Our journey to the airport was let's say a rush. Lauren and Anthony left in a taxi late and Rory and I were 15 minutes behind. After an evening in La Paz reliving university nights at the infamous Wild Rover (UV light, dancing on tables, shots) we were never going to wake up feeling fantastic. We needn't of worried however as this is Bolivia. It was unlikely to ever run on time. After about a 2 hour delay we were informed there was a technical fault with the plane. Reassuring, especially for Rory who loves to fly. Eventually, we got on the 30 seater plane, small but glad it was not a prop plane as that might have sent Rory over the edge.

The flight was relatively smooth. I say relatively as there was a moment where it felt like the plane was about to drop out the sky. The journey to Rurrenabaque from La Paz is only 30 minutes and whilst a slightly bumpy journey, you do get incredible sights over the Andes mountains, followed by the rainforest with the Beni river running through. An amazing start to the jungle experience.

Arriving to Rurrenabaque airport, you could say it's basic. You pay an airport tax on the way out to either fund the development of the airport, or most likely pays the airport staff to chase cows off the runway. Lauren made a joke they'll probably check us in with a paper checklist. Jokes aside, upon leaving Rurrenabaque a lady stood there with a clipboard and highlighter. Good jobs there's no IS threat in Bolivia.

We arrived at our hostel for one night ahead of our jungle trip. A room for the 4 of us, did someone say cosy? After the altitude of La Paz, we were glad to reach a warmer climate. As soon as we arrived Lauren and I were ready to jump in the hostel pool, only problem was there was no water in it...

The next day our 5 day, 4 night jungle trip began. We booked our trip with Mashaquipe (top rated on trip advisor - an ecological and local run firm). We met our guide, Eber and I don't think we could have been in safer hands. Eber grew up in the jungle for 15 years, worked as a guide for 10 years and had served his military service (obligatory in Bolivia). More importantly he had a machete. Anything Eber said was ok, I believed him.

Our trip was divided into two parts, the first beginning in the jungle, Madidi Park. We took a river boat for two hours to our lodge. The quality of the accommodation considering we were in the jungle was brilliant (double bedroom, shared bathroom) . We got to show off our room on camera when the team from Mashaquipe asked if they could film Rory and I for a promo video. You couldn't have asked two more awkward people on screen. Our cameo involved sitting on the bed, chintzing our glasses of wine together whilst looking lovingly at each other. We later found out its going on CNN as a promo for Rurrenabaque. Let's hope we don't make the cut

After our tough day of filming, it was time to get down to the real stuff: Jungle trekking. Wow it was a sweatathon. We all took the mosquito warning seriously and I don't think we had an inch of skin showing. In the humid jungle this didn't make for the most comfortable walk. However, who cares when you are in it to see animals. Here we saw Eber in action for the first time, whistling to the birds and making calls to the animals. Our first sighting was a hoard of wild boar. They kind of stink unsurprisingly and when you hear a group charging it's actually quite scary. We had to hunt them down and none of us were too light footed like Eber. The next day they joined us at lunch, not so scared of humans this time.

The next day was the big one. We were camping in the jungle overnight. I had visions of lying on the floor with the spiders and snakes. This is pretty much how it was but we did have a mosquito net cover (nothing was coming in!) and the area for camping was sheltered. We trekked 3 hours to get to our camping ground. Quite steep and muddy in sections, we got to watch Rory grapple and hang on to branches sometimes sliding on his arse. Arriving at camp, a bbq lunch was waiting. Hats off to the chefs for the whole trip, we ate like Kings and Queens.

At sunset that evening, we watched over the jungle as macaws swooped over the forest. Their bright feathers illuminating the sky. After sun down, it was us, our torches and the jungle. The sounds you could hear at night were incredible. Lauren went for ear plugs as the tour guide mentioned you might hear the roar of a puma, happy sleeping! We went on a night walk in the pitch black just before bed, we has visions of jaguar's leaping out, switching the torch on and their eyes shining back (it has been heard of!). The most we saw though were tarantulas, bats and our favourite wild boar. Still a very exciting walk for the thrill of being there.

Day 3 we were heading to the second part of our trip, the pampas. We left the jungle on a log raft we'd built with our bare hands.. we were mostly at mercy of Rory and Anthonys boy scout skills . The river is fast flowing so no risk of cayman, which meant the guys jumped in to the river.Probably a good thing as we smelt as bad as the pigs after camping. It was definitely a highlight of the trip, that is the rafting rather than the cleanliness.

After a boat then car ride, we arrived in the Pampas. What a day it was. Starting with swimming with freshwater pink dolphins and finishing with piranha fishing. Rory got a catch straight off the mark and peaked early with 2 fish. I whilst not really paying attention caught another. It was such a surprise, I actually flung the fish on Rory's face. Not sure he was too happy when those teeth were coming towards him. Anthony was unlucky on the piranah front but caught two mini cat fish. Lauren managed to almost cast out Anthonys sunglasses and catch a branch. Pretty impressive. Eber of course was the shining star catching the biggest fish meaning we wouldn't go hungry later.At dinner, the piranhas were fried for our very first tasting.

Following dinner we went on a night-time boat trip. The search was on for cayman who are most active at night. I'd like to think this was the only part of the trip I was a big girl. We set off in our small river boat and I was pretty much sat in Rory's lap with my eyes shut. You couldn't see what was beneath you, you couldn't see what was next to you, it was just a couple of torches waiting to see yellow eyes staring back at you. After 30 minutes we hit a marsh where we stopped. There we saw a baby cayman next to the boat. My thoughts were where is the mum, which Anthony helpfully chipped in also. That was it for me, I was ready to go back. I needn't of worried as cayman are always solo. The mum was never coming!

It was a 5am rise on the final day. We set off as we left the boat in the pitch black. However, the burning sunrise came, vivid and beautiful. We stopped off at this point to hear the noise of the howler monkeys, an amazing sound and sight (we have added a video to the blog). The last day was a monkey day seeing more howler and also squirrel monkeys. The squirrel monkeys were particularly fun as they jumped on the boat allowing for a close encounter. Some may say a bit too intimate as we watched two romping at the front.

The sun shone gloriously as we then made our way out of the river. Lauren laid out bronzing up on the boat, leaving browner in 4 days than Rory and I have achieved in 3 months. This brought us to the end of our journey and it was time to catch our flight to La Paz.

Whilst looking forward to being clean and having fresh clothes, a sadness kicked in to leave behind such a unique and amazing experience (a true highlight of our trip so far,). Even now almost one month on, I still miss Eber and jungle life. I know we'd all go back in a heartbeat.