Sunday 6 October - Friday 11 October

The Amazon, Rurrenabaque, Bolivia

We left cold La Paz behind us as we flew over the vast green Amazon forest to Rurrenabaque 400kms away where we would set off on on a jungle and pampas adventure. The flight only took half an hour, and was a far better option than the long and dangerous 18 hr bus ride. We had done some research on the different tour groups offering the Amazon trips and all were definitely not equal, so we'd already settled on Mashaquipe as one of the better outfits in town. We were told that we'd get a better price booking in Rurrenabaque rather than from La Paz, but as it turned out, if you want to go with the best and have quality - you still have to pay for it. Not having drawn enough cash before leaving La Paz was a little silly, and since they didn't accept AMEX, we ended up having to make about five small withdrawals from the only ATM in town and paying a small fortune in bank charges.

After much deliberation about wether to visit the jungle or pampas and which was better, we settled on a 4D/3N Jungle & Pampas combo tour. More pricey, but oh so worth it, to have experienced both. We set off by boat with our guide, Billy and another Aussie couple up the Beni river to Madidi National Park, one of the planet's most biologically diverse regions where Mashaquipe have their own private lodge. After paying our park entrance fees in San Buenaventura and filling in forms stating exactly what we had brought with us into the park, and promising to remove it when we returned, we set off on a 2hr boat journey to the lodge. At the lodge we were greeted with refreshments and a tasty lunch whipped up by the fabulous chef, Wilson and then were shown to our own little wooden bungalow nestled in the jungle complete with a comfy double bed and mosquito net - my kinda 'roughing it'.

We then met our own personal guide, Wilman who arranged for us to have a bit of a cultural experience that afternoon, with a visit to a local Tacana village and to see how they make cane juice. As we hacked our way through the jungle to find the local village, we began pouring with sweat, and I was forced to button my long sleeve shirt all the way up to my neck as there was a cloud of mosquitoes following us. I was determined not to come back having been chewed to pieces by mozzies. Before the village, we came across the cane juice extractor and stopped for some much needed refreshments. We each hacked down some sugar cane, and then inserted it into a contraption that looked like it was used to torture people by the Spanish Inquisition, and squeezed all the juice out. The end product did not look that appetising, but it was most enjoyable, especially with a squeeze of lime to even out the sweetness of the cane juice. We then carried on to find the villagers, all the while stopping to observe bush pigs and sample papayas and bananas from their plantations, as well as monkey nuts which they'd left drying on a plastic sheet. When we got to their village though, there was no one in sight, so after playing with their kitten and keeping out of the way of a snake Gary found in the grass that was hunting the chickens in the village, we had to head back before the sun went down. After dinner we went on a short night walk where we found the tarantulas out of their nests as well as many other creepy crawlies.

The following morning we had an early start to get to the cliffs where the scarlet macaws nest. It was incredible to see these brightly coloured birds in their natural environment - I think you get so used to the idea of seeing them in cages, you forget that they are wild animals. The macaws are always in pairs as they are monogamous and mate with the same partner for life. We climbed the cliffs to view them from above as they flew over the forest and into their nests which are holes that they carve out of the clay cliff face. Apparently the macaws need to eat some of this clay to aid in the digestion of their food. We later went down below the cliffs to observe the noisy little critters close up - simply magical, and I didn't want to leave. After that we built a raft from balsa wood tree trunks which are amazingly lightweight and floated back down the river for a few hours until we reached our campsite. We finished off the day with an afternoon hike where we were chasing bush pigs all over the jungle again - man they stink! That evening we met a very friendly Dutch couple that was going to be joining us for the Pampas part of our tour the next day.

The following morning we boated back to Rurrenabaque in the fog, and jumped in a car to take us to the Pampas. Three hours later of driving at break neck speed on the bumpiest, potholed, muddiest and dustiest road I've ever experienced as well as having our ears chewed off by the Dutch chick we were so grateful to be piling out of the car and into a boat again. The short boat ride to La Tortuga lodge took us past groups of turtles sunning themselves, capybaras, alligators, herons, cormorants, wild turkeys and we were even treated to the sight of pink dolphins playing in the water right in front of our lodge as we arrived. Wow - such an abundance of wildlife in the Pampas. After lunch we went on a boat ride to look for the dolphins again and try a spot of piranha fishing. With some raw meat wrapped around a hook tied onto to some fishing gut, we all cast into the muddy water and patiently waited for a bubbling blood fest of piranhas feeding...unfortunately it wasn't like you see on the movies at all - in fact Gary was the only one to catch a piranha as well as a catfish, and was very careful of those razor sharp teeth when removing the hook. On our way back we spotted some dolphins again and the guide suggested that we could jump in and swim with them, but after seeing how many crocs and caymans had slipped into the water as our boat went past, none of us were particularly keen to brave the muddy waters. After dinner we did a night boat tour where the guide drove us up the river by engine and then quietly rowed us all the way back to the lodge...I don't recall seeing much of note as I think most of us fell asleep.

The last day in the Pampas was what I had been dreading the most - Anaconda hunting. I was not keen to don some wellies and go traipsing around in muddy swamps looking for giant snakes - I'd rather leave that kind of thing to idiots on Animal Channel who think thats clever. Since we were there, I had to do it, so off we went into the muddy swamp with a pole to help pull you out of the mud but also to prod the mud before you stepped onto it in case an Anaconda was buried beneath it. Each prod and footstep made me more and more nervous - I was not enjoying this, and then Gary cries out a few metres away that he has something....eeek, I did not want to see it plus you cant run in the mud - it just sucks you in. After a bit of digging and prodding from the guide, they uncover a hibernating alligator....also something I don't want to be close up to, but phew, no anaconda. Another hour or two of searching turns up nothing and we thankfully head back, although the boys are a bit disappointed not to have found a snake.

Back in Rurrenabaque we bumped into Dani, the Aussie who climbed Cotapaxi with us in Ecuador - always nice to see a familiar face in the middle of nowhere. We met up for drinks later that night and the heavens opened up - luckily we weren't out in the jungle for the torrential rain that ensued. The next day, surprise surprise, our flights back to La Paz were delayed and we were stuck with the Dutch chick chewing off our ears again until our flight left at 3pm. By the time we got to El Alto airport in La Paz, we ran for our luggage and made a beeline for a taxi, so as to avoid sharing with the crazy Dutch couple...we were well and truly over listening to her stories.