Latina America

After two days of waiting at the airport and finding out our TAM-flight (that is Transporte Aero Militar) flight to Rurre, as locals call it, was canceled because of the rain in Rurre, we finally took of. The flight was very nice and so different from all the horor stories I had read about it. Arriving in Rurre after a week in La Paz was like arriving in a different world. The heat and humidity are ever present and the quietness and naturaleza all around make Rurre a very nice little village. The day we arrived, there was a strike, so we had to walk into Rurre, which gave us a very good impression. I took a bed in a dormitory in Hospedaje Oriental, a lovely hostal with a big garden with hamocks for relaxing in it and trees from which you can pluck very tasty mangos and bananas.
Next day we, five Aussies, Rachel and Ruth, two lovely girls I had met and hung out with the day before, and Catherine, Chris and Jackie, left for a three-day-tour in las pampas. It was beautiful! The jeep annex boat trip to get to our base-camp were lovely. The wildlife and sun were there to keep us company, although it is raining season and there is supposed to be less wildlife to spot in this period.

The camp was lovely and so were our guide Jimmy and our cook . The second day we went horseback riding, in the rain, in the morning, swimming with pink dolphins in the afternoon and looking for lagardos (aligators) at night. The third day, we took boat and jeep back to Rurre and drove through the magnificent landscape of the pampas again with tucans, monkeys, dolphins, aligators, turtles, sloths, several bird species I had never seen before amd loads of mozzies in it, it was just beautiful!

At night, we had a few beers with our guide Jimmy and several other tourists in the Moskkito Bar, where you can have very good trucha (trout) as well. Next day, we left for a two-day selva (jungle) tour in Parque Nacional Madidi, again by boat. Walking, eating and sleeping under a shelter in the jungle was cool and again, I had the lovely company of Rachel and Ruth and our guide Eric and his girlfriend Reina. Although the pampas tour was better, the selva-tour was still very enjoyable, but maybe a bit too short.

The flight back into La Paz was only a few hours late and we arrived well after dark.

Que les vaya bien, amigos!