search for annie

---

Search for Annie.
Our search started just over a week ago now when we had decided that we had seen enough of what Sucre had to offer and with our new found Spanish skills we were ready to take on more of Bolivia. Sucre had been great and is one of my favorite cities so far, while there we stayed in a hotel suite, ate a candle light roof top dinner, saw dinosaur foot prints, partied with more crazy Irish and met some really great people but it was time to move north, time for the jungle. After speaking to a few fellow backpackers we decided that there was very little chance of us taking the bus to Rurranabeque from La Paz as we had heard that the trip can vary from 18 to 36 hours depending on traffic and road conditions, it didn’t help that a lot of travelers where now calling that road the new death road. So we looked into flights and what pampas trip was best for us, and after a little indecision we were booked and ready to go. The plan was to take the night bus to La Paz Sunday after a day spent at the markets, then arrive Monday morning in La Paz and fly out that day a few hours later. The Sunday market was a nice day out in a little town called Tarabucca and the stalls were filled with alpaca and llama goods, unfortunately both Linz and I had been paid a visit by a unfriendly stomach bug a few days before and he was still hanging around so or movements were slow. We bought a few things one very sweet poncho is worth a special mention then got back on the bus for our 2 hour trip back to Sucre. 2 hours quickly turned to 3 after the bus driver realised we were quickly running out of petrol so we spent the next hour waiting in the bus for our petrol to arrive. We eventually made it back to town in plenty of time for our 12 hour bus ride to La Paz and after much confusion at the bus terminal we boarded and got ourselves cozy for the drive ahead, little did we know that we would be driving through what felt like the Antarctic, you know it is cold when even the locals are complaining. We made it to La Paz a little blurry eyed and still frozen with 6 hours to spare before our flight so we hailed a taxi and made our way to the airport. 8 hours later still sitting in subway at the airport our flight was finally called, it was almost sad to say good bye to that subway we had so many memories. Luckily we were on the second flight and missed the plane full of noisy Israeli girls, and boarded our tiny tiny little plane for the 40 minute trip. To really understand how big this plane was imagine a pencil now enlarge that 100 times stick some wings and a motor on it and there you go. It was a very fun flight indeed and the view was really out of this world. The best way to describe La Paz from above is picture a mountain range and behind that the Andes with their snow capped tops now picture red bricks shacks as far as the eye can see, cut into the mountains sprawling for miles and miles with nothing but red dirt as their back yard, the smallest amount of real infrastructure nestled deep in the valley of the mountain and more and more shacks surrounding that.
The plane touched down just outside of Rurrenabaque as the tropical air filled our lungs we had gone from the freezing cold to the steaming hot jungle in one day. The airport was a little patch of bitumen surrounded by vegetation with the odd livestock on the grazing on the runway. It was time to check in to our hostel as tomorrow we head up river. 3 days 2 nights in the pampas the Amazon basin basically, I wasn’t too sure what to expect we had been promised to see vast amounts of wildlife but South Americans are renowned for stretching the truth at times. We were also under the impression of having a decent size group but when we found out it was only going to be the two of us and one lonely Norwegian it was hard not to feel a little disappointed, that disappointment was soon put aside as we all jumped into our minivan for our three hour drive to the river. 3 people crammed onto the back seat of a very hot little minivan was starting to take its toll but just under two hours in the landscape change slightly and we found ourselves driving alongside a small watering hole which was full of jumping fish then on closer inspection we could see a head just sticking out of the water then another one and another soon enough we realised that the watering hole was full of alligators and crocodiles my attention was then drawn to the bank on the far side where dozens of crocs where laying about casually soaking up the mid day sun. This pretty much set the tone for the remainder of the trip. Our daily boat cruises up the river were filled with croc spotting both at night and during the day and when we had the chance to get within feet of the prehistoric beasts the idea that we were somewhere really special started to sink in, but our boat trip was not all crocs. Besides for the countless bird species and cheeky monkeys along the way there were two real standout moments that I will find hard to ever forget. I grew up partly on a fishing boat and remember our summer weekends out on Port Phillip bay fishing for as long as we could, but we never managed to catch any piranha, when I heard that we had the opportunity to do a spot of piranha fishing on this trip I could hardly hide my excitement. With beef for bait we headed off in search of the little terrors they were not hard to find but extremely hard to catch, and after a good 45 minutes I was starting to think that I would be going back to camp empty handed, Linsey on the other hand was a natural born fisherwoman and she started the boat of in great fashion bagging a couple of piranha’s with ease. Eventually I managed to hook a couple and the whole boat caught a small lunch full, they truly are a very tasty fish and I am glad I got to bite into them and not the other way around.
The second standout moment came late one afternoon just before sunset, we had been looking for a pod of pink dolphins in a secluded area of the river and when we eventually came across the small pod we were able to jump into the dark murky and truthfully scary looking water, as the dolphins continued to feed and play with a new found curiosity towards us. Swimming with dolphins in the Amazon basin in piranha and croc filled waters is something that I will not forget in a hurry.
The only thing that could have possibly beaten that swim with the dolphins was if our search for Annie was successful. For those who don’t know who Annie is well let me fill you in, her average size is around 6 meters long and she weighs just on 150kgs, she lives in dark murky water and is capable of taking down a fully grown wilder beast, and hear we were in our gumboots in knee high muddy water searching for her. Unfortunately or maybe fortunately after a solid two hours of searching we had to call it a day our guide told us that it was perfect conditions for finding a snake but since the river had flooded 2 months prior it meant that there was just too much water to cover. We all just thought that there probably never was any snakes and that they just take us out into those wetlands for a laugh but we were proven wrong when a group the following day found a little one hiding in the reeves. It makes me wonder just how many we may have walked past without ever knowing they where there.
Well our time in the Amazon came rapidly to an end and it was time to head back to civilization, La Paz was our newest destination and is where I am writing this blog from. We have been in the world’s highest capital city for 3 days now and tomorrow will venture out to the ride the death road, but don’t worry too much apparently it is mostly Israel’s that fall off the side. We are also thinking of climbing Huayna Potosi a 6000 meter high snow capped mountain that looks over the city of Lap Paz but we will tackle that mountain when it comes. For now I hope that everyone at home is safe and hope to hear from you soon.
Love Troy and Linz.

---