Tim Day 45 to 55 (Rouenbeque Jungle)

Day 45
Woke up in the morning just as the bus was starting to pull into La Paz around 6:00. We got our stuff and taxied to the hostel where we had reservations. We ended up getting a room that had cable! Imagine that. It was great. We sat around most of the day relaxing and watching tv. The only thing that messed this perfect situation up was our stomachs. Both me and Ana were feeling really sick. We ate Burger King for lunch but it didn't taste that good since it made our stomachs hurt. I had been looking so forward to it but in the end it wasn´t that good. Man that sucks.

Anyway we decided to just rest and try and catch up on our sleep and get better. Sitting around all day in this weird city ended up just making us really emotional and we both wanted to go home. Ana was very serious and I laughed. She asked me why I was laughing and I said I wanted to go home as well. Seriously we didn´t care about the money just get us home. We were sick and both wanted our mom’s. Was funny and I´ve been in situations like that. I don´t take myself too seriously and just say tomorrow will be another day. Ana was serious and keep trying to convince me to leave. I must say in those moments the trip becomes so hard. I hope we can keep strong and busy and the frequency of those days becomes more infrequent. To many of those days and we could end up altering our trip which in the end would be really sad. I´ll see if I can support Ana through those times. I´m like a bull and will make myself get through them no matter how I feel. Time will tell.

Around 8:30 the music started down stairs and the walls started to vibrate. Oh how lovely. Luckily around 10:30 they stopped. I probably would have started crying or been in jail for beating the crap out of the people downstairs playing the music.
Believe it or not we actually sleep really well that night. I was expecting a restless night but we did good.




Day 46
Woke up feeling like new people. I was glad to see that. I was feeling ok and Ana seemed to be feeling great. Bouncing off the ceiling like her usual bubbly self. Was nice to see.

We went and scheduled our 4 day trip to the jungle. Got a plane ticket rather than take the 14-21 hour mud road to Rouenbeque along the "death road" as they call it. I thought I had been already on a few death roads and to take the official "death road" in the muddy season wasn't my idea of a good time. The 100.00 dollar plane ticket sounded much better. We would be spending 3 days in the pampus and 1 day in the jungle. We get to see monkeys, alligators, tons of insects, pink river dolfins, and even go looking for some anacondas. Oh yeah I also get to Paranna fish which sounds really interesting. Can´t wait. The whole thing cost 400 American for the flight and 4 days adventure. Not bad.

We spent the whole day pretty much doing errands and seeing the little town. We went to the witches market which was interesting. Basically a bunch of street venders selling weird potions and dried animals. The areas had that weird ton to the atmosphere. Dirty, dark, and weird. There were people telling peoples futures by throwing coca leaves on the floor. There were tons of baby lamas that were dried and dead. I guess they are for good luck? And all kinds of herbs and potions. Crazy little area.

We also saw the church which was really nice. Beautiful and ornate. After that we went and saw a movie (Dick and Jane). It was pretty good and luckily it was in English with Spanish subtitles. The theatre was HUGE and there were only about 6 people watching the show. I don´t know what it is in these countries with their massive theatres. I think you could hold 500-800 people in the theatre. Bigger than any theatre in America. Weird. The movie was good though and for a while you don't feel like your in another country. I love that part of watching movies out here. You can escape and feel at home for a couple hours.

We sleep good that night despite the hammock shape of the bed.




Day 47
Woke up this morning and packed. Put our stuff in storage and are getting ready to head out on the plane to our jungle adventure. Should be great. Not super sure about the swimming with the pink river dolphins? I don´t mind them as much as the piranha and alligators that are supposed to not be in that section of the river. We´ll see.
Well wish us luck. Over and out.
t*





Day 47 (Continued)
We caught a taxi to the airport. The airport was actually really nice. Funny I expected much worse and much smaller. Looks like they get pretty large planes into that airport. We checked our bags and I carried a lighter and small knife on board. The guy at the x-ray machine was pretty dumb not to see that. I didn´t mean to take them on board I just forgot about them.

We were hungry so we went and got some fried chicken from burger king. Funny to see fried chicken legs and wings at BK. Was good though.

