La Paz, Bolivia
So were back from our adventure to the jungle and it was well worth it. We started off at 6:30 am last Saturday to be picked up by a private bus. It took us a while to get out of the city limits because its the start of the rainy season which means any road could be washed out so we had to detour a few times. As some of you may know The World´s Most Dangerous Road is located to the North of La Paz and until a few months ago took a few hundred lives a year. But lucky for us international organizations (like the UN) now step in and help out countries that cant afford to build proper roads, and they have replaced the most dangerous part of The World´s Most Dangerous Road. This road was amazing it had things we hadnt seen yet on this continent such as painted lanes, tunnels, signs and even real guard rails. Jess and i were amazed at this multi hundred million dollar effort, it was fabulous. The funny thing about this road is that is hardly more physically dangerous than many of the roads in the Ecuadorian and Peruvian Andes. It had so many more deaths per year because of the drivers. They often drove drunk or for 24 hours at a time.
After lunch we picked up the rest of group who elected to mountain bike the old death road (see Mom I am being safe) and got to travel down the less dangerous part of the road that was not part of the new road construction... There were a few things i didnt know about driving this road. First all traffic drives on the left side so the driver has the best few of his front tires. Second the outside driver also gives way to the inside driver, which usually requires stopping and pulling as close as possible to cliff face (remind you there are no barriers what so over). Third it´s a good idea to blow your horn around every blind corner (which is every one) to alert them to stop and make way. All those rules along with a competent driver will let you safely pass this part of the road in just under 5 hours (we have great video and pictures).
Next we boarded our boat to the jungle which was nothing more than a 40´row boat with a motor on the back. Traveling by boat was more enjoyable than bus because its much cooler and you dont have to worry about inhale dust with every passing vehicle. The guide was a bit on the sub par side just cause of the lack of information and his english skills but we had a great boat full of people so it ended up being a great experience. Both the 2nd and 3rd day we had stops where we walked about the jungle seeing fascinating things with little to no explanation... All well, not all our guides can be amazing naturalists but the boat defiantly beat the bus.
We got into Rurrenabaque Monday night and the next day a group of us from the boat trip set off to find a Pampas tour. The pampas is a term locals use to call an area where the river meets the jungle and its also where most of the wildlife congregate to drink. Most of the group headed off early to go interview tour agency and Jess and I kinda got off to a late start after breakfast and some expensive internet. We only checked out 2 places while everyone covered at least 5 or 6 but i guess we have a nack for finding the best deals in town because we went with the 2nd tour agency we talked to. The following day we set out in on a 3 hour jeep ride to Santa Rosa where we were to pick up the boat to the Pampas. On the jeep ride we encountered our first road block, and it was quite an interesting experience. To start a road block you all really need 3 things, everyone in the town to show up, a front end loader to drop huge pile of dirt in the middle of the road, and beer (or the local moonshine). The only thing that determines how long the road block is when the locals run out of beer because i think its very important for them to be drunk during the whole process. Lucky for us our tour agency was the only one that was owned and completely operated by a neighboring village, so there was always a family member that could help out somewhere. We were allowed to pass through the road block, but not our jeep, so we carried everything across where another family member picked us up on the other side.
After that we hopped on our boat for our 3 hour trip up river were we saw no shortage of alligators, capybaras, and a large assortment of birds and monkeys. The trip was good i suggest you to check out the pictures; everyday we took the boat out somewhere then walked around looking for various animals. Some of the highlights were swimming with river dolphins, howling monkeys, and all the little fish that jumped into Jess´s lap while motoring around. There is much more but ill fill you in over a beer the next time i see you.
When we got back to Rurrenabaque we had planned on flying back to La Paz but this is the burning season for slash and burn farming. This is when locals cut down the jungle and burn it then plant their crops. It works great for a season or so then when there is no more nutrition in the soil they just burn some more. All this burning make for great sun sets and also makes it impossible for planes to land in the smoke filled valleys. Lucky for us yesterday was the first day planes we´re flying so Jess and I paid $65 for a 40 minute flight versus $10 for a 20 hour bus ride. The airport was a grassy strip and the most advanced piece of equipment (besides the plane) was the scale to make sure the plane would actually leave the runway. The plane was a 19 seat twin prop plane that was so small you could see into the cockpit and could offer a back seat flying tips on final approach. The flight was fine until the end. The flight was pressurized but La Paz airport is at 13,000 ft so with 10 minutes left they basically opened a window to equalize the pressure. Also at this height a plane must land a twice the speed because there is so little air to create lift. I thought this was a great time but a lot of the people including Jess were a bit worried when it came to final approach and thought it was necessary to clap. Everything worked fine and it was another experience.
