The four weeks in Bolivia!

While we didnt get a chance to visit much of the country, we heard from other travellers that the rest of Bolivia is just as wild and remote as the places that we visited. By the sounds of it, there are amazing geographical features deep within the country very much off the beaten track. Its hard to get to them, but totally worth it.

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A. Copacobana
B. La Paz
C. Rurrenabaque
D. Uyuni
E. San Pedro de Atacama

The Salar!

Metal grave yard

After recovering in La Paz for a couple of days we decided that we´ve had enough of that city. Booking a bus to Uyuni wasnt hard, they are all the same price and leave from the same terminal. In the four months that we´ve travelled, that bus ride was the worst one of all. Whats interesting is that noone ever complains about the Uyuni bus ride but rather about Rurrenabaque. Compared, the Rurrenabaque bus is like floating on air with a slight tropical, mango infused breeze. Just to warn those attempting the torturous 12 hr journey; sleep will not be found aboard this vessel. Beyond missing basic shock absorbing equipment or even the ability to reclain the seats, someone went ahead and dispersed massive potholes and sharp, hard rocks all over the road. Everyone that we talked to agreed with us! 

Laguna Verde

In order to start the journey to Chile we decided that the best way to do it was through a tour. Luckily enough, tours start in Uyuni, Bolivia and end in San Pedro de Atacama, Chile, after 3 days of travel. Getting to Uyuni we stayed in a random hostel that we found just off the main tourist street. The little old lady that ran the hostel was really sweet. She hunched like golem, had a smile of an angle and the memory of a gold fish. However, she did recommend a tour company, after telling us some truly gruesome stories about the bus ride that we had just done. The one thing that we learned before doing the tour is that 2 factors made it a good experience. First of all, it was critical that we had a good guide. There is a big problem with drivers drinking on the drive, cars crashing, drivers dumping all the gear in the middle of nowhere and leaving their group to fend for themselves. We heard all of these stories and they occurred quite frequently. Our lady suggested an older, more experienced company, called Relampago. We requested their most experienced and hence older driver, so check that requirement. The second important factor is having a good group of people on your tour. We met up with two friends in Uyuni and did the tour with them, so point 2 check. Our tour turned out to be amazing! 

The salar

Salt Hotel

Our driver was a really cool guy. At one point in time we made him lay down on the salt flat because we wanted to get a picture of all of us. The food on the trip was really good, a variety of meals cooked using the salt found all around us. One of the nights we stayed at the Salt Hotel. A structure made of salt bricks. It was actually a really luxurious experience. Day one of the tour was all about driving in the endless salt flats. Its stretched as far as the eye could see, reflecting the sky, a perfect mirror image. 

Arbol de Piedra

From there, day two saw us driving through ancient lava fields and weird rock formations. While climbing through some of these formations, it started snowing! We were in the middle of nowhere with rocks to one side and a vast desert with volcanoes to the other and out of nowhere a blizzard rolled in. Its amazing how varied the terrain was on our journey. After the blizzard the jeep sped away to the next destination, a formation of rocks, one in particular resembled a tree. 

Hot springs!

Lots of them, spewing smoke high into the air

The third and final day was just as spectacular as the rest. We got up at 4am and drove towards the geysers. Crossing the desert and over the hill we were treated to breath taking views of geysers below us in the valley. Smoke rose high in the air with the sun slowly peeking over the horizon. When driving away from the field our guide casually mentioned that we were at 5000m or 15000ft, the heights point of our journey so far! It was amazing to watch the sunrise right before us. The sand hills reflected the yellows and reds, splaying colour into every crevice and creating the feel of an alien landscape. Pictures could barely do it justice, its like having monkeys climb all over you in the jungle, seeing a photo just doesnt convey the same thrill. At around 6am we arrived at the hot springs. We had been looking forward to them the entire morning since at that elevation and time of the day its particularly cold. The pool´s water was a cozy 39C fed by underground water channels, with beautiful views of lagoons and flamingos. Later on, we drove over to the green lagoon. Flamingos’ didnt live there because the water contained arsenic, but that was fine because the red lagoon contained over 20,000 of them! 

James Flamingos, over twenty thousand of them

It was one of the best tours to date. We crossed the border into Chile and straight away noticed just how different the two countries were. The roads in Chile were actual roads with markings and signs! The busses actually had seatbelts and they worked! And now we are in Chile!

Pampalicious soup

Of course the "soup" refers to the rather dark brown river that we spent most of our tour on. The river can be described as deep and fast flowing interspersed with crocodiles, capibaras, piranhas and us, silly tourists swimming in all that. 

In order to get to our boat, we had to take a bone rattling, stomach churning 3 hour jeep ride. I stayed awake by counting how long our driver's eyes would close for, he made it to 2 seconds and almost a slap on the head. 

