Hunting Anacondas in the Amazon

We Flew to Runnenbaque after a long 5 hour delay, nothing in this country runs on time so a delay like this is normal. We flew with the Bolivian Military Airline TAM. Comfy enough and we even were provided with refreshments, and only $45 each way!!! The one hour flight sure beats the 30hr bus trip. That is if your lucky, we met people who were on a similar bus trip, but because of rain the road turned into a swamp, they finally arrived 5 days later ... No thank you!!!


Arrived into the heat of Runnenbaque in time for a beautiful sunset. The town itself set on the Rio Beni consists of dusty roads, many hotels and restaurants to cater for the gringos before and after their tours. This will be our base in the Amazon Jungle for a week where we will do a 2 day trip into the Jungle and a 3 day trip in to the wetlands of the Pampas. It sounds weird but Pampas is where your more likely to see animals, this is because it is mostly plains and swamp. While in the jungle you get the learn about the exotic plants, their medicinal purposes, foods and some survival skills.


Checked into our hotel, booked both our tours, then ate dinner outside - the first time in a long while and hit the sack early, looking forward to the jungle tour the next morning.


8am we met our jungle group, Jerome and Madeline a couple from Holland and Corolla from Chile. Walked about two blocks to the Beni where we met our giude Chino and cook. Four hours crusing the river and a twenty mintue walk later we arrived at our camp. The camp consisted of two huts with mosquito nets for walls and plastic tarps for roofs. One was our sleeping quarters which contained 12 beds and mossie nets. The other was was the dining hut. The kitchen was outside with a straw roof. Plus we had 2 long drop toilets about 10 metres either side of the camp. Both of which were surrounded closely by trees and scrub so I unfortunatly had to escort Kim on each and every toilet run for fear of snakes, spiders and every other creepy crawley.


During our two days in the jungle we learned alot about the medicinal purposes of many of the plants in the jungle. Our guide was into giving us new tastes and experiences "Smell this ... Eat this ... Feel that" but not telling us why until after we'd done it. We found an ajo (garlic tree) which when the bark is cut from the tree the inner side is rubbed on the skin to repel mossies and other insects. We all smelt a treat after this but it did help. Then got to chew leaves which numbed our mouth, the leaf was used as an anastetic. Another yucky experience was swallowing shavings of bark from a chloroquine tree, which not surprisingly tastes like our anti malerial drugs, Because this tree is what theire made... trust me the stuff tastes horrible!!! At another tree I was told to kneel down while Chino chopped a log about 1m long and 10 cm round and lifted it above my head - I thought he was going to hit me in the head with it, but he tiled the log so it was vertical and water ran out and into my mouth. We all had some and it was rather refreshing and tasted the same as water from a nature spring.... I don't mean a few drops of water either, about 2 litres came out of it!!!


The next tree was for us boys. Chino slashed the bark with his machete and white liquid dripped out. "Go ahead drink it" he says. And after me and Jerome try some we are told that it was known for its viagra like properties. "Look out tonight Girls" Chino laughs.


The last two trees we did not taste as one was a tree which you could extract rubber from and the other was poisonous to humans but if thrown into a river would stun fish so they would come to the surface and be easier to catch. Apparently the poison won't affect you after you cook the fishes... Nifty huh! We also went on a special walk to find a tarantula! Kim stood well away while we got a CLOSE UP look, it was bigger than my hand, black and hairy and it was highly poisonous. Scary! Chino tranqualised the spider by blowing cigarette smoke onto it, then held it on his machete and 5cm infront of everyone (but Kim's) face so they could take pictures. We didn't spot much wildlife except a few Parrots and Monkeys on the boat and we heard a few woodpeckers on our walks, Chino had pointed out a Cupaburrah (like a wombat) throught the trees, but I couldn't see jack. We also went fishing at night but after 2 hours no one had caught any fish, except for Chino who just hit them over the head with a machete ... no fishing line needed.


On returning to Runnenbaque a shower was very much in order as we had been in long pants and shirts, with our trousers tucked into our socks so as not to be bitten by mossies. We had also sprayed our clothes with deet and our bodies. Nevertheless Kim still got bitten, mainly around the ankles and few on the back of the legs when going to the toilet.


Bumped into Michelle and Simon who we had met in Tupiza a few weeks earlier and head a few beers with them in the Moskitto bar over a few games of pool. Tried out to many of their cocktails during happy hour and now vow "never again" as in the morning I was feeling more than a little queasy.


Next day we set off to the Pampas! Our group the same minus Corolla. During the 3 hour drive to the river we gave a lady and her young daughter a lift part of the way. They had a pet parrot who entertained us for awhile by hopping onto our fingers and then onto our shirts and onto our collars. It was all fun and games until it decided to poo on Kim...HE HE!