We hit the twin engine small plane and took off. There were about 12 people on the plane. It was a great ride. We got to see the mountains change from snow to dense jungle with winding brown rivers cutting through it. Was great. The plane bounced around a little but we made it fine. The airport in Rurrenabaque was a grass one and cut out of the thick jungle. Landing was interesting since I´ve never landed on a grass field. Wasn´t too bad. Little more bumpy. Ana was a little worried but she did great.

We taxied to the small building and got out. We were met by our tour guide, intense heat and humidity, and the bugs. Was such a change in climate. Ana liked the tropical weather well I´m more inclined to not like it. I love the atmosphere but I sweat more than most people I know in that kind of weather. I´m build for cold weather in Holland not the jungles of Bolivia.

We went to the tour agency and squared away the details. Got a room right down the street and took a shower. Was a really nice place and only 9 US dollars a night for both of us. The cold shower felt GREAT.
After the shower we headed out to eat some dinner. I love little towns like this. The night is so hot you don´t need to wear anything warm just short. The buzzing little mopeds are all over the streets and the bugs make so much noise it sounds fake. Really magical just walking down the street in a new city like that. Those are the moments I travels for. Not sure where I am or how things work and all of that makes it adventurous and awakens senses you never get to experience in normal 9 to 5 life. Good times.

We ate at one of the two well known tourist cafes in town. I saw that they had a burrito on the menu and I was so excited. The first time I´ve seen one on a menu in all of South America. I ordered it and it wasn´t anything like I hoped. It was ok but I had high expectations. The orange juice was great. In fact so great over the next week we drank about 20 more there. It was fresh squeezed and ice cold. Damn that is so good in a place like that.

We went back to the room and packed for the next day. Slept pretty good under the nice fan we had in the room.




Day 48
Woke up and headed to the tour office around 8. We put some stuff we didn´t need in storage at the hotel. At the agency we spent about an hour talking with our guide Rami and our cook Jacob and just getting all the details done to take off. We had a pretty nice land rover to ride in to get to the river.

Our trip to see the jungle was split into two parts. There was the pampus and the jungle. The pampus is the part where the jungle is only about an average of 15 feet tall. There are some really tall trees but in general it´s thick bushes about 15 feet tall. The great thing about the pampus is there is much more wildlife to see. The river is also much thinner (about 15 feet also on average) and you spent most of the time locked on the boat or the hotel built on stilts above the water. The jungle was different in that the river was massive (About 800 feet average width)and the trees were all massive (Average 100 feet) and really densely covered. Much like you think the jungle would be.

We headed out in the land rover. The group we were in consisted of us, another couple from Isreal, and the cook and guide. We drove for 3 hours to get to the river where we would be boating another 3 hours to get to our camp. We stopped on the road about 2 hours into the trip to eat. The food was really good but you always wonder how clean it is. I think our stomachs are getting tougher and we didn´t have any problems. You always wonder though.

One things happened while we were eating that was really funny. A large truck filled with dirt was backing up to dumb his load. All of the sudden you hear a crash and when I looked out the window the truck was on it´s side. Luckily no one got hurt. It was really strange. The guy said the brakes went out when he was backing up and the truck back onto a steep hill and then onto it´s side. Was really funny. Crazy Bolivians.

We left and went to the mouth of the river to catch our boat. The water in the river was pitch black and you couldn´t see anything. I was keeping an eye on the banks for alligators. I was a little on edge since I don´t know much about alligators and dont´t understand their habits.

We got in the boat and the girl realized the boat had a leak. The guide tried to repair it quickly but no luck. I have to say I didn´t have much confidence. The boats were carved out of large trees and weren´t high tech by any means. They had a single motor on the back which we were able to take out at anytime. Interesting. After an hour of trying to fix the leak we got in another boat and headed out.

It was really cool screaming down the river in a long thin boat. We were getting used to the side to side rocking action. Everyone was sitting in the middle trying not to move. The sides of the boat were only about 8 inches off the water so when you leaned it felt like you were going to submerge one side. It wasn´t the case and by the end of the trip we were walking all over the boat with ease. But at first it was a little scary. I didn´t want to swin in that water. Not sure what the hell was under the water.

About 30 minutes into the trip we stopped and got some coca leaves. I’m actually beginning to like them. They taste pretty good and do help you to feel more energetic. Similar to a cup of coffee. I was joking with the guide and put a fresh leaf from the tree into the coca leaves. When he pulled it out he almost put it in his mouth. It was really funny and was the start of a great relationship between me and him. We joked around for the rest of the trip with each other and became really good friends.