Cruizing on the boat

 The pampas tour is very different from what we experienced and did in the jungle. For one, in the pampas we barely did any walking. The tour is conducted from a boat where our guide would stop to point at a bird or a rodent. The banks of the river were lined with crocodiles, their eyes constantly fixed on us. Another major difference is the sheer volume of people. The pampas is the major attraction because of the wildlife. Each tour company has its own camp which can quite easily house 50 people. Our 1st day simply involved seating in the boat. At night, a large number of the tourists from surrounding cottages and tours were taken to a jungle bar. That’s right, a place specifically built so that we could all have something to drink, watch the sunset and have a magical time...It felt really artificial and out of place. The coolest thing about that day was the boat ride back. It was completely dark, as the boat prowled ahead, we scanned the water with our headlights for any signs of glowing eyes. Our boat soon stumbled upon a patch of little jumping fish that splashed and touched everyone on the boat. 

Searching for the pescly Anacondas

The second day we woke up to Peter laying on his stomach, with his mouth wide open revealing a toothless hollow. For a crocodile he's pretty old and comes to the camp to be fed by the people. While watching him, we were joined by monkeys. Actually lots of monkeys that howled and pooped all over the place. The morning event was Anaconda hunting. Not sure who came up with this tour, but it sounded pretty dodgy. The basic premise is that one wades through the chest high grass, pushing it aside carefully so as not to step on the anaconda underneath, relaxing in the sun. 

Peter

The expectation is that when you do find one, you put your hand up and call the guide. Unfortunately non of the excitement of catching an anaconda came our way, they were just too timid. Our entertainment did come from an English girl who thought it was a great idea to grab a 7 foot stick, walk over to a 6 foot Caymen and poke it in the face. What would you do if someone poked you in the nose with a stick? The Caymen exploded, while hissing she ran for us with her short stubby legs. Everyone bolted to get out of its way. Luckily no one was hurt, except Abby who turned and ran straight into a pole :) 

Swimming!

Afterwards we swam with the dolphins or we tried to swim with them. The pink dolphins are found in the Amazon and in the pampas, protecting innocent fishies and tourists. Our guide found a suitable place and told us to jump in, into the darkest water I have ever seen. But we did, and all the dolphins promptly fled. They kept their distance but we knew that they were protecting us from the piranhas and crocodiles that infested that water. That evening instead of going back to the same bar, we were taken to a different bar, much further into the pampas. It was located on a wide plane, with an amazing view of the sunset and a really good soccer field. As the sun steadily dipped and the palm trees swayed in the breeze we had ourselves a fairly intense soccer match which lasted for far too long. It was one the most beautiful sunsets that I barely got to enjoy, but the entire experience was outstanding.

Dont get bit

The last day involved fishing for piranhas, and while we didnt catch allot, the ones that we did catch we fed to the crocodile hanging out by one of the boats. He was chilling in the water, waiting for somebody to step close enough so that he could taste them. It was a pretty relaxing day, where in the afternoon we made our way back to Rurrenabaque on the same jeep... 

Post Pampas 

This time around we stayed at Residencial Jislena, a really nice family ran hostel. It was the same price as our last hostel but it had better views, hammocks and an amazing breakfast. It included a choice of pancakes or a pizza shaped omelet with enough veggies to fill you up for the day. They also had a banana vine hanging nearby and anyone could help themselves to as many as they wanted. That night we made a massive feast with all of our new friends. 

They were hanging out everywhere!

The following day we left for La Paz. This section could easily be the length of an essay that would put even the most avid readers to sleep. However to give a quick summary. 

On our last day of the tour it started to rain. It pretty much rained the entire day and we knew that if it didnt let up than we would be in a spot of bother. Unlike some travelers, we left Rurrenabaque without any issues. Four hours into our journey, the bus stopped, turned off its engines and waited. What had happened is that there was a massive line of vehicles in front of us who had probably been waiting for a few hours. A massive landslide had blocked the road ahead. We went to investigate. A number of people were diligently working on the problem. The basic premise behind their strategy was to ram a truck through the mud, reverse it (or tow it out), fill the tracks with stone and ram it again. Well around 530pm, the truck was well and truly stuck in the mud, so everyone left the poor guy there and went back to their busses to spend the night. 

This IS the relief effort

 The following morning we woke up to an even more entertaining scene. Apparently the night before an excavator had come to the site. The guy driving the excavator only works until 10pm. So when the time came, he simply got up and left, locking the tractor in the middle of the road. He dug half way through the landslide...Next morning he rocked up at 1230 in the afternoon, about 4 hours after his shift was meant to start...He simply got in his excavator, started it up and in half an hour cleared everything. Because of this kid (he was pretty young) a congestion of about 100 vehicles had occurred forcing people to miss out on who knows what. Anyway, we said our hoorahs and were off, only to be stopped 30 minutes later due to another landslide. We were convinced that Rurrenabaque did not want us to leave and that with the rest of the Bolivians on the bus we would slowly go mad, run away into the jungle and live a much simpler life style. But alas, two hours later we were on our way back. One thing to note is that no one was ready for any of this. People had no food, so when we finally started moving and a lady with empanadas got on the bus, she was practically swarmed by the people. The next little town didnt fare any better with everyone buying anything edible. The highlight of the bus trip was the really cheap mangos, at 1 boliviano (20 cents) for 5 mangos, it’s the cheapest fruit Ive ever eaten! In all it took us 41 hours to get back to La Paz.