Arrived at the river and met our guide Rosario and cook Gladis. It was 4 hours to our camp but during that time we spotted pink river dolphins, parrots and loads of monkeys - the howler monkey, cappaccino monkey and yellow monkey. The yellow ones we fed bananas. We stopped the boat below their tree and they jumped down onto our boat and opened the bananas and eat the from our hands. They were cute little things standing about 40cm tall, with such human like facial features and expressions. So so adorable! After all the bananas had been eaten, I took one of the remaining skins and closed it to look like it was full. One of the monkeys climbed over and took the banana back to the tree. He opened the peel to find no banana and looked over back to give me a look of total disgust. It was hilarious, we wished we had our video camera. Afterwards we swam with the pink dolphins. It was a pretty daunting experience getting into the water knowing it was infested with piranahs, but apparently the dolphin keep them away. Arrived at camp by dusk but we were really, all repellanted and covered up. The mossies in the pampas were reportedly worse than the jungle :( Had dinner and was constantly attacked by mossies so we ended up retreating to our mossie nets and so were tucked in bed by 8pm! That is until Antonio arrived, he is the local 3m long Alligator who occaisionally turns up for leftovers. Our guide tied some chicken to a stick to get him to jump and snap at the waters edge ... Awesome!!!


Next morning we were off to the actual pampas area, the pampas infact a nicer name for it than what it was, which was swamp lands with long grass. So there we were trappsing through knee high leach infested waters with a billion mossies flying around, looking for snakes...How mad were we I ask you, Insane!!! After 2 hours of hell and swearing at mossies we all wanted to go to the boat. Off we went to cool off in the boat and peel off our wet socks and trousers, while Rosario our guide stayed an extra hour hunting. He returned with a 2m 10 year old cobra anaconda. Everyone bar Kim held the snake around their necks for photos. Very soft and smooth, ideal for a pair of nice shoes Kim reckons.


That afternoon we went crusing on the river again and found more dolphins so we were able to go swimming again, the water was a welcome relief from all the sweating we had done.


Watched the sun set over the pampas which was beautiful, then headed back to camp for dinner before going out again to spot alligator eyes with our torches. After spoting a few then my bum was truly numb so I layed in the boat and looked up at the sky which was twinkling with a million bright stars.


Awoke on our final morning, packed and made the 3 hour boat journey back. Stopped for a final swim with the dolphins. I couldnt go in as he had stubbed his toes at the camp and so he had an open wound and the blood would have attracted the piranahs. Apparently they can sense blood from up to 2 km away! Another piece of useless trivia for you!


On the drive back we stopped for an hour at a lake on the side of the road to fish for piranahs. We all managed to give tham a good feed and only caught a tiny catfish and sardine! Back in the car half an hour later we spotted a sloth trying to cross the road. A truly beautiful creature and we were so lucky to get so close as they are usually high up in trees. I found some infomrmation on sloths on the net for those of you who may be intersted....


The sloth is a slow-moving mammal that lives in trees. Sloths spend most of their lives hanging upside-down from tree branches; they eat, sleep, mate, and give birth upside-down in the trees. They hold onto tree branches with strong, curved claws that are on each of their four feet. The sloth is the slowest mammal on Earth. They "walk" upside-down along tree branches. They only rarely venture to the ground and pretty much have to drag them selves along when they do. Surprisingly they can swim well.


Flew back to La Paz the next morning and caught a mini bus to Copacabana on Lake Titicaca... Where our next adventure begins.

The Most Dangerous Road in the World at it's worst

We have been pretty energetic lately, as we went hiking in Sorata, Coroico and we treked the Takesi Inca Trail.



Sorata was a lovely little town set in the side of a valley, with fantastic views of the lower valley and snow capped peaks above. Here we met up with Joanne and Shane (Irish couple who we met in Sucre), but this time did not have time for a big session!



After two lovely days in Sorata we headed to Coroico for Easter. The road to this quaint village is considered the most dangerous in the world as the road consisting of rocks and mud descends from 4600m to 1700m in just 64km, rather nerveracking. Often on the way there is a 1000m shear drop on the very edge of the narrow single lane track... quite a pickle when you meet a truck coming the other way, you have to reverse to the last overtaking point. Every year dozens of vehicles go over the edge, their are rarely any survivors. These vehicles however are mainly the big trucks, so we chose to take a mini bus! The views from the
road also have a reputation of being very pretty, but since we left at 3pm the fog had rolled in and the rain had started, not a good start. We were luckily enough (NOT) to get the front seat with the driver so we go a birds eye view of everything, including when the driver blessed the road with alcohol to ask the gods for a safe journey, then he decided to have a swing or two from the bottle
(which by the way was alcohol of 94%) and then he contiually crossed himself in prayers. This reitterated for us of our dangerous and trecherous journey ahead. The sun was setting as we began our descent... We must be mad going down this road in the rain and fog at NIGHT!!! 3 hours later with huge amounts of adrenilin having coursed through my body, we reached our destination in one piece. A few times I could not see any road below us so I was sure we were about to go careering over the edge. The only reason Kim and I didn't burst a vain with stress was we distracted ourselves with childish games of nameing citys of every leter of the alphabet, then repeating the exercise with fruit or Veges ect.