We drove up the river another hour or so and stopped to take a swim. We were traveling with another boat that had a large group of guys from Isreal. About 9 in total. They were load and mostly guys so they were a bit irritating. In the end we became good friends but we were annoyed by them at first. At the swimming place we jumped out and swam in the dark river. The guides said it was fine but I wasn´t so sure. They were in the boat while we were swimming. Also it´s not like America where they check the rivers and are educated. These are local guys (around 25 years old) that had the job. I trusted them to some degree but I tell you it´s another story when your in the water and can´t see deeper than about 5 inches. There was no problems and we got cooled off. The sun and humidity was intense and it was nice to swim.

We got to our camp a little later. The boat unloaded and there was the usual chaos. People standing in the way when we were unloading. No one guiding no one. Pain the ass. I don´t think Bolivians have the capacity to organize and think ahead sometimes. Anyway we got all the stuff off the boat and our beds were in the best place on the river. We were high up so we could see across the pampus and watch the sunset. There were only 6 beds in there so our group fit fine. The larger group was in the back where it was hotter and less nice.

As I was walking I saw an alligator under the walkway we were walking on. It sort of frightened me. There were some guys messing with it trying to get some nice photos with it´s mouth open. Man the walkway was only 3 feet off the water and it felt like the 6 foot alligator was going to jump up and take your leg. It never did and later I found out there are 2 in the area that are the pets. Weird felling seeing them so close to your feet while your walking on a crooked badly build walkway.

We ate dinner. Spaghetti. It was ok. I think it was the worst meal. It was still good though. The cook was great and we ended up eating like kings the whole trip.

That evening the temperature rose and the wind died. It was so bloody hot. Damn. I was sweating so much my entire shirt was soaked. It made me cranky and the sun was beaming right in our eyes. To top it all off the mosquitoes were out in full force. Basterds. They were eating me alive. I was so happy when the sun finally set. I felt the temperature go from 120 to 119. That degree made all the difference in the world.

Around 9 we headed out on the boat to go see some alligators in the night. It was beautiful to see the pampus at night. The moon was bright and it was great. The birds, monkeys, and insects were all singing. Really great.

It was a little scary thought sitting in the black water looking for alligators with the flashlight. We spotted the first one. Was really interesting how brilliant the eye of an alligator can be. It´s a brilliant red color and it is weird to see it slowly float across the black water in the distance. We stopped for about 20 minutes and Rami told us more about the pampus and the animals. The whole time I was waiting for an alligator to jump up and take a bit out of me. I know now they aren’t that fierce especially only being about 6 or so feet long. But at that time I didn´t know that and I keep my eyes and ears peeled for anything.

We spent about an hour boating around and seeing alligators. There were tons in the river. Rami would take us through some bushes and we´ve had to duck and dodge and get hit in the face. One time a thorny bus just about ripped my sleeve off. The whole time he´s laughing thinking it´s pretty funny.

We came up on a couple alligators and they were right next to the side of the boat. Ana made a whimpering sound. Was pretty cool.

We headed back and settled down for the night. They had a large hall with about 10 hammocks where we rocked for a while and drank a cold coke. Cold coke was SO good. Damn. They had a generator they ran to chill the cokes. Heaven I say heaven.

It was also ¨Women´s Day¨in Bolivia. There were a couple girls getting drunk and having fun. One was the owner and the other was part of another group on the river. They were funny and Ana seemed to connect really well with them. Good people.

Late that night we went to sleep. When I jumped in my bed with the mosquito net it felt like an oven. I sat as still as I could and tried not to move to create any head. I sat there sweating for a while before I fell asleep. Sleep good despite the heat. It cooled off a little toward morning which was nice.





Day 49
We were awoken in the dark by Rami to go see the sunrise. We got up and took off in the boat. We cut through a bunch of bushes and got to an area next to a large tree. We floated there and watched the sunrise. Was really nice. The weather was cooler and that was great. Rami decided to climb up one of the limbs of the tree to get a better view. He asked me to come up and I was 50 50. The other guy decided he wanted to climb it first. After watching him try for about 15 minutes and not make it I decided against it.

