Pampas and Jungle

The Pampas tour was a 2.5 hour drive down another potholed and muddy road. Our driver was essentially a lunatic and although we had one small stop (we came off the road in the mud and we had to push the car back out) we made the journey in 2 hours less than the other buses!

We were then put on to a motorised canoe and headed through the river (a nice calm, gentle one) towards our camp. We stopped along the way to see some animals that were alongside the river bank before finally getting to our accomodation.

A few of the animals we saw from the boat

Our accomodation was situated in mosquito heaven.....or for us mosquito hell! These bastards were as big as your thumb nail with the appetites of starving men. The only way to escape them was too be on the boat going fast so they blew away or in the middle of the day as the heat got too much for them.

Sometimes not even that helped as they sheltered under the seats on the boat and could bite through jeans! Alana ended up with a backside resembling a pepporoni pizza and I was covered in bites all over my back. Our only escape was under our mozzy nets at night which thankfully worked very well.

In the evening we went Caiman hunting on the boat with our torches and spotted a few along the banks and one small one alongside the boat.

In the morning of the second day we went looking for Anaconda. We trudged around a stinking, fetted swamp in a vain search for a snake. We were not successful. On the way back however we did spot a snake swimming in the water ahead of the boat, not an Anaconda but atleast we had seen a snake!!

Searching for Anacondas

When we got back we had the first proper shower in four days. We and I am sure the others around us were pretty happy.

After lunch we went looking for the elusive Pink Dolphins to swim with. It wasnt long before we started to see a few of them but they werent interested in hanging around and playing with us, which in all honesty with fine as none of us really wanted to get into the water!

We managed to see quite a few dolphins but they were extremely difficult to photograph.

They were right there......we promise!

After our final night we were meant to watch sunrise over the Pampas but it was raining so we managed to sneak a couple of extra hours sleep. In the morning we went Pirhana fishing. This proved fruitless and we later heard that it was almost impossible to catch Pirhanna in the wet season as they are to spread out and prefer to head to clean water rather than the swamp. It was worth a try though.

Who has the biggest crocodile grin??

The Pampas tour was good and although we didnt catch Pirhanna or see an Anaconda we really enjoyed it. Among other animals, we did get to see:

• Caiman
• Alligators
• Toucans
• Sloths
• Pink Dolphins
• Capawara (largest rodent in the world)
• Howler Monkeys
• Titi Monkeys
• A range of different birds
• Spiders
• Lizards
• A swimming snake
• and Turtles

After a brief night back in Rurrenabaque we were on the jungle tour. This had been paid for by the tour agency as a replacement for our rafting trip.

We headed into Madidi National Park by boat. Once moored we had to help carry our supplies along with our things into the jungle accomodation. Before getting there we had to cross a river up to our thighs and then across a tree trunk spanning another river/muddy hole which I of course fell into! Gutting after only just getting all of our washing done the night before from the rafting trip!

The jungle tour consisted of 3 walks into the jungle. Two day walks and one night one. One of the day walks was for animals and the other for plants.

The jungle trip was completely different to the Pampas and we really enjoyed it. We were quite lucky and we able to see quite a few animals on our walks (usually it is difficult due to how dense the forest is). We were lucky enough to see:

• Wild boar – a small group of around 30 and then the next day a group of over 100!
• A snake (it was really rare to see this type of snake as they usually hide in the water as the boar like to eat them!)
• Tarantula
• Many other spiders – in this area there were 11 species and 9 were poisonous.
• Bullet ants (if they bite it hurts as though you have been shot apparently, for up to 24 hours!)
• Red ants
• Leaf cutter ants (my highlight!)
• More ants
• And more ants
• A massive toad.

Some of the plants we saw that the jungle has to offer included:

• A 'natural viagra' plant
• Jungle weed – doesnt look like cannabis but apparently once the leaves are dried ad smoked it has the same affect.
• A plant that helps with arthritis
• A garlic tree
• One that helps if you have been bitten by a snake
• LOADS of hallucinagenic plants

After these two trips we flew back to La Paz in an 18 seater plane/coffin, straight down to the tour company to get our bus tickets/speak to them about a partial refund and then onto Potosi.