Karen and I went back and forth about doing a jungle tour. Neither of us are mad about creepy crawlies and we both get eaten alive by Mosquitos, but we agreed that we couldn't go to South America without at least dipping into the Amazon. We heard great things about The Pampas tours that can be booked from La Paz where you spend 3 days and 2 nights in the pampas, so we factored in enough time for that... Or so we thought. It turns out that the Pampas tours depart from Rurrenabaque, which is a short flight from La Paz. The problem is that the flights are notoriously unreliable, and we ended up spending an entire day in the airport in La Paz due to torrential rain in Rurrenabaque and our tour was pushed out a day. When we did eventually board the plane after 8 hours in the airport, we didn't even care that it was a tiny propellor plane with a teenage pilot, we just wanted to get there.
We arrived in Rurrenabaque with no place to stay, but found a decent hostel called Pahuichi. There are plenty of hostels to chose from, but ask to see the room before you commit to anything, some of them are dire!
The next day we met our group and our tour guide, Choco, and began our adventure. Remember I mentioned the torrential rain? Well the roads were in absolute bits. Luckily we had a 4x4, but we lost count of the amount of cars we saw fishtail and slide off the road, lorries that were stucker than stuck and, most terrifyingly, double decker busses packed with people almost toppling over in the soft mud. Our driver was a total badass and navigated it all without breaking a sweat, the drive there was actually a highlight of the trip!
The drive/slide took over 3 hours so we had plenty of time to get to know each other. As one guy, Jedd, was telling us all about his trip cycling across South America, Karen realised that she was already following him on Instagram! Jedd is on an amazing adventure and has gorgeous stories to tell, so much so that his film-maker buddy is making a movie about him - can't wait to see if we make the cut! We were so lucky with our group, we got on like a house on fire and hope our paths cross again somewhere in South America.
Thankfully we made it to the dock without having to get out and push, and Choco showed us to our boats where we would spend most of the next 3 days cursing through the Pampas.
On that first day alone we were accosted by playful monkeys, came face to face with crocodiles, spotted turtles, eagles, sloths and so much more.
Choco wasn't exactly a people person, but my god did he have a way with animals. He greeted every single wildlife creature with a hearty "hola amigo", and he could spot a croc from a mile off
Later that evening Choco even took us out in the pitch black to spot crocodiles with a flash light. It felt both incredible and incredibly stupid to be sitting in a wooden boat just inches away from a black cayman, but Chaco seemed confident they weren't going to eat us... and in fairness, they didn't!
The next day we went anaconda hunting in a massive swamp. Once again, it didn't feel like a smart move, and I was kind of relieved that the only one we found was dead!
Poor Karen was struck down by the notorious Bolivian food, but she soldiered on for the next activity - piranha fishing. Between 7 of us we caught 15 piranhas for dinner, and the best part was watching people freak out when they caught one and had to pull it into the boat beside them snapping like crazy!
The Americans obviously had to see USA play Belgium in the World Cup, so Choco took us to sunset bar (a hut in the middle of the pampas with a generator, a flat screen tv, a lot of chickens and a set of goalposts). I have never seen so many Mosquitos in one place, they were such a plague. The boys wrapped themselves up in hammocks and the locals lit a fire in an effort to smoke them out!
But alas, USA were knocked out as the sun went down.
After an uneasy nights' sleep with a bat in our room, the next day we had an opportunity to swim with pink dolphins... in the same water where we spotted crocs and fished for Piranahs the day before! It was more reminiscent Jaws than Flipper, waiting for the dolphins to sneak up on you and bite your feet (yes, they bite!), but it was highly entertaining to watch!
After 3 days in the wilderness it was time to head back to Rurrenabaque. As Choco weaved through a maze of swamps and rivers we asked him how he knew where he was going, his answer: "I'm the guide". Fair enough.
After another night in Rurrenabaque we were glad to head back to La Paz. There was just the small matter of another flight. I say small because this was the airport:
And this was the feckin' plane!
Next stop: Cochabamba
Being Insect repellant with loads of deet. You can actually pick out the people who are wearing deet because the mozzies don't land on them. Antihistamines come in handy too.
Leave more time than you think, an extra day each side of the tour to allow for flights and delays.
We booked out tour with Indigina tours and found them really good. Our accommodation was ideal (they have a hammock room!) and the food was great.
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