We went back and had breakfast. Pancakes and bread. Was really good. We then headed out to go see the Anaconda snakes. We were fitted with rubber boots and headed out. I thought the boots were going to protect our feet from getting wet but we ended up walking for an hour in water as high as my upper leg. The boats didn´t really help that much. In fact they just filled up with water and were heavier. I guess they did keep our shoes dry.

After walking across the grass field for an hour we arrived to a landlocked little island where the snakes were supposed to be. They must have been condensed there until the water goes down in the low season. Walking across the field was interesting. We slipped and almost fell down the whole way.

Once on the island the guides proceeded to look for snakes in the trees. They found some baby snakes (Not anacondas) under a log. Finally after about an hour they found one in a tree. I was really hard to see and all you could see was the shadow. There was a group of people under the tree where the snake was. Then one of the guides decided to climb the 15 foot tree like a monkey and get the snake. I thought he was going to catch it in the tree and carefully bring it down. For a moment I forgot I was in Bolivia. I should have known.

Once the guy reached the snake he grabbed the tail and pulled the snake out off the tree and threw it down on the crowd. I was the lucky one to be right under the guy watching him when he did that. We were also standing in about 15 inches of water and mud.

The 6 foot anaconda came falling from the sky. The tail end hit the guy in front of me and I avoided getting hit by the head. But as soon as that snake hit the water it came directly at me. I was running as fast as I could trying to dodge the snake that was bitting at me. That sucker was fast though on the water. I tried giving it a way out but it felt like he wanted me. Finally our guide Rami grabbed the snake by the tail and pulled it out onto the land. He circled it around his head so the gravity didn´t alow the snake to bit him. He then put it down and let us look at it. It was a crazy situation and I was lucky not to get bit. They don´t have poison so it wasn´t too bad but I still didn´t want to get bit.

We spent a while looking at the snake. One girl was totally freaked out and was having trouble talking and breathing. I swear she ran on water to get away from that snake. Pretty funny. There was also another girl who was really mad that they had pulled the snake from the tree. She was fired up. Pretty funny. We checked out the snake for a while then headed out. It was a big guy. About 4 inches thick in the middle. Beautiful snake.

We boated camp and ate a great lunch. The lunched in Bolivia are bigger and have more different dishes than the dinner. Lunch was great we were so happy the food was soooooo much better than in Uyuni. After lunch we had a couple hours for Siesta. I got a little hour nap in the hammocks.

We then went out on the boat again to look for monkeys. We went up river and got to a set of grass that looked impossible to pass. The other guy said he would get out and pull us if we got stuck. I laughed and with Rami and said we´ll try it. We floored it from across the lake and of course didn´t make it. We have a funny quicktime of it. Then the guy who said he would swim didn´t look like he wanted to get out. Was funny and after a little bit we got out.

Later we found some small monkey´s on the side of the river and pulled the boat up to feed them some banana’s. Me and Ana were in the back of the boat and didn´t get a chance to feed them because the guy up front grabbed one of the monkey´s when it was eating the banana. I´m not sure what he was thinking and he was a bit of a nerdy guy. The monkey freaked out and he keep a hold of it. The monkey bit him on the hand and finally he let go. All the monkey’s took off and we were like what the hell were you thinking? I know he felt pretty dumb. His wife was also mad at him because she didn´t get to feed the monkeys. The whole situation was silly.

We returned after that to the camp and ate dinner. Again I sweat like Michael Jackson in Toy´s R Us. Man it was hot. I took a shower and it was the only moment’s I felt relief from the heat. Soon as I shut it off I was hot and sweating again. This evening was even hotter than the previous. I had to sit still in the hammock and not move to fell half way ok.

We spent that night joking around with the owners. Ana was dancing Salsa with them and we were having a good time. Was really an enjoyable evening.

I went to my sauna to sleep later. Sleep ok. It was even more hot and I could feel sweat dripping off my elbows as I tried to fall asleep. Sleep pretty good though.





Day 50
Awoke and ate some breakfast then headed out to go swim with the pink river dolphins. Actually only the females are pink. It is unusual thought to see dolphins in the swamps. Not where I imagine them to be in fresh water. We got to the area and swam in the murky black water for a while. The dolphins never got more than about 5 feet from us but it was still magical to swim with them. Very cool experience. I felt a little more comfortable in the water since they say the dolphins protect their territory. Still a little weird.

