Hey everyone!
Rurrenbaque is a township a 45-1 hour flight out of La Paz. It’s best to take a flight there as it’s considerably lower than La Paz, at about 1000m above sea level and not that far. Local busses aren’t the best in Bolivia and we have heard horror stories, so best to fly.
The flight was something I would like to share with you. The delightful airline we took is very lucky they are the only airline that do this route as they would be bankrupt otherwise. Delayed flights on both trips, bad customer service (can I please speak to ANYONE from your company?) and forget a safety demonstration or flight attendants on the plane! No need to explain the emergency exit to those passengers in that row either.
Alas! We made it! First thought: Mozzies! Everywhere! There are no windows with glass in Rurre, only mozzie nets and you always sleep under your mozzie net but those suckers still get in. There was no malaria or any other mosquito borne diseases present so we weren’t too stressed if we did get bitten, but just the itch! Sian got way more than me, not sure how. We put a thick layer of repellent on our skin, got dressed and sprayed our clothes and they still bit. Annoying.
Anyway! The tour was 3 days and 2 nights in the Pampas. There were 7 people in our tour – us two, two Irish, two Dutch and an English girl travelling alone. We lucked out on our group, they were great!
The first day, we went from Rurre to the eco lodge by boat, about 3 hours and looked for wildlife the whole way. We got into the lodge late afternoon, then chilled for a bit, had some dinner and went out and looked for crocodiles hiding in the shallows. There was actually one who liked hanging out by our lodge. We saw a lot though. Bed time was pretty early as there is n o t h i n g to do in the ecolodge. When I say eco, I mean there’s only electricity for two hours a day and limited running water.
Day two: up at a decent hour for a walk through the pampas. It had rained the night before, so it was extremely unlikely we were going to see anything. It was like wetlands and at times the water was up to our knees. Our wellies were leaking, so myself and one girl went back to the lodge. This was the day I’d woken up sick and my tolerance was lower than normal. I wasn’t in the mood to trudge through water for 2.5 hours in the hope of seeing a snake, so we headed back. Sian and the others saw one dead snake a bit further than what we made it, and she really enjoyed the walk.
That afternoon we went piranha fishing. I think we all caught one, but had to chuck them back as they were too small. The guide and his mate did well, and caught some good ones. We had these fried up for dinner, although the ratio of edible meat to fish was small, so I didnt try it.
The last day was pretty much a quick boat trip out to see any last animals we could – overall we saw monkies, howler monkies, pink dolphins, crocs, lots of birds and even a sloth!!!!!
Back to Rurre that afternoon, for a shower finally (Sian and I made a pact not to shower in the showers there, which were quite dirty) and even though it was cold it was nice. We went for a group dinner that night with the 7 of us, and headed back to La Paz the next morning!
Xoxo
COURTNEY'S TRAVELS 