Day 60: Jovial La Paz and Jungle preparation
You'd be glad to know that the ancient old lady on the bus back from Uyuni did survive the trip as did we. In fact, when we arrived in La Paz she practically did the 100m hurdles to get to off the bus first but first she got me to load up a huge rice bag onto her back then she whipped out her wooden walking stick and off she went, not too much unlike a crooked old witch you'd expect to see in a scary children's book!
It was the begining of the Bolivia's 200 years of freedom festivities so the streets were a hive of activity. All the school kids were out of school and were marching behind their national flag through the streets to the beating of drums displaying absolute pride in their sovereign state.
Making our way through the mesh of Bolivian flags we managed to get to the local Transporte Aereo Militar (TAM) office where we were told we would be able to book a flight to the Amazon jungle. Unfortunately, due to heavy rain we could only leave the next day but that only gave Kieren more time to do some much needed shopping so we booked the seats and off we went to buy gallons of mosquito repellent amongst other ridiculous well priced things. Its still beyond me as to why South Africans go on over priced holidays to Europe when there is this amazingly cheap country with far more exciting natural wonders to marvel at just across the Atlantic Ocean!
Day 61: Off to the mo fo freak'n Amazon jungle!
After finding our way to the local military airport, where we found the 'Because nut'ing tastes like Fresca' Fresca juice, we were finally off to the Amazon jungle! But not before the standard security checks, you know the one where the guy in the military uniform shouts out, with a smile on his face, "Could anyone with a bomb in their bag come over here please!" followed by a little chuckle and a pat of the hand on the outside of your bag just to check that there is nothing of any danger lurking inside.
The flight to the jungle was awesome with pretty much clear skies all the way so we could see the land scape rapidly change from arid mountain city to snowcapped peaks then down into the lush Amazon basin all in a whopping 45min! Landing in Rurrenabaque was an awesome experience from the moment the small aircraft dropped down below the trees onto the uneven dirt runway. As I stepped out onto aircraft stairs I could just feel the warm humid air filled with the smells of the lush vegetation and tranquillity of the bush. I just wanted to jump up in the air with excitement this place was better than the movies, I don't know if it was just a feeling of nostalgia as it reminded me so much of the thick lush vegetation we enjoyed so much on our childhood holidays to Kwazulu Natal but I just felt like this is where I belonged! Even the grass had those thick grass blades like in our garden in St Michaels, goodness me maybe I had spent too long cycling through the desert!
We collected our bags that were now lying on the grass and hitched a ride into town to find an agency that could take us deeper into the jungle or salva as they all call it here. We had received a pamphlet at airport from Mogli's, an agency, that proudly announced 'No cabins, no tents just you and the jungle1!' which immediately caught our eye but not that Kieren was too excited by the idea at first.
Turns out that the lady who owns Mogli's is from the Czech Republic and started the business with her husband, a local, who she met while visiting the jungle for 4 months. But that's not where it ends, her now father in law is partially responsible for the growth of Rurrenabaque as an Bolivian Amazon tourist town and the creation of the now world renown Madidi National Park. How? Well her father in law was found and saved Yossi Ghinsberg's life, an Israeli tourist, who in 1981 got lost in the uncharted Bolivian Amazon jungle. On Yossi's safe return to Israel his story spread fast resulting in thousands of Israelis selecting this area to be their destination for a post Israeli army vacation thus bring it a boom of growth and the much need conservation attention it deserves. Only now are English speaking tourist begining to frequent this area so most of the guides only speak Spanish and Hebrew!
After checking out a few other options we decided to go with Mogli's who after negotiation our 5 day trip to the jungle popped us on a motorbike taxi each and off to our local hostel where we would spent the night.
Day 62 to 66: Amazon jungle trek
There's not too much to say about the Amazon jungle other than you need to experience it yourself. I think every person's experience in the jungle is different and it all depends on how wet it is, how many insects there are, what animals you get to see and how experienced your guide is.
We were lucky on all accounts. Fortunately, it was the 'dry' reason so not too much rain which meant less insects. The insects were bearable but that did not stop us getting bitten by many a mosquito, flee and anything else you can think of. Malaria is not common in this part of the Amazon jungle and I'm not too sure how many know this but a Malaria 'carrying' mosquitoes actually have to be infected by an infected person before they can pass it on to another. The locals have the philosophy that if a person gets infected in the town they must go out into the jungle, with treatment, to recover so as not to infect anyone else nearby via the mosquito which seems to work.
We decided not to go into the Madidi National Park as we did not want to see hordes of other tourists so we were trekking in unprotected jungle which meant we were less likely to see Pumas, Jaguars and the like. If we really did want to see more animals we could have taken a more touristy type trip into the Pampas where you float down a river for 3 days spotting and sometimes swimming with pink dolphins, crocs, parrots, etc but we prefered to get a the real jungle experience, which we got.