We got on the river after swimming and the next sport up was Bolivian Amazon water skiing. If that doesn´t paint a picture. Basically we had a 5 foot log board about 2 feet wide and 1 inch thick as a ski. It was made from the finest Amazonian trees so it weighed about 100 pounds. We strapped a cord to it and dragged it behind the boat. The other group had been trying to do it the previous day but didn´t have much luck so I didn´t think we were even going to get up on it.

The other guy decided to go first. Amazingly enough he got up on his first try. He did great. He finally fell off and it was my turn. I wasn´t so sure I could get up since I weighed about 2 times as much as the other guy. But after being dragged down the alligator infested river for about 45 seconds I was able to get up. I had to change my footing to be more like surfing and that allowed me to get up on the very unstable board. It was a great feeling skiing down the river. Was definitely a highlight of the trip. Knowing that I was passing alligators tucked into the bushed on the side made it all the more magical. Very Very cool. Rami tried dumping me a few times and finally in the end managed to. Falling off was the worst part since you watched the boat float down river in front of you and you were swimming all by yourself in the water. I made a strong swim toward the boat as he tried to slow the boat then reverse it up the river toward me. I keep thinking about the story he told me of a drunk tourist that tried to swim back to his lodge after getting in a fight with his girlfriend. They found him later in a tree scared with 5 alligators under him.

I skied twice and it was a blast. Stayed up for about a minute or more each time. Very cool and very fun.

The other guy wanted to ski again and I got in the boat and gave it to him. A few seconds after he got up we passed a lodge where there was an 6 or 7 foot alligator on the shore with it´s mouth open. Rami was trying to slow the boat and make the skier fall off right in front of the alligator. Crazy fool. The guy skiing was shitting. Was pretty funny.

We ate lunch and after headed back down the river to got home. I got so sun burnt on the way back. Damn my face was killing me. Ana as well got sun burnt. I also burned my back and legs. Damn sun was hot.

We got in the jeep and drove back to the office. We stopped at a little lagoon to do some pirannah fishing. We were fishing with a massive hook and some string wrapped around a piece of wood. Was very hard to catch the fish and not many people got some. I didn´t get one and I was pretty mad. Damn I wanted to catch one. They had huge teeth and I think the reason it was so hard to catch them was because they bite at the bait rather than trying to swallow it. They chew on it and you have to get lucky and snag them at the right moment. It was also funny because we were using little peices of cow meat as bait. They loved it. Crazy fish.

We finally got back to the town and were pretty tired. We were joking with Rami and the cook and we had all became pretty good friends. I asked Rami if he wanted to go fishing that night and he said he did. He told me they catch huge catfish on the river next to the city. Ana wasn´t to happy I was going to go fishing that night but I had too. How often do I get the chance to fish for huge cat fish in a large Amazon river.

We showered real quick and ate at the local restaurant. The waiter was really cool and he also became our friend. His remembered my name and Ana said he was really facinated with me. I think it was just cause I joked around with him allot.

Rami picked me up on a motorcycle he rented and we took off to go fishing. His nephew wanted to come also so we rented two bikes and I got to drive one. It was great cruzing down the street on a bike. We drove for about 15 minutes then down a small bumpy dirt trail. We ended up on a small beach along side of the river which was huge. About a half a mile across. It was also really strong, muddy, and turbulent. Nothing you want to swim in. It was also HOT. I was sweating off of my elbows and hands just from driving the motorcycle. I had a breeze also. Damn. We proceeded to put the bait on the hook (About a 5x3 inch piece of beef) and throw it into the river. The current was so strong it pulled the hooks to the side of the river.

We sat there sweating and talking for about an 1.5 hours. It was great because off in the distance there was a lightning storm and it would flash about every few seconds. Very cool. Dense jungle behind us, the muddy massive and strong river in front, then the stormy clouds and moon filling the sky.

We drank so tequila like drink from a plastic bottle and loaded out checks with coca leaves. The leaves really helped keep me awake in the night and I was really starting to enjoy the taste. Was a kind of bonding thing as well. Kind of like Mati in Argentina.

We didn´t end up catching anything in that spot so we headed down river on the bikes to another spot. We through our lines (Or should I say weed wacker string) into the river. Nothing there either but joking around and having fun.

