September 25 - 29, 2013 - Pampas, Bolivia
Sept 25:
We were meant to be on the 8 am flight. However, because some flights were cancelled yesterday we were bumped back to the 10am flight. That meant we would miss our tour for the day. Bummer. Our tour agency got us on a tour for the next day and sorted out our return flights, thankfully. Now we would just have all day to relax in Rurrenabaque before heading out to the Pampas.
The flight out was on a little propeller plane with about 20 people. A bumpy ride. Though the scenery was amazing. We started out flying over mountains and ended up landing in dense jungle. On the plane we met some girls going to a hostel with a pool so we followed them hoping there would be some open beds for us as well. AND there were! For 40Bolivianos a night we got a bed, breakfast, and all day by the pool. They also had a friendly toucan that would wander around and if you weren't careful steal your food. We hung out by the pool most of the day. It was so nice to finally be warm again after so long in the chilly mountains. Then our large friend group from the hostel all went out for dinner.
Sept 26:
We met our group at the Fluvial Tour office at 9am and headed out to the Pampas shortly after that. Our group consisted of 3 germans, 2 bolivians, 2 french and us 2. Jim and I sat in the back of the jeep with the 2 french folks. As it turns out we had a blast with them in the back during our VERY bumpy 3 hour drive to the Yacuma River. '
On the way we stopped for lunch at a little Restaurant where they had a pet deer wandering around.
Then we made another pit stop for drinks and the bathroom. Here, our 4some purchased a bottle of what is called Ciebo and a bottle of coke. Ciebo is local liquor that is 96% alcohol. Strong and disgusting but effective. I think we laughed the rest of our way to the river. Isabelle and Jeremy are gonna make this pampas trip even better!
Once to the river the 9 of us and our guide filled the boat and we headed up river. The way up took about 2 hours. Along the way if we saw any animal the guide would stop the boat and let us take pictures and watch. And we saw lots and lots of animals. Im not exaggerating when I say we saw hundreds of crocodiles. There were also many different kinds of birds, capiburra, turtles, caimen, monkeys and more. We got so close to the monkeys that some of them came aboard the boat and tried to steal some food from another boat!
At camp we put our stuff away and checked in our room for the next 2 nights. Our camp is very basic. Its rooms with mosquito netting and netting over each bed. It has running water but no hot water and a game room with ping pong and a collection of animal skulls. Including a GIANT caimen skull.
Isabelle and I wandered around camp while the guys gathered firewood for a fire for the night. After dinner we all gathered back in the boat for a night tour. We all took our flashlights and went in search of crocodile eyes. They werent hard to find, they were everywhere! And for a while we all shut off out lights and floated along looking at the stars and listening to the dolphins swim by and all the other night sounds.
When we returned Jim and Jeremy started a fire and we spent the next few hours talking and sitting by the campfire. oh how I love camping. I have missed it a bit!
Sept 27:
We got up early this morning and took the boat out at 6am to go see the sunrise.
We returned for breakfast. And at 9am we all put on our wellies and prepared to go trudging through the swamp to look for anacondas and other snakes. I had a lot of fun getting muddy and dirty walking through the swamp. The water, often times, was above my boots so my pants and feet just ended up muddy and wet. We walked around in search of snakes for about 1.5 hours. Unfortunately, we didnt see any snakes, but we saw lots of birds and some of us were even lucky enough to wander upon a wasps nest!
3 of us were stung, poor Jeremy was stung on the forehead and neck. Us other 2 were just stung on the hand, though that was painful enough. Our guide reacted quickly and helped us escape even more stings. He also dug up some mud that he applied to the area. It was cool and soothing and took some of the sting away. Adventures!
We returned to camp and had a few hours to rest during the hottest part of the day.
Afterwards, we piled back into the boat to go looking for the pink river dolphins! We searched for a while and finally stopped in a open area of the river where some dolphins where playing and following the sound of the motor. Our guide shut off the engine and told us we could jump in with the dolphins. Cool! However, all I could think of was how yesterday we spent hours and hours looking at and seeing hundreds of crocodiles. This definitely spooked me a bit. Jim and some of the other jumped right in with the dolphins. I eventually jumped in but I didnt let go of the boat, haha. I was too afraid of being eaten by a crocodile.
That evening our boat and lots of other groups gathered at a location where you could play volleyball, soccer, drink and beer and watch the sun go down.
That night after dinner we stayed up talking around the campfire again.
We also spent about an hour watching the amazing show the stars put on that night.
Sept 28:
We all went fishing for piranhas in the morning. We were given a hook on a line connected to little piece of wood. Its really tricky to catch piranhas. When they come to take a bite you gotta be really quick to jerk the line and snag em. I didnt catch a single fish! But most others caught at least one and the German girl caught about 7. Our guide cleaned them and we took them back to camp and the cook fried them up for us to eat with lunch! Yum!
Shortly after lunch we got back into the boat and headed back down river to return to Rurrenabaque. After the boat ride it was another VERY bumpy 3 hours back to Rurrenabaque. But it was another fun filled 3 hours. We even had to stop and change a flat tire!
We got a lil R&R back at the hostel and then met up again with Isabelle and Jeremy. We went out for a nice dinner then to a bar where we danced the night away! Jim and I have really enjoyed meeting and hanging out with those 2! I really hope to see them again sometime.
Sept 29:
We took our flight back to La Paz. Then returned to Loki hostel. Jim immediately had to grab his stuff and return to the airport for his flight to Santa Cruz. Its been a fun filled 10days with Jim and Im super glad he could join me for a while!