Our guide and accompanying cook, Jorje and Oso respectively, had grown up in the jungle so they were really knowledgeable about at the plants and their medicinal value. 2 that stood out were the Walking Tree that literally walks around the forest finding the best light by creating new roots on the side it wants to move to while severing roots on the other. The other is the Quin Quin tree that is used to produce Quinine for preventing and treating Malaria.
The Jorje and Oso also kindly coaxed a Tarantula out of its home so we could play with it and chased down a family of Bush Pigs catching the baby which I was relieved we were just going to hold then release and not eat! There were also no shortage of ants in the jungle with one almost as big as your thumb they called the 'venti cuatro' meaning 24 as this is how long your fever will last if you get bitten. Another ant called the Fire-Ant, as it feels like a fire is burning the area around where you are bitten which Kieren experienced first-hand, and lives in a tree they forcefully defend. If you come anywhere near their tree they define it by dive bombing you from the above leaves and branches then bite you sore!
On one of the days we trekked through a swamp, which is where I think we got some horrible foot parasites, to a lagoon where we fished for Piranhas. Initially we used little worms on our hooks that we found in an acorn looking nut which we had had to taste test, both nut and the worm, which was quite tasty actually due to all the coconut oils it had eaten. Once we had caught our first fish which was actually a Cat Fish we used it to catch the remaining 11 Piranhas with very little trouble. The Piranhas we had for dinner were tasty but what the cook didn't mention is that you shouldn't then go wash your hands in the river, which we had been swimming in all day, as the Piranhas too liked the taste! Needless to say I now have a nice big cut on my finger where the horror like feeding frenzy took place when I innocently dipped my hand into the Beni river under the night sky.
Our camp-sites were basic using the remains from previous camps to prop up our plastic roof, in case it rained which it did on the last night quite heavily, and mosquito nets leaving us to sleep on a thin mattress on the floor. No pillows here but hey that was no different to the nights spent while on the bikes. I really enjoyed our time in the camps especially just chatting to Jorje and Oso as they only know Spanish and Hebrew that the Israeli tourists had taught them but very little English so it was good fun sitting and chatting teaching each other a bit more of each others languages. I question the wisdom in teaching these guys Hebrew when most Israelis speak perfectly good English and English would serve them much better with the non-Spanish speaking tourists?! Even the school in the local community of 6 households had posters up teaching the children Hebrew and English which Israeli volunteers had made for them but surely Spanish and a local language would serve these rural people better?
On the last day we built a raft out of Balsar wood. When at the agency, not thinking too well, we jumped at the idea when they suggested it but little did we know:
a: we would need to cut down 8 6m tall threatened Amazon Balsar trees
b: we would then each have to single handedly cary 2 of them 1km to the Beni river; and then
c: float 500m down the river on our now assembled raft only to watch it go floating off as we jumped ship onto our river taxi which would take us back to Rurrenabaque!
All in all the trek into the jungle was awesome and I hope to one day return for a perhaps period trip deeper into the Amazon jungle.
Day 67 to 69: Worms in our feet, back to La Paz and Kieren makes her way home
The first night back in the hostel I awoke to the realisation that I had somehow picked up flees in the jungle and was itching like mad. At first I though I was just imagining that things were crawling on my back as I went to sleep but given all the bites I had, the fact that there were no mosquitoes is in the room and the tiny black dots jumping everywhere I now knew I had flees. To boot I had what looked like a thorn in my toe which was making my toenail throb. So rubbed the remaining bottle of Tabard on me, which Ross thankfully left with me and works better than any of the local products to repel insects, changed beds and went back to sleep.
The next day we discovered that our flight had been delayed due a flooded runway which I was quite happy about. Rurrenabaque is a cool little town with a great vibe and good food but we were fast running out of cash and there are no cash machines. The next day, still itching from the flees, we did fly out much to Kieren's relief as she had a flight the next morning back to Santiago, Chile but I don't think any of us were happy to wave good-bye to this awesome place.
That afternoon back in La Paz we went about ridding ourselves and clothes of the flees that seemed to have plagued us all. However, in our frantic cleaning we noticed that the thorn like sores that had woken me previously were not unique to me as we all had them! Once we started digging them out we found that they weren't thorns at all but worms or eggs that had been laid in our feet and toes! We spent about 2 hrs with with Dettol and pins digging at and inspecting each others feet removing over 20 of them between us. I'm still too google these strange parasites but I just hope we got rid of them all!
This morning Mark took Kieren to the airport and said sad a good-bye I'm sure. It's been great having Kieren with us but now our 'holiday' is over and its time to soon make our way to Sucre for 3 weeks of more Spanish school.
Got news from Ross that he's been having a good time in Santiago, Chile and will be moving on to New Zealand in a day or 2 after spending a day with Kieren possibly touring the Chilean wine farms.
All the pics can be seen here.