After another 2 hours we walked down river through some really bad jungle path. It was cut with a machete and damn hot. Allot of it was really low and walking low makes you even hotter. We walked for about 45 minutes through the jungle. By the end I was completely soaked. We fished again and found nothing but jokes and fun. Both Rami and his newphew spoke very little English so I had to communicate mostly in Spanish. Was a great opportunity for me to practice and by the end of the night I actually felt like I could communicate whatever I was thinking. I was bad but the point got across.

We ended up fishing one more spot and then heading back. We didn´t get back to the hotel till 4:30am. Was a good night. I had to knock on the door for 15 minutes just to get inside. I wasn´t sure if I was going to get in or not. When I got to the room I was so wet and dirty I just took my wallet out and walked directly into the shower. It felt great and I washed the dirt off my cloths.

I fell asleep like a rock around 5:00am.





Day 51
We woke up around 7:30 to go to our one day jungle tour. I was pretty tired since I only sleep a little bit. We decided to reschedule the jungle part of the trip to the next day and to do a 2 day trip instead since we had so much fun in the Pampus. We changed our airplane tickets, bus tickets, etc. And I headed back to the room to catch a little sleep. Later that evening we walked around the town and messed around.

We went to eat at this famous restaurant in town that was really good. In fact the orange juice was the best I think I´ve ever had in a restaurant. It was great. The owner worked in a French restaurant in America for a long time before he moved to that city and the food was really good. We paid and walked out.

Right as we got down the street we saw Rami on a motorcycle. He invited us to go to his only daughters first birthday party that night. It was such a nice gesture and we accepted. We bought a little bunny for the girl as a gift and headed up the street to his house. We were welcomed by him scaring me by grabbing my ankle in the dark. Punk.

His house didn´t have light since the tenet didn´t pay the bill. So in the backyard was a table with candles, a cake, and a large Bolivian family starring at us. It was so great. We had a wonderful time with his family. We talked and laughed and it felt so nice to be in the arms of a caring and loving family. We showed the kids our camera and they were fascinated. It was so funny but at the birthday party no one had a camera. They were so poor I don´t think anyone could afford one. So our camera and us seemed to be the center of attention. We took pictures of the kids and showed them on the screen. They were laughing. Was really fun.

We ate chicken, rice, and gravy for dinner. It was really good but because we had just at we had to force down as much as we could. At one point we needed to run to the market to get more coke. I went with Rami and we took the motorcycle down to the local small market. I paid for the 8 bottles of cold soda and he was very grateful. It was only like 4 American dollars but it was allot for him. He only made 5 dollars a day so it was almost a full day´s wages. It would be like me paying 130 American dollars for 8 bottles of coke. Crazy. Was so nice to help him and his family out.

We spent the rest of the night laughing and joking under the moon. We left with our stomachs and hearts full. Another highlight of the trip.

We sleep good that night under the beautiful, cold air blowing fan in our room.





Day 52
Woke up early and headed to the agency to meet up with Rami to see the fish market by the river that happened that day. He said there were all kinds of fish to see. We didn´t find him so we went down and saw it ourselves. It was cool. There weren’t any huge fish but plenty of cool looking fish.

Later at the agency we found Rami and he took us down to see one of the biggest cat fish I´ve ever seen in real life. It was pulled out of the same river we were fishing in but they used a net instead. The fish had been gutted, and the head was missing but it was still massive. It must have weighed around 70 pounds and was about 4 or 5 feet long. Really cool to see. Man I would love to catch one that big. He said it was probably about 40 years old.

After we headed to the agency to start our jungle tour. To our surprise Jacob (our cook from the Pampus) would be cooking for us also on our jungle tour. Was great since the food was wonderful and he was a really nice guy. We walked down to the river and got on the boat. We headed up stream for 3 hours where we docked along side of the river. The trip upstream was interesting and at one point we had some trouble getting over a massive tree in the middle of the river. Little crazy but we managed to get over it.

We got off the boat and walked 20 minutes to our campsite where we would be staying for the night. The jungle was really cool. Dense and just like I had imagined it would be. Very lush and hot as well. But galore. They were everywhere. Butterflies, flies, mesquites, and a whole variety of bugs I couldn´t recognize.

There was another Austrailian couple with us in our group. They were really cool and we were talking all the way. The girl was a little quite but that was understandable since they took a 17 hour overnight bus to get to the dock for the trip. They must have been damn tired. Crazy kids.

