Ana_Rurrenabaque (La Pampa)

What an awesome trip! At first the sound of going to the jungle was a bit scary and not too much fun. Being eaten by mosquitoes and no showers was not my cup of tea when I was feeling sick in La Paz. But we've heard it was great.

As soon as we landed I was in paradise. Talk about a change in scenery we went from a big, crowded city, where people wear coats and sweaters, to tropical lush forest with everyone wearing shorts and flip flops. Of course I was in heaven. I love the heat more than the cold. The view from the tiny plane was beautiful. It was only an hour from La Paz but the change of altitude was drastic. We went from 3,600m (aprox. 10,800 ft.) to 300m(aprox. 900 ft.) above sea level. I had a smile from ear to ear.

The town of Rurrenabaque has about 14,000 people and is full of tourist taking the tour to either La Pampas which is like the wetlands and the jungle. We were picked up by our agency, Anaconda. The people seemed really nice and friendly. A total different vibe than in Uyuni. We got there at night so all we had to do was find a place to sleep and eat. So we did. Everywhere we went the people were so friendly. I felt right at home.


Day 1
The next morning we had to wake up early to on our 3 day tour around Las Pampas. We were going with another couple from Israel. They seemed nice but a bit nerdy. The other group going was also Israelis, a group of eight. But we went on a different car. Our guide introduced himself so politely and I had a good vibe from the start. We also had a cook. We were hoping that the food was better than Uyuni.

We drove for three hours in a 4x4 on dirt roads. What a suprised! I'm glad it didn't rained that morning because it would of maded a bit more challenging. The ride was just bumpy. We arrived in the town of Santa Rosa for lunch. It was pretty good. We had soup for apetizer then rice, steak, and vegetable for the main meal. Yummy! I must agree with Tim I like Bolivian food better than Argentina food. It taste more homey. Very similar to Panamenian and Nicaraguan food.

After lunch we got on the small boat. We were on the boat for three hours cruising the river. It was beautiful all the way. Since it was rainy season the water level was still pretty high covering a lot of the trees. At this time we were joking a little more with our funny guide Rami. He had a great humor. He kept joking around with Tim. He spoke a little bit of English ant Tim enough Spanish for them to communicate in Spanglish. It was quite funny. Two clowns having a blast. Along the way we started to see some birds and monkeys as well as river dolphins. Rami it was great in the sense of explaining every thing he'd see.

We arrived at our campsite around 5ish. Right before sunset. The camp had a mini bar. The first thing you saw from far a way was a big sign that said - SUNSET BAR - WE SERVE COLD BEER, along with an aisle of flags from different countries. Of course they had the US flag too. There was a couple who welcomed us. Very nice. They run the bar part of it. We hungout until dinner time. We were able to get the best spot in the camp which was built on stilts above the water. Our hut over looked the pampas. Beautiful view, specially around sunset.

We saw two alligators that hangout around the camp area because they get fed. One lost an eye during an encounter with another alligator. The place had one shower. It was nice to know.

We waited to dinner time. Rami told us hurry, dinner is ready. Go eat before the Israelitos, how he'd say, will eat all the food. By time we got there it was true what he said, there was hardly any food left. We had pasta with some extra proteins. There were bugs all over. I'm sure some fell on my plate. But it's OK, I'm use to it already. After dinner we hungout in the hamacks trying to cool down. Rami told us he´d takes on the boat to see the alligators at night. He said you can see the eyes very easy with the flash light, they turn red. Sure enough we went. We put on long sleeves and showered with repelent. The mosquitoes were out of control. I was excited and scared at the same time. I had the idea the alligator would see us and jump on our tiny boat. We had to be quite not to scared them away. Sure enough we spotted few alligators. Rami insisted in getting close to see them. Me and the Israeli girl were not to happy about that. I had to cover my mouth not to scream. Talk about adrenaline. It was pumpin for sure! We got really close. But as soon as we get close the alligator would swim away. We were gone for like an hour. Long enough if you ask me. It was pitch dark and I was afraid of the boat tipping over. It was a great adventure. Eventhough I wanted to pee in my pants.

We got back to shower. A cold shower. It never felt better. It was so hot that freezing water was very refreshing. It didn't last long. After the shower you were sweating again. We went to cool down on the hammocks by the bar area. The lady in charge of the bar, Mari, was having few beers. She was so funny! It was Woman's Day and she bought me a beer. She kept saying Feliz Dia de Las Mujeres! She was embracing womanhood. It cracked me up. Soon after we went to bed along with all the mosquitoes.
It helped that we had mosquito net, I still had to shower with more repellent.


Day 2
We were woken up very early by Rami. He was right when said he'd wake us up with army time, not Bolivian time, which is never on time. It was about 6am when he started saying - Arriba, vamos, vamos, a ver el amanecer. I do have to thank him for waking us up. The sunrise was beautiful. The colors in the sky were amazing reflecting again the water and the trees.