Not having splurged on any accomodation we thought we would over Easter especially when we were shown this room which was pratically the penthouse room with fantastic views of the valley from all three windows. Plus the place had an awesome 20m pool! Went for a hike to the local waterfalls, gorgeous all the way and the water was crystal clear and refreshing after our hike. We shared the falls and pools with a local family who must have been there for washig day as everyone was having a scrub and washing their hair.



From Coroico we made the journey back up the most dangerous road, but this time during the day in the sun. This email is testiment that made it with no dramas. Got back to La Paz to organise our hike on the Takesi Inca Trail. The trail was 40km taking two days and following a Pre-Hispanic paved road. Well not alot is left now but enough to follow without a guide. We hired a tent, roll mats and brought our sleaping bags (Guess who was carrying that lot), Kim had our food. Then we had to find where the bus left from as the trail started 20km east of La Paz in a little village (blink and you would miss it) Ventilla which took 3 hours to get to (bad roads and loads of stops) as in our guide book it said only one bus a day at 5.30am and we wanted to make sure that was right and get our ticket. Asked loads of locals but no luck so went into a travel agent who marked it on our map and said
that several buses went between 7 and 9am but to go early to get a seat.


So, up at 5.45am , 6.30am at bus stop (after wandering for 15 munties as we could see no bus or bus stop.) Finally we find it ... the bus is leaving at 8.30am...bugger. Next option was to hire a taxi, so after talking to several taxi drivers we got one to take us there for 100Bs ($15 US). Made the journey in 1.5 hours and was at the start of the trail by 8.30am.



The first part of the day was broken up into three 90 mintue blocks to get to the highest point at 4600m. A bloody hard hike. First we had sun, then we had rain, then sleet, then at the top snow. Luckily none of it lasted too long, but it was cold! The path itself was fairly well defined but very rocky, slippery and muddy so we had to watch our step. At the top the cloud came over from the other side but we could just make out the lake and gorge on the other side.



We walked through a beautiful valley, even so in the rain. A river ran through the middle and down the sides of the valley waterfalls cascaded down, which were all sourced by underground springs. The water was all crystal clear and delicious to drink. Chatted to a few llamas along the way, who we tried to convince to pose for us but with little success. Contiued til 4.30pm when it
was time to start setting up camp. The rain had stopped and the air had become warmer as we had descened at least 1200m. Tent up, salad for dinner, tired so time for bed at 7pm!



No rain overnight so we were not washed away. Off at 8am, hoping to get to our final destination at 3.30pm. After 1 hour the path divided and we took the wrong path for half an hour, so backtracked for another half an hour to the correct path, all up hill arrgghh! Thankfully the sun had made an appearance making it a bit more bearable. Since we were desending further the weather had
gotten warmer and the vegetation began to change and became more lush. Hundreds of butterflies accompanied us on the hike, including a few bright blue one which were so pretty.



For lunch we stopped on the side of the river where we went for a skinny dip to wash and revie ourselves. It certainly worked as the water was FREEZING!!! There was not another soul to be seen - lucky! Our food rations were low so lunch was avocado, tuna, with a dash of mayo and tomato sauce (courtesy of Burger King!) then raisins and peanuts for energy. Surprisingly it tasted rather good...or maybe it was just cause we were hungry!



1.5 hours later just before we completed the trail we nearly walked off a newly created cliff due to a recent mud slide, so alittle back tracking required to go around it. Having now finished the trail we gave ourselves a pat on the back and then walked another 1.5 hours to the closet village with food and accomodation. Due to our slight 1 hours detour we didnt arrive in Yanacachi till 5.30pm, but found ice cold beer immediately on arrival!



The hike was absolutely stunning and so rewarding. Our knees ache like they have never ached before as the second day was mainly all down hill.



Met five, 18 year old guys from La Paz who had been ahead of us on the trail. Chatted with them in the local square over a few beers until dinner. They went to a French school, so they spoke fluent French and English. They gave us their cell phone number so we can call them to find out where to go out back in La Paz.



