changed before we left the hostel).
After a day of recovery, we left La Paz for Copacabana, in the West of Bolivia, in order to see Lake Titicaca and the Isla Del Sol. The journey over there was eventful, as a lad called Ben we met from Wigan decided to tag along with us, and we hopped in a taxi with Antonio, a La Paz taxi driver who was a little crazy, very horn-happy and liable for the odd skid. We arrived in Copacabana a couple of hours later and settled into our hostel overlooking the stunning Lake Titicaca. The
Our Lodge
Looking out on the amazon lake itself is the largest in South America and also at a fair altitude, it is the highest commercially navigable lake in the world we were told. We navigated it on a large plastic swan, with a crate of beer, witnessing a sunset. Very classy. After a few beers and a game of poker with a Peruvian on the night, we arose early to visit Isla Del Sol, one of the 40 odd islands on the lake, and according to the Incas the birthplace of the Sun. The island itself was picturesque, however full of difficult trekking routes in order to get to archealogical sites and ancient ruins. It was a tiring day and we were relieved to be sitting in a restaurant at the top of the Island eating Trucha (Trout, the local speciality) and sipping on a beer. We also tried frantically to find a TV to watch the Man Utd Champions League Semi Final, to no avail, the island appears to lack both TV´s and cars, however has many llamas grazing on ridiculously steep hills, every cloud.
We decided our last night in Bolivia would be spent back in Copacabana, in a hotel recommended as a
Swimming with Pink Dolphins
You can´t see them but they are terrorising us under water good "splurge" in the Lonely Planet, at around a fiver a night. Unfortunately, splurging has become a bit of a buzzword since we have been travelling with Ben. A week before he came out he won 15,000 pounds on an online casino and therefore has less budget restraints than us! It was a nice farewell to Bolivia however, and the morning it was off to Puno, in Peru, also on the coast of Lake Titicaca.
On the 3 hour journey we picked up our 17th and 18th passport stamp of the trip, and it was a relatively pain-free border, we were greeted in Peru with signs advertising Cusqueña, the national beer, and Inca Kola, the national gaseosa. Our first impressions were that it seems similar to Bolivia, again there were shoe sign boys on the border, and amazing scenery around the lake, however the people seem to be more adept at the English language, and hassling you, and speak a lot faster.
We anticipated visiting the floating Islands of Puno on the Lake Titicaca, however priority number one was catching the second Champions League Semi Final, Chelsea v Liverpool. Fortunately this task was made easier by the Delboy
Hotel owner, who as well as putting a TV with cable in our room, also charged us for getting us a crate of beer in, and taking a few beers as interest on top of this. No complaints however, we enjoyed both the game, and the beer, and headed out into the town for a few more. The club in Puno, called Domino, was arguably one of the most bizzare we have experienced in South America. This time it was the attire that was of intrigue, everyone was dressed in thick coats, or shell suits, as we stood there in T-Shirts and jeans. One of the highlights was a 50 year old shell suit clad man attempting a flying kick move only to land on his backside.
Unfortunately, time restraints for Machu Picchu and suffering the morning after meant abandonment of the Floating Islands idea and instead a bus to Cusco, the capital of the Inca Empire, and apparently the spot on earth with the highest ultra violet level, me and Sam have both had weird skin things happening, the radiation has probably caused this. The journey to Cusco was the most terrifying to date, as the driver enjoyed
Valle De Lunar
Think there´s a guy up there speeding up around dangerous corners, being the victim of several horns, close calls, and an earful from Ben a result. At one point, the dog on board, yes dog, went flying. It didn´t help matters that each stop lasted forever as people swanned on and off at will, often having to run back on as the bus was moving to get on board. I also banged my head on the corner of the TV stand, still painful. A bad day.
From Cusco we are due to do the Inca Trail, starting on Tuesday, potentially a highlight of the trip providing Altitude Sickness stays away, as the trek gets up to 14,000 plus feet. So far the city has proved to be the most touristic of the trip to date, many people come to visit Machu Picchu, recently named in one of the 7 Modern Wonders of the World, (alongside the Rio Christ statue, check), as a holiday. One of the perks of this is the Real McCoy, a pub offering a "taste of home", and the menu includes the much craved HP brown sauce, Branston Pickle, gravy, stuffing and pie (sampled by Wigan Ben) and mash. This has been
enjoyed, however, there remains something very South American about the place, as today in the Plaza was a random protest/celebration (sometimes difficult to tell the difference) with people in strange masks, alongside a demonstration of strength from the army, being put through their paces.
We have checked into our hotel for our Machu Picchu trek briefing (once again the room has Cable TV, nice) and my next update should contain the trials and tribulations of this.
Until then, hope everyone is well,
Farewell.
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Looking good fellas, and hoping you're enjoying the final leg of the S America tour. am extremely excited to your return and more importantly an all dayer in the Duke's Beer Garden! x