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Published: March 20th 2006
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Yet Another Dirt Runway
This runway had less plane to handle, with our twelve seater only containing the three of us, one other passenger, and the two pilots. A private plane! Well, after a throughly frustrating attempt to post a entry last night, where the computer shut off 3 times while I was attempting to post, I am back to try again. As Samaipata has only one real internet option, I´m stuck back at the same place. Anyway, we made it here safely and had our first of three one day tours in an attempt to find Sara more birds. Based on the last few weeks, I foresee many future trips centered around birding. Now, for our travels from Rurrenabaque and Santa Cruz to reach our current locale, under the alternate title, ¨Travel and Rest¨, which is less exciting than it sounds, but I´ll do my best.
After the last entry, we settled into a bit of a rut. The heat and humidity of the pampas had worn me out, and Rurrenabaque every bit as unpleasant. So, for the 36 hours we were in town, we ate at the same restaurant, Camila´s, for two straight dinners and two straight breakfasts, taking a break for lunch to eat across the street. It´s not that the food was that great or that is was particularly close to our hostel, as neither were true.
Saffron Finch
These guys were everywhere, but still neat. Mostly, it was that it seemed to be the best place in town and at $2 for dinner, we didn´t want to aim any lower. Plus, the best internet cafe in town seemed to be attached to the restaurant. Our hostel was nice enough, with hammocks for all in the courtyard and a fan in our room, though a few more couldn´t have hurt.
Our only challenge was to make sure our flight was confirmed to Santa Cruz and find a bird book for Bolivia. Sara searched high and low for the book, including the most exciting part, crossing the Rio Beni on the water taxi, with no success. We, of course, tagged along as it seemed to be the best show in town. Confirming the flight took a little effort as well, as the first person we spoke to seemed to think that there was no flight at all. Fortunately, another employee helped us out and confirmed that we were already confirmed. Excellent, now we just have to hope for good weather which means NO RAIN. A tall order in the rainforest, but. . .
So far our luck had held out. No rain on our four
El Fuerte
¨The strong¨, in Spanish. Though difficult to see, the rock has many intricate shapes carved into its surface. day trip after our initial flight had been cancelled. Sara and Jill both woke at 4am to the sound of rain, which last (according to them, I was out) for 30 minutes. Since when we woke it was not raining, we heading to the Amazsonas office hoping for the best. Well, it was good news, as the flight was not cancelled, but bad in that the first flight of the day, a 6 am to La Paz, had not yet left. Since this was also to be our plane, it meant a bit of a wait as well as a window for further rain to cloud our outlook. Well, after waiting 3 hours, all was a go with only light sprinkles, so we headed to the grass runway once again, greeted shortly there after with the sight of a single prop 12 seat airplane, easily the smallest I have ever flow in. We were quickly in the air for a short flight to San Borja, followed five minutes later by a fairly bumpy but short flight to Trinidad. Small planes seem to twist in the air rather than just the up and down of the big boys, which takes some
El Fuerte, Side View
Another view of the stone. These were burial chambers where the deceased were buried standing up. getting use to.
Finally, a paved runway! At this point, little could stop us from getting to Santa Cruz so we called ahead to book a room at the Sands Hostel, which our book indicated had cable TV, so I was hoping to finally see some of NCAA Tourney. After a short wait during which Sara did some bird watching out from, we were on yet another small plane to Santa Cruz. This flight was smooth, and we soon landed and took a cab to our hostel. Sara got her fix of American TV with Gilmore Girls, but the only sport that they allow on TV, as best I can tell, is soccer. All others must be banned, as every new TV show was on, but no basketball. Well, that´s what the internet´s for right? Unfortunately, it was only bad news as both NC State and Ohio State got beat badly, so no comfort there. We headed out to continue the book search, with no success and some puzzled looks (why would anyone want a bird book?), so we looked around Santa Cruz, which has a very nice central plaza. Best of all, no big crowds, so I still
El Fuerte Butterflies
The Amboro National Park area is renowned for its butterflys, and it did not disappoint. This is one of many, though few stayed still long enough. have my wallet intact. We found a vegetarian restaurant for dinner, which like many vegetarian restaurant, seemed to be a cult of some sort. Oh well, we got more food than we could eat and a fresh fruit juice for less than $2US. US cults just can´t compete!
The next day we packed up, and hit the road for a taxi. Unfortunately, that proved difficult as all the taxis that passed were full, so we had the hostel call for us and 5 minutes later we were off. Our driver seemed to know where he was going, but that turned out to not be the case. He let us out it what seemed to be the middle of no where and said that the taxis to Samaipata were one street over. Close, but he pointed the wrong way. We lucked out and saw a place across the street that turned out to be THE place to catch a cab to Samaipata. For $15, we got a two and a half hour cab ride from Samaipata Travel at 1137 Oscar Chavez, just in case anyone else is looking for it. We arrived at our location of choice, La Vispera, and fortunately there were rooms available and the kitchen was open for lunch. Sara spent some time ticking off the local birds and there was a checklist of those to be seen near the hostel which simplified the process. We booked our tours with our hostess, and took the remaining daylight hours off to enjoy the property and the hammock. For dinner, we took the short walk to town and ate at a good pizza place, followed by the previously mentioned internet trip. Finally, to some sleep, which my new found coughing made a bit of a struggle (Thanks, Jill).
Our tour for El Fuerte, a UNESCO World Heritage site, didn´t start until 9am, which allowed for a leisurely breakfast. Our hostel prepared a packed lunch for us while Sara, all together now, looked for birds. Finally, we have reached to tanager/hummingbird regions, with the count going from 0 of 300 to 5 of 300. Our spanish only guide, requiring Jill´s translating services, showed up on time, and we were off. The tour option we chose included a long hike to get there, in the hopes of seeing birds. Those hopes were dashed as there was little wildlife, but the terrain was quite interesting and our guide found blackberries to satiate Sara. After four hours of hiking, we reached the El Fuerte site, which is a large section of exposed rock with figures, seats, and openings carved into the surface, surrounded by ruins of both Incan and Spanish origin. Not alot of specific high points, but we were all satisfied with the tour and would recommend it. We hit the museum back in town with an interesting video and a map of all the UNESCO sites (13 for the US, of which I´ve hit about 7). Which brings us up to date, and ready for dinner. Later.
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John Timberlake
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Airplane flights
Matt, I used to fly one of those 12 seat planes (if someone sat on the toilet) that Dow owned between Baton Rouge and Freeport, TX. Once we were coming into Baton Rouge during a thunderstorm. The pilot had to steer around the storm cells visually because the radar on the plane was all RED indicating severe activity. Quite a bumpy ride. We talked to Kathryn, Paul, and my mother this week. All is well. Kathryn and Stefan are going to Montreal at Easter to look for places for 2007 wedding and they are going to Amsterdam in May. All is well at home. I am in St. Louis and going to Louisville tonight then home on Wednesday. Love, Dad