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Published: August 14th 2006
La Paz
At 4000m this is one of the highest cities in the world....La Paz was to be my base while i organised my Jungle and Pampas tours. And in a word "I LOVE IT" its a fantastic place that grabs you and says explore... There are hundreds of streets filled with market stalls selling everything you could imagine (got a perfect copy of "HOSTAL" on dvd for 66p!! 10 boliv´s, still aint seen it yet??!!??), its vibrant with colour and friendliness you could easily get trapped here for a while!!! which is why after eight days i needed to get back on the move so i have a ticket booked for tonight (9th Aug) to Santa Cruz which is 16 hours!!!!!
So after arriving from Copacabana went looking for a room with Gabbrielle an Austrailian friend i met on the bus, the first place we turned down as was a dump with dodgy carpets and awful duvets on the beds but then we stumbled on "Hotel Continental" now being National Bolivia day in 2 days time word on the road was its hard to find a place so when they said all they had left was the apartment (penthouse) i held my breath for the price???? then the sweet little lady behind the
Sunset From Sunset Bar!!!!
Lasted A Good 50 Minutes!!!! counter explained that it´d be 140 Bolivianos!!!!! (126 with my youth hostal card!! 10% off) which in real money is 5 pound fifty each and although about 2 quid over budget after seeing the apartment we snatched her hand off!!!! It was heaven!!!!! I had been used to a bed (maybe 2) in a plane room and sometimes even a bathroom (rarely)... This place had it all!!!!! A lounge with REAL sette´s to watch REAL cable tele!!! i hadn´t seen english tv for months!! didn´t care about the programs was just nice to have the sounds in the background... And a dining table for 10 people all in dark mahogany with cabnets surrounding it with nice plants...Then there was the kitchen dinner with all the facilities and finaly a master bedroom with tv and ensuite (which gabby had) and another bedroom with 4 beds which we never even went in (exept for me to steal the pillows!!! i was back home again with 4 pillows!!!! slept like a baby) and then my room which had a double bed and 2 single beds (i also got the second bathroom to myself).... Was just a breath or fresh air to be normal
Overtake..........Now!!!!
Pure Guesswork At Times!!!!! and have stuff in the fridge (Ok it was only cake but checkout the pic of the cake shop and you´ll understand!!)...
We watched trash tv all night and had a game of darts!! Yes it even had a dart board!!!! (Any Travellers Reading Room 401!!)...
So after 2 days dossing around LaPaz we had to get a flight to Rurrebeque which is where the Madidi Nathional Park (Jungle) and the Pampas grasslands were, it was a choice of 18 hour bus (with bad feedback!!) or a 40 minute flight!! so we flew, the flight was striaght over the Andes Mountains Range which looked amazing, shame the little 20 seater plane had such bad windows or you´d have a picture....
When in Rurre we looked for a Pampas tour straight away hoping to get the following day which we did, it was for 3 days and 2 nights.... And left at 9 the next morning...
On the trip was 8 of us (2 Austrian girls, English guy, 2 French, English girl student, me & Gabbi) and 2 guides, Nicko a chillian with Ginger dreds (they looked pretty cool and i am thinking about it?????) who spoke good
First Look at Pampas Wildlife....
Turtles & Aligators alined the riverbanks.... english and a local guy called Martine...
Day 1 was a 3 hour dirt road 4x4 ride, now this was the only road and was used by BIG trucks tranporting wood and fruit from the local growers and these things threw up so much dust that overtaking was just guesswork!!! And very scary at times!!!.. We arrive at the river and stage 2 was another 3 hour trip but this time on a small motorised canoe... The river was only small and a murcky brown colour, both banks covered by bush and trees and the shores littered with Aligators, Turtles, Capibara and Camen and the trees full of different birds and the occaisional monkey or 10... It was briiliant and took far longer than it should with all the picture taking, the boat even stopped at the shore at one point and the monkeys came from out of the trees and on board, but only after the guide produced a bunch of bananas... We finaly got to camp which was 2 big huts, one to sleep in and a kitchen/diner with toilets out the back... The camp had monkeys hanging around for food that made cute noises to get
Sweet...Little...Turtles....
