We've spent a lot longer in Bolivia than originally planned after deciding to go to the Amazon here. It's the cheapest place to visit it in South America and there's no malaria here either. So we left the van in secure parking in La Paz and got a flight to Rurrenabaque.
It's very hot & humid here and so different to La Paz. It's not like any other Bolivian town we've been to. It's very South East Asian, with motorcycles dominating - there are almost no cars here, apart from the 4x4s taking tourists around. And at night there are street food stalls (although not of the same calibre as SE Asia - mostly chicken & chips and burgers) and lots of stalls selling tourist tat (cheap sunglasses and jungle essentials).
The first night we were in a hostel called El Curichal - recommended by the guide book, but it was actually the furthest out of town. We only booked for one night as we intended to go on a tour the day after we arrived, but we got disillusioned with the number of tour agencies and the major difference in prices we were quoted, so we needed another night. El Curichal let us down though by running out of breakfast early - the guy said they'd run out of bread and instead of offering a solution, like going to buy more, he just shrugged his shoulders. A poor showing for an out-of-town hostel, so instead of booking in for a second night, we packed our bags and went to check out what else was on offer. We settled on a place called Hostal Touristico Santa Ana, great location on the same street as all the tour agencies and stumbling distance from the two good bars in town. Plus it was cheaper than El Curichal at 100Bs (£9) for a private double and with wifi that works in the rooms. No breakfast, but it's across the road from the highly-recommended French bakery.
Then we spent ages trying to work out which agency to do our tour with. Initially we were looking to do the popular 5-day, 4-night combo tour of the jungle and Pampas. But the first place we went to quoted us 1000Bs, while another reputable agency wanted 2750Bs. Such a big difference in price for supposedly the same tour - the only difference is meant to be the standard of food and accommodation.
We spent a day investigating why the price difference was so big and found that some agencies had really bad tour guides who lied or handled the animals or weren't trustworthy. We decided not to go for the cheapest we could get, and although the expensive agency consistently gets 5-star reviews on TripAdvisor, we didn't want to pay 2.5x the going rate, so we settled on a shorter 3-day Pampas tour with Indigena for 900Bs.
We really lucked out with our guide. Luis not only spoke really good English so we got loads of information, he was really knowledgable and amazing at spotting animals in among the trees. And he was happy to adapt to what we wanted to do. We were also very lucky with our fellow tourists and got on really well with them. We were a group of 8 - another couple from France, Bertrand and Justine; three French girls who'd just finished their studies, Charlotte, Marie and Appoline; and a Dutch guy called Arno.
L-R: Marie, Appoline, Me, Paul, Bertrand, Luis, Justine, Arno, Charlotte
On the first day, we had a 2.5 hour drive on that crappy, bumpy Bolivian road to the river, then a 2-hour boat ride to the lodge, spotting animals along the way.
Monkeys
We stayed in a lodge on the banks of the Yacuma and did our excursions from there.
There was also a chillout area with hammocks and deckchairs.
Activities over the 3 days included a nighttime boat ride to look for crocodiles and alligators, shining torches to reflect off their red eyes:
Looking (unsuccessfully) for anacondas:
Piranha fishing (no luck with that either):
This was the bait being air dried at the lodge:
My fishing line complete with bait:
We also went swimming with pink dolphins, although we didn't strictly swim with them as they weren't feeling playful the day we went. Here is Paul swimming in the Yacuma river in the rain at the same time as a pink dolphin.
There was also lots of chillout time in between. It was quite warm and humid, so we swam in the river by the lodge.
All the tour groups were also taken to the Sunset Bar just upstream from our lodge at the end of each day's activities.
Meals were cooked by Thomas, who seemed to live at the lodge, cooking for the daily arrival of tourists. The food was really delicious (chicken, spaghetti bolognese, beef) but there was always only just enough. As a table of 8, we seemed to get the same amount of food as a table of 6 and we were usually all still hungry afterwards. On the second night, we asked for more and Thomas was able to give us more pasta, but no sauce. It's not like we were starving, but we weren't satisfied, which was disappointing.
(Dinner on the first night and breakfast on the second day. They're doughnut rings, not calamari.)
We're doing a separate 3-day jungle tour starting tomorrow (Thursday 14th) with Mashaquipe, the more expensive agency that gets really good reviews.