Anyways we´re in La Paz for another night before heading to Cochabamba. We´re not sure what there is to do there but it sounds like some nice hikes and some caving to do. Hope everyone is doing well.
Best
Justin
Picts are up with comments on #1
After lunch we picked up the rest of group who elected to mountain bike the old death road (see Mom I am being safe) and got to travel down the less dangerous part of the road that was not part of the new road construction... There were a few things i didnt know about driving this road. First all traffic drives on the left side so the driver has the best few of his front tires. Second the outside driver also gives way to the inside driver, which usually requires stopping and pulling as close as possible to cliff face (remind you there are no barriers what so over). Third it´s a good idea to blow your horn around every blind corner (which is every one) to alert them to stop and make way. All those rules along with a competent driver will let you safely pass this part of the road in just under 5 hours (we have great video and pictures).
Next we boarded our boat to the jungle which was nothing more than a 40´row boat with a motor on the back. Traveling by boat was more enjoyable than bus because its much cooler and you dont have to worry about inhale dust with every passing vehicle. The guide was a bit on the sub par side just cause of the lack of information and his english skills but we had a great boat full of people so it ended up being a great experience. Both the 2nd and 3rd day we had stops where we walked about the jungle seeing fascinating things with little to no explanation... All well, not all our guides can be amazing naturalists but the boat defiantly beat the bus.
We got into Rurrenabaque Monday night and the next day a group of us from the boat trip set off to find a Pampas tour. The pampas is a term locals use to call an area where the river meets the jungle and its also where most of the wildlife congregate to drink. Most of the group headed off early to go interview tour agency and Jess and I kinda got off to a late start after breakfast and some expensive internet. We only checked out 2 places while everyone covered at least 5 or 6 but i guess we have a nack for finding the best deals in town because we went with the 2nd tour agency we talked to. The following day we set out in on a 3 hour jeep ride to Santa Rosa where we were to pick up the boat to the Pampas. On the jeep ride we encountered our first road block, and it was quite an interesting experience. To start a road block you all really need 3 things, everyone in the town to show up, a front end loader to drop huge pile of dirt in the middle of the road, and beer (or the local moonshine). The only thing that determines how long the road block is when the locals run out of beer because i think its very important for them to be drunk during the whole process. Lucky for us our tour agency was the only one that was owned and completely operated by a neighboring village, so there was always a family member that could help out somewhere. We were allowed to pass through the road block, but not our jeep, so we carried everything across where another family member picked us up on the other side.
After that we hopped on our boat for our 3 hour trip up river were we saw no shortage of alligators, capybaras, and a large assortment of birds and monkeys. The trip was good i suggest you to check out the pictures; everyday we took the boat out somewhere then walked around looking for various animals. Some of the highlights were swimming with river dolphins, howling monkeys, and all the little fish that jumped into Jess´s lap while motoring around. There is much more but ill fill you in over a beer the next time i see you.
When we got back to Rurrenabaque we had planned on flying back to La Paz but this is the burning season for slash and burn farming. This is when locals cut down the jungle and burn it then plant their crops. It works great for a season or so then when there is no more nutrition in the soil they just burn some more. All this burning make for great sun sets and also makes it impossible for planes to land in the smoke filled valleys. Lucky for us yesterday was the first day planes we´re flying so Jess and I paid $65 for a 40 minute flight versus $10 for a 20 hour bus ride. The airport was a grassy strip and the most advanced piece of equipment (besides the plane) was the scale to make sure the plane would actually leave the runway. The plane was a 19 seat twin prop plane that was so small you could see into the cockpit and could offer a back seat flying tips on final approach. The flight was fine until the end. The flight was pressurized but La Paz airport is at 13,000 ft so with 10 minutes left they basically opened a window to equalize the pressure. Also at this height a plane must land a twice the speed because there is so little air to create lift. I thought this was a great time but a lot of the people including Jess were a bit worried when it came to final approach and thought it was necessary to clap. Everything worked fine and it was another experience.
Anyways we´re in La Paz for another night before heading to Cochabamba. We´re not sure what there is to do there but it sounds like some nice hikes and some caving to do. Hope everyone is doing well.
Best
Justin
Picts are up with comments on #1
1 comment:
That sounds like a lot of fun. The pix were cool--I did a similar trip on the boat on the Orinoco delta in Venezuela about 10 years ago. We had the same pink dolphins and gators and capybara. We were actually out with some locals for 3 days hunting capybara. When we finally caught one the first shot didn't kill it and it charged our boat and almost bit our guide, we were beating it over the head with oars and there was a lot of shooting. Good times, man, good times.
Post a Comment