A few days ago in Rurrenabaque it was mid 30's and the humidity was such that 10 minutes after a shower, you felt you needed another. That certainly didn't detract from the holiday though, we had an awesome time! Eight of us went, Lois and I, Drew and Syntyche Davis, Ben and Dawn Golding-Webb and Wynn and Faye Keating. To start with we all decided to go by bus to keep costs down. Flights to La Paz are about 600 Bolivianos per person ($120NZD or $100US) and then about the same to fly from La Paz to Rurrenabaque where our tour left from. The bus was 80 Bolivianos for each leg, with both legs taking roughly 16-18 hours. I know the flights sound a better option, but hey we are pioneers after all!
We started out in Tarija at 5p.m. with about 25 degrees Celsius, but once we got to the altiplano in the middle of the night with altitudes between 4000 and 5000 meters, the temperature plummeted. Some of our party froze, as not all had adequate clothing for these conditions. See exhibit A:
Once we got to La Paz we stayed in backpackers accommodation for a night which was excellent actually. Some took the opportunity to get some "real food" while others were drawn to the novelty of a movie. The next afternoon we set off for Rurrenabaque, not really knowing what we were in for, or that 99.9% of tourists fly! I suppose we should have had an inkling when the bus trip was the same length, as Tarija to La Paz but on the map Rurrenabaque looked so curiously close to La Paz!
We set off climbing in altitude steadily from La Paz (which is 3600m.) After a few hours of stunning scenery we passed the summit and the turn off to the world's most dangerous road. Actually Ben and Dawn had just done the death road trip and they said this bus trip wasn't much different. The last 15 hours or so was more like a high altitude four wheel drive trip in a bus. It wasn't actually a road as such, it was a muddy track with a spectacular drop on one side. Much of it is one lane as well, so there were a lot of delays and trucks and cars backing up to let other vehicles through. Curiously, at different stages, the road rules change so that you drive on the left rather than the right. I imagine that is so those that have to back down hill aren't against the drop-off. At some stages the wheels of the bus were actually on the edge of the precipice so when we looked out the window all we saw was the drop. Unfortunately I wasn't sitting by the window Lois was, so her photos are better but here is one which doesn't really give the real picture, but trust me it is a long way down!
Once I get the video downloaded you will get a better idea of the road!
We managed by the way to have some good talks about the Bible on the bus trips. We placed about 50 magazines and got to show the "Why study the Bible" video to a few people as well. It turns out a brother from Rurrenabaque was on the bus so once we met him he looked after us, and showed us around the town once we arrived. Ben and I even got to have a game of football with the local congregation. They have one congregation and three groups in this area. We got to meet some brothers eating fish on the riverbank and were invited to join them which was awesome. The fish was delicious, it actually tasted like salt water fish. They even taught Ben how to throw a circular fish net.
We stayed at some cheap accommodation in Rurrenabaque for one night where the highlight was the excellent hammocks!
The next day we were off! One Canadian guy was put in our group (who by the end of the trip had a different hopefully better perspective of JW's(and yes he was preached to rather relentlessly)), so nine of us and two guides squeezed into a 4 wheel drive and set off on a three hour drive into the unknown! Apparently you go one way to get into the pampas where we were headed, and the other direction to get into the full on jungle. We chose the pampas because you get to see more animals, and most of the tour is by boat. There are patches of large trees and jungle, but also large tracts of endless swamp.
Once at the river we piled all our equipment into the longboat and set off for a three hour trip through the pampas to our accommodation. The whole way we were seeing loads of animals, endless birds of all descriptions, three species of monkeys, pink dolphins, caiman and alligators, capybara to name some.
We went out at night spotlighting for Caiman and alligators. There are two species of caiman here, apparently the black caiman is quite dangerous and grows up to about 6 meters in length. Our guide had a nasty set of scars on his arm from an encounter with one. It was guarding its nest at the time though. We saw quite a few including one black caiman of about 3-4 meters. We drifted up to it in the boat until we were right alongside it. I couldn't resist stroking its back. My daughter Syntyche wasn't very happy about that, but I figured the sharp end was a couple of meters away so it should be quite safe.
That night Ben and I went into the bush behind our huts with torches hoping to find some snakes. I was looking really carefully but I still nearly trod on one. My foot was nearly on it when it moved. I held its tail as it slithered away not realizing that cobras are plain coloured here!
The next day we went walking through hours of endless swamp looking for anacondas, cobras and rattlesnakes. I couldn't help noticing the guide didn't have any antivenin or even a first aid kit. It would take many hours or days to get to proper medical care, yet for some reason it didn't feel unsafe, apart from the relentless mosquitos. Not long after we left we saw an anaconda of about 3.5 meters
When we first arrived at the hut the guide told us we were welcome to have a swim in the river. I jumped in to escape the humidity, and so did Ben. later on a 4 meter caiman swam past, and the guide casually mentioned there were a lot of piranhas in this area, but it is quite safe unless you are bleeding! I guess he is right because we weren't eaten.
After our swamp walk, we got back into the boat and went off to swim with the pink dolphins. That was awesome. Although the water is quite black and you are hoping it is a dolphin grabbing your toes and not something more sinister, it was a really touching experience having a wild dolphin come up to you to have its belly scratched. We were in the water for ages before they approached us, and it was only when we were off on our own, I think they are wary of groups of people in the water.
After the swim we went off piranha fishing. The girls were desperate to see a sloth and on the way we got to see one and stopped to go for a bush walk to try and get a better view.
Piranhas are obviously pretty easy to catch with a bit of meat, and we got to eat them for dinner instead of the other way around! For Ben from Manchester, it was the first fish he had ever caught! I wonder how many people can lay claim to a piranha being the first fish they ever landed? These were red piranha, a small species, but according to our guide, the most dangerous and aggressive of them all. Not a lot of meat on these little guys, but they were really delicious.
I have some excellent video clips of the bus trip, animals, playing with alligators etc, but it is unbelievably difficult to get them uploaded with our internet. I hope to be able to add them to this post over coming days.
On our way back home in the boat an animal called a Koati leapt into the water right behind us. The guide was really excited, as they are really rare, and are only seen every couple of years, so that topped off an excellent trip. All that remained was the gruelling trip home.
Unfortunately we have to return to NZ in a week for two months work. It is such a disappointment to get all your studies enthusiastic and keen to attend meetings, then having to leave for work. Oh well, I guess without making some money we would be having to go home permanently, so I guess I shouldn't complain. Anyway I am not sure when I will be able to add another post due to travel and work commitments, but when possible I will get back to it. Thanks for reading, and bye for now.
