Pompous in the Pampas

So… as I said at the end of the last post, we make plans so that we can abandom them later.  Which is exactly what happened.  After a surprising easy 18 hr bus ride to Rurrenabaque, we found out that the boats no longer run to Riberalta.  Apparently since the road was improved, it didn´t make any sense to run river traffic, so that was out. 

We looked at our options, and then the only ones that really made sense were a 20 day trek in the jungle, going very deep into the heart of it, or a 10 day trek going somewhat deep into the thick of it and a 3 day river safari of the pampas.  We chose the latter, so we just got out of the safari.  3 days of tootling up and down a small river choke full of alligators, caimans, tons of birds and, of course, the giant river warthog that grows up to 6 feet long.  It is basically the real life version of the Rodents Of Unusual Size, or the ROUSs.  Hilariously dumb.

Our trip started with a 3 hr 4×4 ride out to the river. 4×4 was absolutely necessary for this road.  Then we unloaded the gear and food, loaded up the canoe and headed out.  Just like every safari, when you get started, everything is awesome.  You want to take pictures of everything because who knows when you´re going to see it again?!  Around the next corner, actually.  We saw so many alligators and giant river warthogs, or the actual name is the capibara.  We even got a chance to see the pink river dolphin poke it´s nose out of the dirty river.  All on our first outing from launch to camp!

Getting to camp was easy, they had everything setup for us, including the midday snack of cookies and popcorn, which we devoured.  After settling in, we went for a ride upriver to the volleyball and football sunset ranch, where people, you guessed it, played volleyball and football (soccer) while watching the sunset and drinking a beer.  Unfortunately, it was all rain, but the second night we were there it worked out nicely.  The night brought on dinner and monopoly.  One of the guys on our trip happened to pack a monopoly set, so we started a game and got it underway.  Not surprising, we never finished, but called it a night around 11:30pm as we were all falling asleep.

The next morning we went on a hike searching for anacondas.  We all strapped on our galoshes and started sloshing through the mud looking for things that could kill us.  Anacondas, cobra snakes, and, oh yeah, beware the alligators hiding in the grass.  They won´t kill you, but they´ll bite your leg really hard and that doesn´t seem too pleasant.  We never actually found an anaconda, but we were lucky enough to be close to somebody who did, so we took pictures, just like the other 20 people piled around the poor, terrified anaconda.  Flashes and shouting and pointing and blocking it´s route so that everyone could get a good picture.  A little overwhelming, but still awesome to see.  It´s now illegal to touch and feed the animals, but guides still do it, much to our dismay.  The bug repellent and sunscreen on the tourists´ hands harm it, and usually kill it in a few weeks, which is sad to see.  It just become a meal for the vultures or alligators.  After the anaconda search, it was off to find the cobra, but there was no luck for that, so back to camp for lunch.

After a nice post-lunch food coma, we went out for pirhana fishing.  One piece of string, one hook, one piece of wood, and one beef steak for bait yielded an amazing 7 fish.  I don´t mean to brag, but I caught 4 of the fish we ate that night, including the only catfish.  As our guide said, you simply have to be faster than the fish, and apparently I have what it takes to fish with just a string and a hook.  Back to basics, baby!  No rod or reel needed!  Of course, I did manage to hook my finger when simulanteously throwing the bait out and standing on the line, so that didn´t raise my status at all, but hey, results talk.  Sunset number two, dinner of pirhanas and pastas, then straight to bed.

Today we woke up to pounding rain.  It never really let up, so we just did some trolling around, looking at animals and birds.  We had the opportunity to swim with the pink dolphins, but it was raining, so who wants to go swimming when you´re already cold and wet in the rain?  Apparently, there was one taker.  So she swam while we all watched.  It was pretty cool, I´ll give you that, but I wasn´t about to dive it.  The rain drove us in, actually.  But not before we were able to watch our guide feed and pet the alligators.  Another interesting sight of questionable conservation techniques.  They said they only did it to 3 particular gators because that way, the alligators would come to camp in the rainy season for the tourists to see.  Hmmm.  From there, we headed back early to camp, played some cards and had lunch, then drove back to the dock where hit the 4×4 for the ride back to Rurrenbaque.

Tomorrow morning we leave on our 10 day trek into the Madidi National Park to see what we can see there.  Should be the real deal, deep into the heart of the Amazon Jungle, searching for bugs and bats, jaguars, anteaters and tapirs.  The jaguar would be the real gem of a spotting, but unlikely.  Let´s keep our fingers crossed!