Rurrenabaque - Jungle

Day 123 – It didn’t rain…

… so the plane could not only take-off, but also land.  Before we headed to the airport we enjoyed another pancake breakfast, this time accompanied by a couple of Dutch girls Maaike and Hanneke, that we had first met in Pucón a month or two ago, seen again at dinner in Sucre and now breakfast!  They too were heading for Rurre but not until the next day, so we agreed to let them know what we found out in researching our jungle tour.

We got on the bus to the airport but managed to catch it going the wrong direction, meaning we went back past our hostel about half an hour after we first left it.  Nonetheless we made it to the airport with enough time to check in before our seats could be given away to the other inadequately ticketed people arguing with the airline staff.

Our little 19 seater plane aroused a fair amount of scepticism from our fellow passengers, not helped by the fact that the pilot had to gun the engines before we even hit the runway just to get enough thrust to get into La Paz’s thin air.  The plane then threaded its way between a couple of 6,000m peaks before dropping rapidly down to Rurre, some 4,000m below El Alto.  There was also a fair amount of hysterics from the Israeli girls on the plane when the guy (to Erin’s left) decided to receive a mobile call mid-flight!

Sealed inside our flying Pringles box.

The Fairchild Metro III sitting safely on the “tarmac” in Rurrenabaque [photo courtesy of Hanneke].

After settling into our room surrounded by lush gardens at Hotel Santa Ana we set off to interview a selection of the town’s 29 tour agencies.  After walking into a couple of random choices that fell well below the bar, we retreated to the internet to do some research.  Armed with a few recommendations for tour agencies that don’t feed sweets to monkeys, pass around caged anacondas or arm each tour participant with their own machetes, we finally settled on a jungle tour and headed back to the internet to inform the Dutch girls of our plan.

For dinner we headed to one of the fish restaurants along the river where we had delicious fresh catfish from the river in a garlic sauce.

Some kind of political rally set up in Rurre’s main square.

Day 124 – The sweatiest run ever

When we got up in the morning we had a message from Hanneke and Maaike enthusiastic about the plan, so we headed off to book our trip leaving the next morning.  Chores done we decided to go for a run before the weather really heated up.  The humidity had it’s effect anyway and we were still sweating a couple of hours after we got back.  We spent the afternoon in the hammocks in the hotel’s lush garden before catching up with Maaike and Hanneke that evening fresh off their flight from La Paz.  After dinner at the local gringo bar, Moskito, and a couple of colourful cocktails we headed to bed early ready for our departure up river in the morning.

Erin’s chocolate shot.

Day 125 – Beetles and juice

The tour we’d chosen was run by San Miguel del Bala, a community on the edge of Parque Nacional Madidi.  The itinerary we’d opted for included a couple of days of activities in the vicinity of the community and a couple of days inside the national park.  The community had been running an eco-lodge on the outskirts of the village for a few years and this is where our boat whisked us to first thing in the morning.  Down near the river level there was a dining room and large ‘relaxation area’ with hammocks and books.  A couple of minutes up a steep staircase were our cabins, with a nice little balcony (which the mosquitoes dissuaded the use of), a really comfy bed with mosquito net and a nice natural stone bathroom.

Once we’d settled into our cabins our guide, Wilman, took us for a walk around the community’s medicinal plant trail.  Explaining which trees could be used to treat stomach upsets and headaches, which leaves to dull the pain of ant and spider bites, which vines to cut for fresh water and which trees not to touch because of ants or vicious spikes.

Along the way Wilman spotted this Puma footprint, a couple of hundred metres from our cabins.  Alas we never saw a Puma or Jaguar in the flesh.

After the first of many delicious meals prepared by the local women we headed out on our next excursion to visit the village of San Miguel del Bala.  Our first stop was at Wilman’s house, where his kids fetched us fresh grapefruit and oranges from the trees in his garden while he explained the differences between the local roofing materials.  

Sucking the juice out of a fresh grapefruit.

 
Wilman’s house on the right and his kitchen on the left.  The roof of the kitchen only took a week or two to make but will only last 5 years.  The roof on his house took nearly two months but will last 20 years or more.

 
A couple of the locals.

 
Working for our refreshments – fresh sugar cane juice.

 
Feeding sugar cane through the press, quite an intricate piece of machinery to  say it is only made of wood.

As there were no puppies around Erin had to settle for chasing piglets instead.

Day 126 – Into the jungle

Early in the morning we packed a small bag and got in the boat to head up river into the national park.  On the way to San Miguel’s camp in Parque Nacional Madidi we passed a family of capybaras resting by the river’s edge.  We also passed a cliff where a variety of parrots nest, unfortunately without my (stolen) zoom lens we weren’t able to get any snaps.

Dad, Mum and baby Capybara.