We ate lunch and went on a 3 hour hike in the jungle. It was really cool to walk in the dense jungle. The guide showed us different plants that could be used for different reasons. One was for malaria (from which we ate the bark) and another was for stomach problems. There were a ton of different trees and the guide seemed very knowledgeable. He grew up in the area. We tried to find a giant taranchula but had no luck. The previous day they found one and it was about 8 inches in diameter. Crazy big.

We keep hiking and checking things out. There was a walking tree which was very cool. It was able to move up to 12 feet from it´s original position to get in better light. It had no single trunck that went to the ground but a series of root looking limbs at the base. If it wanted to move it would simple grow new ones out the side and the other side it would kill the limbs. Very interesting.

We also saw a huge ant called the 24. It was about 1.5 inches long and was a monster. Very cool to see it. Don´t want to get bitten by it though. Bad news. I´m sure the guide knew some tree or mud that could fix it though.

We went back to camp and did some pirannah fishing in the small lagoon on below the cliff we were on. It was really cool. Again we put the chunk of meat on and throw it out. Damn it was frustrating but I did manage to get one different kind of fish and one very large pirannah. It had some bad ass teeth as well. I put the machete in it´s mouth and it clamped down hard enough to make a clinking metal sound. Crazy little suckers. I felt a little funny putting my hand in the river to clean the fish. I think those little punks could take a little piece of meat off my hand if they wanted too.

Later for dinner we cooked the pirannah up and it tasted really good. He cooked it with lime and salt. Then when I ate it I put a little more lime on it. Was great and went well with the rice.

After dinner we headed out for a night walk in the jungle. I wasn´t too excited about that. Being in the jungle sounded amazing. What I was worried about wasn´t the pumas, or snakes, or spiders. It was all the toxic ones. There was a snake that lived in that area that could kill a person in 15 minutes. There were bad ass spiders as well. I was worried about bumping into one on accident and it getting pissed off. It didn´t help the matter when the guide said that he didn´t like walking in the night and also was afraid of the snakes.

Either way we took off with 4 flashlights for 5 people. A little way in Ana´s bulb burned out and her light was gone. At the same time the guides light went out. He was able to bang it around and fix it but I wasn’t sure if it would keep working. All this added to my sense of this wasn’t the smartest thing to be doing. Ana was also pretty scared and keep thinking all the noises were large animals waiting to eat her.

Beside the danger the walk was really amazing. Several times we turned off the lights to try and locate animals. The sounds were surreal. Sounded like surround sound of the jungle cd´s you buy. Very Very Cool. We didn´t end up seeing anything but a bunch of mosquitoes. But we did have a great time and probably walked for about an hour cross jungle and small streams. Me and Ana shared a light which basically meant we both couldn´t see very well and if a snake happened to be laying across the path we would probably step on it. I was glad to make it out of the jungle with no problems to anyone.

When we got back to our little campsite we sat and watched the lagoon for a while under the full moon. It was really fabulous. We talked and joked with the guides and I smoked my cigar I´d been saving. Was wonderful.

We headed to bed about an hour later and jumped in under our mosquito nets. The sky was flashing with lightning so I was suspect to a rain storm coming in that night. The air had also cooled to 150 degrees so that also made me think a storm might be coming. We jumped in bed and fell asleep really quick. Happy to be alive and making sure the net was really secure so nothing could crawl in.





Day 53
I awoke with a bad need to go to the bathroom. Since that meant getting out of my net, putting on my shoes that I hope had no spiders or creatures in them, and walking into the black jungle I decided to try and hold it till morning. It starting sprinkling a little later and I was getting cold as well so I finally lifted myself from my bed and went to the bathroom before it started pouring. Sure enough it starting lightning and pouring after that. I even grabbed my jacket to cover me since I was so cold. I couldn´t believe it. The storm really cooled things down. It was great though to sit and hear the sounds of the jungle with the rain. Another wonderful experience. Despite the fact that my shirt and cloth stunk of that musty jungle smell and there were hundreds of bugs flying just outside my net. Sounded like an airport outside those bugs were so big and loud. None the less I slept like a baby.