Im sad to lose Jim, BUT, good news! Joep and Nick from Sucre are now in La Paz! So I get a few more days to hang out with those crazy fools.
Sept 25:
We were meant to be on the 8 am flight. However, because some flights were cancelled yesterday we were bumped back to the 10am flight. That meant we would miss our tour for the day. Bummer. Our tour agency got us on a tour for the next day and sorted out our return flights, thankfully. Now we would just have all day to relax in Rurrenabaque before heading out to the Pampas.
The flight out was on a little propeller plane with about 20 people. A bumpy ride. Though the scenery was amazing. We started out flying over mountains and ended up landing in dense jungle. On the plane we met some girls going to a hostel with a pool so we followed them hoping there would be some open beds for us as well. AND there were! For 40Bolivianos a night we got a bed, breakfast, and all day by the pool. They also had a friendly toucan that would wander around and if you weren't careful steal your food. We hung out by the pool most of the day. It was so nice to finally be warm again after so long in the chilly mountains. Then our large friend group from the hostel all went out for dinner.
Sept 26:
We met our group at the Fluvial Tour office at 9am and headed out to the Pampas shortly after that. Our group consisted of 3 germans, 2 bolivians, 2 french and us 2. Jim and I sat in the back of the jeep with the 2 french folks. As it turns out we had a blast with them in the back during our VERY bumpy 3 hour drive to the Yacuma River. '
On the way we stopped for lunch at a little Restaurant where they had a pet deer wandering around.
Then we made another pit stop for drinks and the bathroom. Here, our 4some purchased a bottle of what is called Ciebo and a bottle of coke. Ciebo is local liquor that is 96% alcohol. Strong and disgusting but effective. I think we laughed the rest of our way to the river. Isabelle and Jeremy are gonna make this pampas trip even better!
Once to the river the 9 of us and our guide filled the boat and we headed up river. The way up took about 2 hours. Along the way if we saw any animal the guide would stop the boat and let us take pictures and watch. And we saw lots and lots of animals. Im not exaggerating when I say we saw hundreds of crocodiles. There were also many different kinds of birds, capiburra, turtles, caimen, monkeys and more. We got so close to the monkeys that some of them came aboard the boat and tried to steal some food from another boat!
At camp we put our stuff away and checked in our room for the next 2 nights. Our camp is very basic. Its rooms with mosquito netting and netting over each bed. It has running water but no hot water and a game room with ping pong and a collection of animal skulls. Including a GIANT caimen skull.
Isabelle and I wandered around camp while the guys gathered firewood for a fire for the night. After dinner we all gathered back in the boat for a night tour. We all took our flashlights and went in search of crocodile eyes. They werent hard to find, they were everywhere! And for a while we all shut off out lights and floated along looking at the stars and listening to the dolphins swim by and all the other night sounds.
Sept 27:
We got up early this morning and took the boat out at 6am to go see the sunrise.
We returned for breakfast. And at 9am we all put on our wellies and prepared to go trudging through the swamp to look for anacondas and other snakes. I had a lot of fun getting muddy and dirty walking through the swamp. The water, often times, was above my boots so my pants and feet just ended up muddy and wet. We walked around in search of snakes for about 1.5 hours. Unfortunately, we didnt see any snakes, but we saw lots of birds and some of us were even lucky enough to wander upon a wasps nest!
3 of us were stung, poor Jeremy was stung on the forehead and neck. Us other 2 were just stung on the hand, though that was painful enough. Our guide reacted quickly and helped us escape even more stings. He also dug up some mud that he applied to the area. It was cool and soothing and took some of the sting away. Adventures!
We returned to camp and had a few hours to rest during the hottest part of the day.
Afterwards, we piled back into the boat to go looking for the pink river dolphins! We searched for a while and finally stopped in a open area of the river where some dolphins where playing and following the sound of the motor. Our guide shut off the engine and told us we could jump in with the dolphins. Cool! However, all I could think of was how yesterday we spent hours and hours looking at and seeing hundreds of crocodiles. This definitely spooked me a bit. Jim and some of the other jumped right in with the dolphins. I eventually jumped in but I didnt let go of the boat, haha. I was too afraid of being eaten by a crocodile.
That evening our boat and lots of other groups gathered at a location where you could play volleyball, soccer, drink and beer and watch the sun go down.
That night after dinner we stayed up talking around the campfire again.
We also spent about an hour watching the amazing show the stars put on that night.
Sept 28:
We all went fishing for piranhas in the morning. We were given a hook on a line connected to little piece of wood. Its really tricky to catch piranhas. When they come to take a bite you gotta be really quick to jerk the line and snag em. I didnt catch a single fish! But most others caught at least one and the German girl caught about 7. Our guide cleaned them and we took them back to camp and the cook fried them up for us to eat with lunch! Yum!
Shortly after lunch we got back into the boat and headed back down river to return to Rurrenabaque. After the boat ride it was another VERY bumpy 3 hours back to Rurrenabaque. But it was another fun filled 3 hours. We even had to stop and change a flat tire!
We got a lil R&R back at the hostel and then met up again with Isabelle and Jeremy. We went out for a nice dinner then to a bar where we danced the night away! Jim and I have really enjoyed meeting and hanging out with those 2! I really hope to see them again sometime.
Sept 29:
We took our flight back to La Paz. Then returned to Loki hostel. Jim immediately had to grab his stuff and return to the airport for his flight to Santa Cruz. Its been a fun filled 10days with Jim and Im super glad he could join me for a while!
Im sad to lose Jim, BUT, good news! Joep and Nick from Sucre are now in La Paz! So I get a few more days to hang out with those crazy fools.
No comments:
Post a Comment