We came back and breakfast was ready. We waited around for few hours to then go to see the anacondas. Another scary adventure! I was so afraid it come behind me and bite my head off. We had to walk for an hour or so to get to an small island where you find them hiding from the water. To get there we had to through a grasslike swamp. It was very interesting walk. The water reached really high. They gave us special boots but it didn't matter at one point water got in the boots. We had to go slow. I almost fell few times. I kept saying SAFE. Tim was behind me and he'd catch me from slipping into the merky water. We finally got there and there was another groups as well looking for them. Rami and the other guides were looking and looking and no anacondas. We did see some small cobras under a branch that had fallen off. They were really tiny. It was cool to see. Rami kept looking and nothing. We were about to leave when the other group of the 8 Israelis came. The guide spotted an anconda up on the tree. So we all approach the tree wich was surrounded by water to see it. It was hard to see. Then we see one of the guides getting up on the tree to get it. Then he grabs it and throws it in the water. All I heard is CORRAN, CORRAN! RUN, RUN! Tim was closer and he said it hit one guy and then came straight at him. Scary! I was far enough that is was easy to escape. Then Rami grabs it from the tail and puts it on the dry ground. Another adreline rush I tell you. The anaconda was black and not too big, about 6ft long and not to thick. But I'm sure thick enough to hurt you. But the time we got back to the camp it was lunch time. I do have to say the meals were all great and lunch was the best. We had rice, steak, bunch of vegetables, french fries and maduro(fried plantains). YUMMY!

We had time for a siesta. We just hungout some more on the hammocks. The heat wasn't too bad. In the afternoon we went on another boat ride this time to find monkeys either Howler monkeys or the Pampas monkeys - Chichilos. Along the way we found more birds. Beautiful colors and sizes. We did see alot of nests. It's matting season.
We went trough different areas, more swampy. One time we got stock on the thick grass. But we made it after few minutes. We were headed back and we finally saw some Chichilos. They're really small in size and are light brown in color. We had some bananas with us since they come to the boat to get some yummy banana. Rami would make the noise like them to call them. So he told us to hold half of banana really tight. So the Israeli guy tried it first. They came, but silly him he tried to grab one of them and the monkey got really mad. I was holding a banana too. But a monkey just took it away. The feeling the monkey's little hands freaked me out. Then all the monkeys were gone. I think they felt threaten! The girlfriend of the Israeli guy was not a happy camper because she didn't get a chance to feed the monkeys. Then Rami trying to be funny wanted to throw him off the boat. Soon after we returned to the campsite for dinner. Food and more food. We had pasta again.

Then again to the hammocks. This time they were playing some music. When I walked in they were playing a bachata. I couldn't help it. I started dancing. I was not shy at all. The owners of the bar were saying clapping for me to keep dancing. But then I did get shy, when the Israeli group of mostly guys started watching. Then I stopped. Rami came over and he asked them to play salsa, because I had mentioned I liked salsa. What a suprised! Rami wanted for me to teach him salsa. And of course I did. He was so cute. He asked Tim if it was OK for me to dance with him. We didn't get very far. All I could remember for the guys was the basic step. But he got it right away. He wanted to learn the turns. I had Tim dance with me so I can understand the guys part. At one point there was a group trying to dance salsa. It was really fun. Even Tim danced a little bit. What a night!

Day 3
Last day in the Pampas. That morning the highlight was to swim with the river dolphins out in the wild. We rode on the boat for an hour to get to the place were they were hanging out. You'd see them very close. All you saw was them getting out of the water to breath. They didn't do any flips or tricks, they were just swimming in the river. Tim and the Israeli guy jumped in the water first. I was hesitant at first. But Tim said I'd regreted if I didn't go in. So I got the courage to go in. The water was cold and the current was pretty strong. I held on to the floating tube. What freak me out was not being able to see under water. And although the claim it's safe you never know if there are some hungry gators just hanging out. I was only in the water for like 15 minutes, long enough for me. In the area were around eight dolphins just swimming nearby. Not to close.

Back to camp for lunch. Our last meal of the trip. After lunch we headed back to Santa Rosa where the 4x4 was waiting for us. The last stop on the car was supposed to be for some piranha fishing. I didn't catch a thing. Our fishing poll was just the string with a hook on the end with some meat. Neither Tim or I caught a thing. Tim was not happy. He loves fishing and he wanted to catch a piranha.

The way back seemed longer. We stopped like three times for random reasons. To pick another passanger going to nearby town, waiting for the other 4x4 to catch up and to help push an old beat up car. We finally made it to Rurrenabaque around 7ish.

Tim was told by Rami you can catch some big catch fish in the river Beni which is nearby. I kept joking with Rami not to mention fishing around Tim because he'd want to go. So long story short they went after to do some fishing. We had dinner first, I went to sleep and Tim took off with Rami on a motorcycle. =)

Ana