Sometimes Upto 12 In A Row!!! From Big To Small.... your attention (not sure if your meant to feed them cookies but they sure loved them!!!).... After a rest the guide gave us a choice of places to go and watch the sunset but in truth this was a trap as all he really wanted was enough players at the local pitch about 10 minutes down the river!!! but turned out to be great fun!! Exhaugsting!!! But good fun (Locals 3-1 Tourists and Guides)... The evening was cold and there was not enough bedding and back to a manky pillow so didn´t sleep to well (but had a mossi net so not to many bites!!)...
Day 2 started with a 4 hour Pampas walk looking for Anacondos, this was my favourite bit, you got to walk miles from pool to pool each surrounded by violet lillies and swamped with birdlife including Storks and Flamingos plus Eagles and the odd Giant Stork which were massive!!! In our first pool we found a small Black Mamba and every one was exited about when we´d find our Anacondas. Now these things average between 3-5 meters and have been found in the area 8-13 meters long!!!!! We searched for hours in numerous pools
Capibarra!!!!
These are just massive!!! Massive Gerbils!!! The size of a Golden Retriever.... but it seemed our luck was out!!! In the end we all took shelter from the sweltering heat under a large patch of trees while the guide went of to search alone and after another good hour Martiene gave the cry of "Anaconda" abit to my dismay it was only about 3.5m long which although impressive i was after records!!! Back to camp for a siesta and then in the afternoon of for a swim!!!! yes we swam in the river with the pink river dolphins surrounded by aligators in pirahna waters but "One In All In".. Was very refreshing and although you couldn´t get as close to the dolphins as i did before in the Amazon, it didn´t matter your attention was mainly on the movement of the resident aligators!!!! I had a quick dip then went to chill under a bush, some of the others were in for about 1 hour and just tooo tempting (in the end you sort of wanted some drama in a blood thirsty kind of way and got excited when an aligator submerged from the shores and disapered!!!).... That night we went for a canoe ride to a another camp with showers!!!! and
Sunrise during The Morning Trek....
Was Really beautiful How It Blurred with All The Mist... a small bar plus a big veranda to see the sunset (properly!!) which was stunning!!! and on the way back we got our torches out and spotted wildlife.....
Day 3 was a sunrise boat ride followed by a walk through the pampas, again stunning views with the sun rising through the thick mist that also rolled down the river while we were in the canoe.. Back for breakfast then of for a bit of pirahna fishing... The best way to word this is we caught 8 between us!!! (which if you read between the lines translates to i caught none!! even the austrian girls caught 3 between them!!).... Was great fun and baking hot.... Then back to camp to have our catch cooked and served along with lunch (was quite nice if a little short on meat).... The afternoon was a 2 hour boat and 3 hour 4x4 ride back to Rurre...(they even put a live sheep on the roof of the 4x4 which upset me a bit as they tied its legs up and shoved it amounst the baggage!!!)....
That night in Rurre went for a couple of drinks at Mosquitos Bar during happy hour 7-9!!! cocktails
Early Morning Boat Trip!!!
Rolling Mist Sat Calmly On The River As We Cut Slowly Through It.... half price (about 1 pound)...And to say bye to Gabrielle as she was off to LaPaz (then to chile) while i stayed in Rurre to find a 4 day Jungle trip!!!!!
Next day i tried hard to find a jungle trip to suite me but failed!! the problem is the tours run from 2-20 days with 14 days pretty hardcore!!! met a guy in the bar the night before who was on a 14 day and the guide drowned!!!! 19 years old and dead!!! and also heard stories of Jaguar attacks and a guide nearly taking his leg off with a machette while cutting wood!!!... I only had time for 4 days but you had to have the perfect trip to get past where most of the tourists get to and into untouched jungle, which is what i wanted!!! so in the end after much searching i decided to do the Jungle in another park located on in the far East of Bolivia called Noel Kempth National Park and here its less touristy but costly or Amborro Park were 4 days can be enough to find untouched places....