In the morning we got up and relaxed. We had hand made empanadas for breakfast which were great. Then we decided to make jewelry rather than trek more in the jungle with the rain. The girls weren´t to keen on that idea. So we went out for about an hour in the rain collecting all the things we needed to make jewelry. I ended up going fishing rather than make jewlery but Ana and the other girl stayed behind to make jewelry. I was surprised how nice and what they were able to make with allot of help from the guide. They made necklaces, rings, and earrings. Pretty cool. They were also really nice. After lunch I joined in and helped the guide make me a necklace with an eagle claw on it. Pretty cool.

We packed up after lunch and headed out. We walked down to the river and boated the 1.5 hours back to the city. We flew down in half the time since we were going with the current. Was really cool to see the massive trees that were floating as driftwood in the huge river. The trees were a few hundred feet long with trunks about 4 to 5 feet in diameter. Amazing to think the river could actually move a tree that large.

Once we got to the city we went back to the hotel. Me and Ana invited the Australian couple and the two guides from our previous pampus trip to dinner. After a shower we met up with them. We all ate and had drinks. Laughed and joked and said our final goodbyes. The amazing thing about the dinner was that we paid for all 6 people and it was only 13 American dollars with tip. Not bad.

We said goodbye to Jacob and to Rami. Man they were both good friends and I had a special friendship with Rami. Good guy with a wonderful heart. I hope in my life I will get to see him again.

Me and Ana went back and packed and hit the sack. Sleep like a baby.





Day 54
We awoke early to catch our flight. As expected they were about an hour late. That wasn´t too bad since the guys the previous day actually had their flight cancelled and had to stay another day. The extra hour gave us enough time to go to the restaurant across the street and get a few more orange juices. Their great and I was going to miss them. 100 percent fresh squeezed orange juice for 50 cents a glass. Damn can´t get that in America.

We headed to the airport and waited even more. The pilot of our flight decided to turn back to La Paz once he saw how muddy and wet the grass airstrip was. Luckily a stronger over wing plane landed about 10 minutes after and we were able to get aboard that one. Was a tough and powerful plane and it had no problem with the conditions of the runway.

We made it back to La Paz in about an hour gaining about 10,000 feet in altitude as well. I felt it in my stomach and head shortly after getting off. The altitude kicks my butt. I’m such a little girl when it comes to that.

Anyway we taxied to our motel. We had to take side streets since there were major protest by local fisherman. They had blocked the major highway to get into downtown La Paz. They also were planning to protest on the major highway to Cuzco the next day so we had to stay an extra day in La Paz. One more day was ok and gave us time to relax and adjust to the altitude.

We checked into our hotel and laid down for a while. We were both not feeling too good and needed to rest. We ended up sleeping for about 3 hours. Watched some tv and basically lazed away the afternoon. I did make a couple calls home but no big deal.

Sleeping that night was pretty rough. We both weren’t feeling too good and we had just taken the malaria pills. Those pills seem to effect you for about the first 2 nights after you take them. That night was the worst I’ve experienced so far. I keep waking up confused and feeling like the line between reality and dreams were not clear. I couldn’t tell if I was dreaming or it was real. I also think the nap in the afternoon helped the whole thing by making me even more restless. Bottom line I tossed and turned all night in a confused and hallucinogenic state. Weird. I actually woke up half way rested though. Surprising.




Day 55
Woke up and lazed around in the morning. We love the tv in our room and are trying to use it as much as possible. It´s wonderful just to stare at the tube for hours. We finally got up and did a few errands then went to the local black market. Not underground just a massive market with hundreds of vendors selling clothing, food, etc. We didn´t buy anything but man there were some great deals. I just don´t need any cloths. I have my now 4 shirts and 2 pair of pants and that´s all I need.

After that we went and ate lunch and shopped some more. We ended up spending hours looking through the different little venders finding what we bought. Ana bought 3 scarf’s and some smelly lotion. I bought two beautiful carved head sculptures and one smaller one for 25 American dollars. They will go great with my collection and I feel an attachment to them. That´s the kind of art work I want in my house. Things I feel connected to and they have a history I can feel in my soul. Every time I look at those sculptures I´ll remember Bolivia and it´s people.

We are now finishing up catching up our blogs. It took about a total of 5 hours to do that and download our photos. Damn that´s allot of time on the computer. I think were headed out now to go eat. I´m thinking we might make another Burger King run but not sure. We´ll see how we feel. Got to wake up early tomorrow to catch the bus.

More crazy adventures from Tim and Ana coming soon so stay tuned.

t*