RURRENABAQUE - LA PAMPA

15. June – 17. June 2011

From La Paz we flew to the small town Rurrenabaque. The plane was a tiny 18-seat plane, there was no stewardess and it was possible to look out the front window. The flight was short but the scenery below amazing. The plane flew quite close between 6,000 m high mountains. Amazing. The tiny airport in Rurrenabaque did have an asphalt landing strip but getting to the “terminal” meant rolling over grass.
In Rurrenabaque we checked in at an hostel, went for lunch and a walk around town and decided to spend the rest of the day relaxing. The next day we were organizing trips to the Pampa and Selva for the following days. There are many tour companies and almost all offered nearly the same for similar prices. So, deciding which company to choose wasn't very easy.
The following morning we left for a three day trip to the Pampa. By jeep it was a three hour drive to the small town Santa Rosa and from there another 15 minutes to the hostel. After eating delicious, fresh grapefruits and lunch we set of for the first tour. By boat we went on the river. We saw a few monkeys, caimans, turtles and many, many birds. Back at the hostel my camera finally died. I feared that moment for a while and knew it was coming. Still, I wasn't happy that I did not have a single camera to take pictures. Especially with so many animals around.
The next morning we went by boat in the other direction of the river. There were more birds, more caimans, more monkeys and many pink dolphins. Most monkeys were very small and were not afraid of people. Some of them even ran over the boat when we got close enough and. After a stop for lunch we went for a swim with pink dolphins. The dolphins were very playful and came quite close. Absolutely amazing. We also saw a few capybaras – the biggest rodents in the world that kind of look like huge but cute guinea pigs. After watching the sunset it was time to go back to the hostel. The last day we went fishing for piranhas. Again, I wasn't very successful (and didn't enjoy it either) but Carlos and Billy, our guide, had fun and caught around 30 piranhas. Most of them are rather small but still have sharp, powerful teeth.
After lunch (with rice and piranhas) it was time to go back to Rurrenabaque.