According to Lonely Planet, Parque Nacional Madidi is home to “44% of all New World mammal species, 38% of tropical amphibian species, more than 10% of all bird species known to science and more protected species than any park in the world.”  Quite a résumé!  The difficulty of course for us was managing to encounter just a fraction of the parks inhabitants, given the dense rainforest, vast areas and tropical heat.

The later problem was partly resolved by taking a long siesta after lunch.  Napping in a hammock I braved an interaction with some of the park’s not insignificant insect population, while the girls snoozed inside under the protection of their mosquito nets. 

When the heat had subsided ever so slightly we set off into the jungle behind Wiman to see what we could see.  Every so often Wilmam would stop and try a variety of monkey calls, occasionally he would get a response from off in the distance and we would head in that direction.  Often the monkeys were rather more agile than us and we never caught them.  We did however manage to see Red Howler Monkeys, Brown Capuchin Monkeys and Bolivian Squirrel Monkeys.

 

Generally our views of the monkeys looked something like this, the monkey (quite a big Howler Monkey) is the tiny blip in the centre of the picture. [Maaike]

A close up of the same monkey, the only one in two days who stayed still enough to be photographed! [Again by Maaike]

Halfway through our walk Wilman made a few very quick steps backward, Hanneke did the same when she spotted the very large snake sunning itself in the path.  Wilman explained that this was a particularly deadly critter and we waited patiently for it to make its way off the path.

  
Random fungus.

After our walk Wilman pointed us in the direction of a nearby creek to have a wash (San Miguel are still installing the showers at their new campsite).  When we got down there we discovered a stagnant pool full of soap suds and already occupied by a couple of the guys working at the campsite.  Instead we opted to walk back down to the river for a wash.  I went for a swim to rinse off, which proved to be an excellent decision.  The girls opted to wash from the shore (not being fans of water they couldn’t see into), and as soon as they had washed off the DEET they got savaged by sandflies.

(I do have some photos of this excursion from Maaike’s camera, and although she didn’t expressly forbid me from using them, I think that might be pushing our friendship (though it might increase the popularity of this blog!))

   
The sandflies got Erin especially good – cankles!

That night after dinner Wilman took us for a walk through the dark.  Except for spiders and one very green snake we didn’t see a whole lot.  We did however hear a jaguar roaring off in the distance, Wilman disappointedly reported that it was some way away, around 200m!

After we had gone to bed Wilman came and got me back up, he’d heard a herd of peccaries right near the camp.  So dressed in my best jungle expedition gear, underwear and a pair of thongs, he led me off into the bush to get a closer look.  Down the bottom of a nearby gully we found about 30 of them, rooting around in the undergrowth for food.  When I returned to the camp the girls wanted to know why they hadn’t been invited, but I don’t genuinely believe they were disappointed about missing the little excursion!

Day 127 – More monkeys, snakes, spiders and don’t forget the mosquitoes!

This morning we got in the boat to go for a walk further from camp.  The monkey viewing progressed in much the same way, with us catching glimpses of a variety of species through the trees.

The group gathered at the base of a huge strangler fig.

Today’s snake, this time not poisonous, so we could get close enough for a photo [photo courtesy of Hanneke who made me take the photo anyway!] 

 
Wilman armed with a stick to check if the armadillo was home in his hole.  He doesn’t do this with older looking holes because snakes like to take up residence.

Just as we got back to camp the rain started and it rained heavily for several hours.  When it eased slightly we made a break for it and headed back to San Miguel before the river became too dangerous to navigate.

Waiting out the rain at the jungle camp.

Day 128 – Waterfalls and Canyons

Our first excursion of the day was a short boat ride followed by a 1km walk through the forest along a creek to beautiful pool and cascade.  The walk raised enough of a sweat to make a dip in the pool at the end well worthwhile.

Erin earning her swim.

 

Another short boat ride and we were at San Miguel’s ‘secret’ canyon.  This beautiful natural canyon is a about a meter wide and up to 15m deep.  The recent rains had resulted in bit of water flowing through the bottom.  As we waded upstream we saw butterflies, frogs, spiders and bats (or flying mice as they’re apparently called in Dutch!).

Big spidey.

 

 

 

Our final excursion was past a collection of traditional traps, including one called the ‘flatanator!’  Wilman explained that most were not used any more as it is simply easier to shoot animals with a shotgun…

Not the ‘flatanator’ but I reckon the effect would be similar.

 
For our final meal at San Miguel we were treated to catfish cooked three different ways: in a red sauce, wrapped in leaves and cooked in bamboo. [Hanneke]

Back in Rurre that night we made up for three days alcohol free by taking advantage of the lengthy happy hour at the main gringo bar.  The following photos are probably self explanatory, even the camera was getting blurry by the end [all courtesy of Maaike].

Matt with our bartender friend (we have been back there a few times now…)

First drinks…

Trouble makers!