For dinner we ate a banquet, well it seemed that way after two days of minimal salads! Veggie soup, accompanied by corn, then seconds was rice with fried potato, satuated onions and tomato and a piece of fried spam which Kim immediately donated to Me! Next morning the bus left at 6am, the Bolivians just love their early morning buses :) In La Paz it was time to do some shopping,
yippee!!!



Kim and I had our one year anniversary in La Paz. and celebrated with a nice bottle of Argetinian Red before dinner, then on to a Cuban Restaunt that funk, good food and do mean margaritias :)



Next Stop we fly to the Jungle for 5 days. Really looking forward to it but not the mossies which have eaten everyone whos already been alive. We have 4 bottles of repellant so fingers crossed!!!

Walking with Dinosaurs

From Potosi we took the short three hour hop to Sucre, which after independence from the Spanish was made the capital of Bolivia, but now all real power has been passed over to La Paz. Sucre is considered the most beautiful city in Bolivia with its white washed colonial buildings, lovely flower gardens, grand churches and plazas.



We took the trip to the local indigenous market at Tarabuco. The market itself was rather small and disappointing especially compared to the markets we had been to in Ecuador, plus none of the stall holders were willing to bargain. However the highlight was seeing the Tarabucenos in their traditional attire. The men wore leather hats called monetros which were shaped like the steel helmetsthe Spanish warriors wore, along with woven woolen ponchos (very itchy) with bright stripes of yellow, orange, green and blue. The women wore shawls called aqsus but in reality looked more like blankets held together under the chin by safety pins, along with this hideous square black hat with long flaps that covered their ears and with diamenties along the rim, then to top it off a hot pink pompom on top! Extremely unflattering look.



On the bus on the way back we met an Irish couple Joanne and Shane from Cork. Back in Sucre by 3pm after a hard mornings shopping (NOT) it was Beer O'Clock.



The next morning we went to the market for breakfast. While we were eating I was doing a spot of people watching and this mother had a mobile ice cream stand. Since she was in the sun and serving people she had laid her baby under the cart on the concrete to keep it out of the sun, a very strange site to see.



Took a tour to the Cal Orko dinosaur footprints, the worlds largest known collection, that were discovered by quarry workers. About 5000 prints from 150 dinosaurs have been identified. To get to the site we had to take the dino truck which was a large pick up truck with dinosaurs painted all over it, it looked like something that belonged in a kindergarten, very embarrassing! Then on the tour we had to wear bright orange safety helmets, Kim had obviously dressed for the occasion with matching orange tshirt!



From Sucre it was time to head further south, to Tarija, 12 hours to go 370km, on an unsealed, dusty and bumpy road. Tarija at 2000m is famous for its vineyards, which are the highest in the world. The city being just 8 hours from the Argentine border has a strong aggregating influence which can be found in the many restaurants that serve tender grilled meats and good wine.



After about 1.5 hours sleep on the bus we checked into our dungeon room at 5am for some shut eye then got up and went to the local river for a swim. Next day we upgraded to a three star hotel with cable tv and our own bathroom, what luxury for US$10pn. The weather was overcast for the next two days so we chilled out watching tv and went on an eat-a-thon! A really good
restaurant on the main plaza served up wicked omelets, smoothies, real coffee and iced coffees, steak burgers, salads and platters of meat, cheese, pickles and olives and fondue. In between our eat-a-thon and tv we managed a hike to the Coimata pools and waterfalls and took a tour of the wineries.



Next stop Villazon, the border town of Bolivia and Argentina which we crossed so Darren could get another 30 day visa for free, as in La Paz is was 165Bs. Our record short stop in Argentina lasted less than 10 minutes. The Argentine border guards had no problem stamping us in and out but trying to re-enter Bolivia was a little harder. We were told to come back in 24 hours as you could not re enter the same day. Acting like dumb tourists and telling the guards why we wanted another 30 days, to see more of
their beautiful country after 20 minutes we were stamped back in.



A short ride to Tupiza where we had a night to kill before our overnight train to Oruro. This is where Bill Cassidy and the Sundance Kid had their final shoot out. Later that arfternoon we met some fellow travellers from England, found a local beer garden and enjoying the sun while downing ice cold beer. Ended up later on in a karaoke discoteque where I entertained all by singing the Beatles Hey Jude!! The things we do after umteen largers...



Next day we had a lovely two hour wait in line for our train tickets as there was one counter with one guy handwriting all tickets, nightmare! This time we prepared for our train journey and took along two bottles of red and some pringles. Arriving in Oruro we hightailed it to La Paz where we checked out the coca museum. Very interesting to learn about the history of the cocoa leave and cocaine. Anyone know who was the first social user of cocaine...Freud!


With that very useless piece of trivia I will bid you farewell for now.