Rurrenabaque

We decided to fly to Rurrenabaque as we heard the bus journey is atrocious, as the bus can take anything from 15-42 hours. The flight is only 35 minutes from La Paz (4100m above sea level) to Rurrenabaque (100 m above sea level). So you can imagine the views of the mountains were fantastic. Although Sarah was not witness to this as she was petrified, sweating with her eyes closed and cutting the circulation off in my hand for the full 35 minutes!!

We landed on a tiny runway in the middle of the jungle and it was a completely different world to that we had come from 35 minutes ago - it was hot, humid and sweaty - the former two Sarah had been craving! Driving from the runway to the town the buildings, road and houses reminded us very much of Laos or Cambodia. Everything happened pretty quickly when we got to our hostel! In no time at all Robbie was booked on to a 3 day survival trip with Max and Jesper. Sarah decided not to come unsurprisingly and stayed with Jana and went horse riding in the jungle! Which lead to Sarah having to tend to another invalid as Jana fell off and sprained her elbow!!!

Survival

Day 1

We took nothing but the clothes on our backs and a mosquito net into the jungle. We booked the trip because we were told it would be a bushman type trip, building your own shelter, making your own fire and catching your own food.

Immediately as we alighted the boat getting our first taste of our home for the next three days Jesper complained of being sick! He looked a bit sweaty and weak, so we left him lying down in the jungle while we went with our guide to find larvae to fish with. Max and I were already cracking jokes that Jesper had survived for about 20 minutes!! We returned from our foraging trip having collected larvae, mushrooms, bark (for Jesper), and Bamboo for cooking with and making cups. Our return also confirmed that Jesper was feeling worse and had a dodgy stomach with the full complement of side effects!

We proceeded to go fishing and left Jesper in his mosquito net. Pretty quickly we caught a sardine which allowed us to go for bigger fish. We caught 4 catfish in total (Max 2, Robbie 1 and Miguel (our guide) 1). By now it was dark, we helped gut and prepare the fish which we cooked in small bamboo cylinders with water and a ton of salt. Max and I had laid out our plans for the night which entailed boiling water so we had two bamboo cylinders on the go. We had only had a small bit of water earlier out of a vine so thirst was the main thing on our minds! Apart from taking ages it was difficult to keep the bamboo from falling over by which time dinner was ready. The dinner was to make us even thirstier as it was heavily laden with salt and drinking water that was not below 85 degrees almost made us thirstier.

When we retired to bed (after boiling water for about 4 hours) we realised our mosquito nets had a number of holes in them and therefore more than a few mosquitos, which pretty much kept us awake all night with their buzzing. Jesper got up to the toilet a number of times in the night and it was clear he was not getting better but worse.

Day 2

Morning finally came. We sorted Jesper a boat home and went fishing. Max fell in to the water carrying a huge machete narrowly missing cutting himself! We were not so lucky that morning and caught nothing. Miguel returned from taking Jesper to the nearest village and had brought with him a random guy called Victor and some grapefruits. We were glad of a grapefruit each which we figured would be our only source of liquid for the day knowing Miguel was pretty lazy!

We then proceeded to trek through the jungle for a couple of hours, spotting a puma along the way which was pretty cool. We arrived at our second camp unfortunately pre-made again. Immediately we went fishing for four hours and caught nothing, we then moved spots and fished for another 3 hours or so, again catching nothing!! By this time Max and I were pretty parched and dehydrated considering we had been fishing all day in the hot, humid sweltering sun. On the way back to camp we asked for some water (Miguel and Victor with some searching could easily have found a vine) instead he found 3 jungle lemons, one of which he cut and gave max and I half each! This was one of the most un-thirst quenching things I think I have ever had in my life.

Again our plans for the evening entailed keeping the fire going, boiling water and prolonging going into our nets for as long as possible. This lasted until about midnight, when I got into my mosquito net and the whole of the bloody jungle was in it! Sleep however came slightly easier but I think we still both only slept for about 3 hours!!

Day 3

Consisted of some more fishing as soon as it was light and we were luckier this time and caught a huge salmon. We cooked it on the open fire and it was the best fish I have ever tasted! After breakfast we waited for the boat and after a good five hours it turned up. Although the trip was not as we quite expected (we did not make our own shelter, fire or learn much about the jungle) I will never forget it, I pretty much never stopped laughing the whole time!!

Back in Rurrenabaque

We met Sarah and Jana and they both agreed we absolutely reeked. This corroborated a guy we had met in the jungles feelings - who said he had moved away from us while eating his lunch because the smell was to overpowering!

The Pampas

The Pampas is a flooded mass of land with lots of wildlife. We booked a 3 day trip and ended up the four of us on private boat normally meant for 8!! The 3 days were very relaxing and we saw many animals: Pink Dolphins, Caiman, Toucans, Macaws, Squirrel Monkeys, and Howler Monkeys, turtles, a sloth, Piranhas and lots of birds. Considering the trip was only around £60, we certainly got our monies worth.

After a little persuasion we decided to go with Max and Jana to Peru for an alternative Inca Trail trek. Next stop Copacabana, Lake Titicaca and Peru …….