I stayed one more night which happened to be the 6th
Me In Deep Water!!!!
With The Aligators!!! Pirahna´s!!! & Pink Dolphins!!!.... and National Bolivia day, the place is only small but managed to create big noise with dancing and partying in the main plaza till 6am (i lasted till 1)..... back in LaPaz and found myself a average little Israili Hostal!! Cheap!!
So "2 Months In" cant believe how long it feels!!! more like 4 or 5 and another 10 to go!!!!!!!!! How is it for you guys??? gone quick i bet?? But in all of this adventuring there are many many things i miss from back home!!! here are just a few:-
Making a trip out to see Bee perform live..
I miss my bed and 4 pillows, and coulpling dvd´s...
Challenge of tuesday night 5-a-side, Andy being Neg..
Homelife Mum&dad, Nans and All my Freinds..
Evenings In the Workhouse and Bradlaw..
Live gigs around the town.."Cave and its Grouppies!!"
Looking at my Bjork canvas and what could have been back in 1993 when we kissed (Fact!!).
Eating a proper breakfast at the weekend..
My Poker Nights, terry being terry.....
claire,Kerry & sophie...making me laugh and smile...
Keaton growing up (missed to much to early on)..
Extra late lockin´s round Anita & Nath´s..
Nights out with Daz, Henry
Cutest Little Monkeys....
The guide made some copycat noises and they came right upto the boat!!!! and the gang (Alan P,Ricky G,Carl P)..
Nadine Rob and Baby Aiden...
And "Perfect Pixie Productions"
And talking of "Perfect Pixie Productions" i may have to cut my trip short!!!!!! May??? because im in the process of pattenting a Tv show idea!!! been pondering it for a few weeks and im about to send a letter to The Streets (Mike Skinner) managment about a vebal Endorsment for image right share (for the title and soundtrack) and set up the production company Perfect Pixie (So I May Be Coming After A Certain Someone For The Image Rights!!! Seen Many Pretty Girls In Hammocks So Far But I Need The Best One!!! You Know Who You Are!!!!!).. And after all this will approach some tv production companies and invite them to fly me in for chats..This would see me staring in a Loiu Theroux kind of role and traveling a bit (all be it quite damerous!!!), but we´ll see what happens!!!! Bit Of A Crazy Shot But It Happens To Some People..Big Break!!!!???!!! (Pass or Fail will let you know what it was in time but for those who know me i can keep a secret!!!! so don´t ask!!!)...
Anyway
And When The Banana´s Came Out!!!
They Hesitated A Little But Couldn´t Resist Coming Aboard.... tonight im on the move again!!!
Take Care All...
Thanks To You "ALL" Ive Had Nearly 600 Hits So Far!!!!!!
Any Emails you want to send heyheyitsray@hotmail.com
Ow Yer!! some of the stories from jungle tours ive heard are amazing but when you see the bites and ticks that people come back with!!!!! were talking hundreds!!! I´m scared of bites!!!!! a group of 3 girls got so badly bitten that thier ankles swelled up double due to all the poison in there bodies!!!!!!!! (i saw this with my own eyes!!)
I will be stocking up on spray and antihistamine tablets!!!!!
Next Stop Jungle!!!!!!
Bit For Travellers- Pampas and Jungle trips $15 per day, Flight one way $58 (475 bolivianos), Rurre hostal 50 bols per night, LaPaz 40 bols... Olivers great food and drink in LaPaz...Bus to Santa Cruz 130 bols....
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Gregg
non-member comment
woo!
looks fantastic, is that really ray church swimming with alligators!?