The jungle, only 221km away, what could possibly go wrong?

A book, full of exciting and wonderfully weird characters could be written about the journey to and from the jungle. This update however wont be that long as its currently almost 1am. The smell of my instant coffee has long since lost its allure and Im trying to type out as much as I can before I start drooling on the keyboard.

This update could be broken up into several chapters. The first leg of the journey could cover the bus journey, then the jungle, the pampas and then the bus back to La Pas. But lets smoosh it all together and see how it goes.

Getting to the Rurrenabaque

Before committing ourselves to a certain mode of transportation, which was either bus or plane, we made sure to do our research. The following horror stories were perpetuated by certain backpackers: "The bus driver half sleeping, flying around corners with hundred foot drops on each side, overtaking at night. It was the worst experience of my life". Other crowd favorites included "The worst experience of my life. The plane ride back was worth every single boliviano". With comments like these, our first priority was to find out the current state of the busses. After quickly scouring the city and asking all the right questions we found our company; Yunganya. The best bus company for getting to Rurrenabaque as they used two bus drivers and the seats actually reclined! While most feedback proved to be negative, we were still willing to give the bus a go. Its only 220 k's away...

We were making amazing time and were questioning the 21 hour estimate until we hit the road works. At about 4pm, a huge line of cars and busses had formed. Everyone was out and about, checking out the amazing waterfalls, eating mangos, eyeing the foreigners while the friendly and not so efficient Bolivian construction workers kept doing their thing. As soon as they were done and traffic was allowed through, well madness insured. Imagine Nascar, the drivers step on the gas and attempt to fly past each other. Now imagine doing this with a fully loaded bus. Little old ladies seating in the isle, swaying from side to side because there are no more free seats. The cargo bay is loaded with a billion varieties of potatoes, instruments and probably chickens. To the left is a shear drop straight down into the gorge and to the right, jaggedy rocks and branches trying to scratch anything that passes. Of course, this was all at night, where a GPS systems couldnt possibly safely navigate one through the tiny little windy road. But after 21 hours, a few mini heart attacks (apparently...I slept like a baby), almost getting bogged down in a gigantic trough of mud and the bumpiest road to date, we made it!

Our tour started at 830am, but they would wait until 9. Getting off the bus, a short, stocky little man approached us, identified himself as one who works for the tour agency and loaded us onto a few motorbikes. We made it just after 9am! What followed was a leisurely 3 hour boat ride into the jungle. It was like gliding on air. Arriving onto a small beach and a short walk into the jungle, we were at our sleeping ground. Interestingly, lunch was at 1 and no one had met the guide yet. We decided to ask one the guy's delivering water to us, his reply was a quite but slightly enthusiastic "I am your guide", mystery solved!

What followed was an amazing 3 days of hanging out in the jungle, and learning about the diverse flora and fauna. Our guide Juan was born in one of the small villages in the jungle. The showcase included a tree who's sap smelled exactly like garlic. By rubbing it on the skin it acts as a natural repellent for both mosquitoes and humans...We were then shown a plant that the locals used to dye their clothes a blood red colour, a tree that could walk several meters, a tree that could produce rubber, drinking and normal vines. Juan had an incredible ear, at one point he stopped the entire group. He stood in the exact same place for about 10 minutes, hypnotized or just enjoying the small respite from our incessant talking. He then trudged off into the jungle, we followed. What he heard, which none of us did, was a herd of wild boars. These guys are smelly and when in danger emit a loud clicking sound. Im not sure what that would do to keep a predator away, its like clicking your fingers at a hungry lion.

Back at camp, we made massive fires, spears, played with a bow and got to eat some amazing food. On the second day we went piranha fishing and successfully managed to catch 13 fish! We cooked one of them in a large leaf that we took off a tree and shoved into the coals. It was superb! The 3rd day it poured, which was fine because we spent the entire day making rings and necklaces from the nuts and cones that our guide had collected over the last few days. After having lunch, we jumped on the boat and rode back to Rurrenabaque.

Post Jungle

Rurrenbaque, a small jungle town, with a large population of motorbikes and dogs. We stayed at Hostel Tucan which wasn’t too bad. The breakfast as usual was bread and jam, however the showers were pretty good and were much needed. A friendly German kid offered me the local chew of choice. It involved first chewing on a piece of bark, something that they had picked up in the jungle. The second step was to get a handful of coco leaves, stuff bicarbonate soda and the bark in the middle of the leaves, get more leaves and make it all into a large ball. This ball then goes on the inside of your cheek. You know its working when your lips and cheek go numb and all you can taste is the coco. While reducing hunger and fatigue, it totally eats away at the inside of your cheek making it raw for a week.

That night we hung out at the Mosquito Bar, owned by a really friendly Parisian guy named Habibi. Drinking specials included the Mosquito Blaster, a take on the long Iceland ice tea, however not as tasty or as strong. But at $2 a piece, no one was complaining about the prices. We went to bed reasonably early because our next tour started in the morning!