The Amazon

We quickly found a good one and bought a package with flights there and back (since the roads are horrible here) and a three day Pampas-tour including two nights at a lodge in the jungle.

I have never in my life set foot in such a small plane. Even I had to duck down to enter it and there were only room for 18 passengers. I felt like we were in an Indiana Jones movie when we landed in the middle of the jungle in the wilderness without any visible landing spot. Some people crossed their hearts and didn't find it at all exciting while Chris and I had a really good time.

From the coldness in La Paz caused by the high altitude we were now at sea level and the weather was tropical.

We were picked up by our tour agent and went to the agency where the other people of the tour were waiting. There were in total 8 people including Chris and I and all of us were couples in almost the same age. One couple was from Holland, one from England and another from Argentina so it was a nice mix.

We went inside a dirty old 4x4 and were told we had a 3 hour drive in front of us. We have seen many scary roads on our trip but Bolivia is the worst. It was to say the least a bumpy ride. We had to drive through a lake of mud and the car almost flipped. We were driving on two wheels but the driver did some car magic and we somehow landed on four wheels again. The other couples who had gone by bus from La Paz to Rurrenabaque told us that this was the same as the road they took but the only difference was that then you had a hell of a drop off on one side of the bus since it was up on the mountains so none of the women could sleep but the men slept like babies since they had the aisle seats...

When we arrived we switched from car to boat. On the way we saw some Elvis looking birds, tucans, monkeys and turtles. Our guide was about to turn the boat to go back and look for a big monkey when we suddenly bumped into a huge bush full of Pippi Longstocking monkeys. There were about fifteen of them and each one was staring at us. One had a baby monkey on her back and another one was chewing on a big insect he just caught and they were right in front our faces. Even the guys were like "AAAAW".

After two hours we arrived at our lodge where we soon had a delicious dinner. Our guide then introduced us to his friend who was lying in the water just a few meters from where we were eating. Pedro, A fully grown caiman.

Caiman

Next day we saw some new animals such as capybaras and pink dolphins. The pink dolphins were literally everywhere. Our guide told us to jump into the water to swim with them. The rain was pouring down and the water was as black as coal. The guys and I got in. The rest of the girls stayed inside the boat. It was a strange feeling swimming in the Amazon. To summarize it, it was like swimming in a pool of compost. Except there were pink dolphins around.

At night we did a boat tour in the dark under a starry sky. It was pitch black and we only had three flash lights. Every now and then our guide turned off the engine and you were surrounded by the sounds from all the different animals. It was really cool and a bit scary. Then he turned it back on again and somehow he found a little caiman baby with the help of the reflection of his eyes. He didn't look at all intimidating.

A baby caiman

Last day we went looking for anacondas. We were back in the boat and this time we were going with the boat through grass. We searched for land for over an hour but everywhere it was just water. As soon as we hit land we got out of the boat and started walking. My rubber boots were not tall enough so they filled up quickly with water. The mosquitoes were everywhere and I gave up really quickly with the searching. Chris on the other hand though was the last one to leave the island but was covered in mosquito bites. I counted the ones on his forehead and neck but stopped after 30. We didn't find any anacondas at all that day and no piranhas either but it was a really cool day nonetheless.

Searching for anacondas

Steffi

written by  Steffi & Chris on February 5, 2010 from Rurrenabaque, Bolivia
from the travel blog: 212 days
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