Starting Voluntary Work

We´ve finally managed to sort out our voluntary work in Huaraz, which we start on Wednesday at a new charity called Seeds of Hope. We´re going to be hanging out in a classroom and generally annoying some teachers. Actually we´re going to be helping out the kids with their homework and general life skills, so we´ll keep you up to date on all that. It was actually really sweet when we went to look round the school, one of the little boys came running up to me to give me a big hug and I even managed to give him a hug back, even with his snotty nose! They´ll be about 15 kids in total, so we should have great fun and lots of stories to tell over the next month with them. We´ll be living with two of the teachers, who seem quite cool and are kindly going to give us Spanish classes in the evenings as well. We´re both looking forward to that.

This is a picture of our little house.

Hanging out in Huaraz

It feels like we´ve been here ages, but in fact it´s only been a couple days. We´ve been pottering about this little town which is quite quirky. We´ve found ourselves staying in a hostel that is normally frequented by Israelis, however there are none staying at the moment because it´s low season. Strange, because I thought all the notices and posters on the walls were in Quechuan (the local Peruvian language), when in fact they were in Hewbrew! The lady who owns the hostel said that she started it 24 years ago and one of the first people that stayed was an Israeli, and since then, most of her guests have been Israelis. Nothing like word-of-mouth recommendation! We even looked in her guest book and on every other page there´s a European couple, other than that, they´re all Israeli. We´re with a Swiss couple and French girl, all of whom are really fun to be around.

Huaraz is on a fault line and has been hit with many natural disasters in the last 100 years. The two main types of disaster are earthquakes, and the second are aluviones which are when high glacial lakes burst their banks causing a wall of water to wipe out whole towns in the area. Huaraz has been rebuilt at least three times and so is not the most beautiful city, but Mother Nature certainly keeps you on your toes.

The surrounding countryside is high glacial mountains and is impressive because of the number of peaks over 6,000m. It´s really quite beautiful and yesterday, we went on a tour to visit one of the glaciers, where we were allowed to clamber all over it. It was melting at an incredible rate and at the base of the ice was a small cavern which allowed you to see under the glacier. There was lots of water and a beautiful bluish hue from the centre - very pretty. We climbed almost to the top of the glacier, which was a breathless 5,200m and very tough. Getting down was much more fun, especially as we were sitting on our plastic bags. Unfortunately, I span out of control and bashed my head on some ice, just before being saved by Stu. Nothing worse then falling over on the ski slope though, and no lasting damamamage.

As part of our tour (more like package tour), we also visited a few local touristic sites, which were a touch amusing. The first stop was a pond of effervescent water - all naturally carbonated! The little pond was surrounded by a couple of traditionally dressed women with llamas wearing sunglasses and wigs. There were also the obligatory small child with a lamb wanting you to take their photo. The lamb was called Picachu and very cute, but not worthy of a photo. The 15 Peruvian teenagers on a school trip from Lima seemed tolike this though and enjoyed both the llamas in fancy dress and the carbonated water. The next stop was the ´lake of many colours´, which was in fact a small pond, no bigger than my front room and generally a dirty brown colour, rather then the well publicised seven colours. We then saw plants that only flower every one hundred years, and unfortunately they weren´t flowering! Anyway, it was still a fun trip and we enjoyed our time on the glacier.

Long Bus Rides North

After Machu Picchu, we stayed in Cusco for a couple more days to enjoy the night life. We had a few drinks, met some really annoying people and promptly left the next day to go to Huaraz, eight hours north of Lima. Our journey to Lima was 18 hours on a very special bus. As we set off from Cusco we were given a magic show from a teenager, then at the next stop, only 15 minutes out of town, we were treated to 30 minutes of singing by a tone deaf, local boy. This was coupled with hundreds of different people jumping on the bus to sell all kinds of food from cheese to sweetcorn - at least you never went hungry!

The bus had a DVD player, but unfortunately we had no sound. It would have been difficult enough in Spanish, but with no sound at all, the films were useless! There was a toilet as well, but they kept it locked as the door didn´t shut properly and with the winding lanes around the Andes, the door would have banged all night. Unfortunately, 18 hours on a bus didn´t work too well without a toilet, so a couple of stops were made for two minute toilet breaks. All good and well if you´re male, but there were just as many women on the bus and we simply had to forget our modesty and pee with the men on the road side.

We arrived in Lima and wanted to get straight on a bus to Huaraz, but unfortunately we they didn´t go until late at night, so we set off in search of some accommodation. We found a cute little hostal in Milaflores, the posh part of town and chilled out to a naff American movie and a bottle of wine. The following day, we tried to do some tourist stuff, but failed terribly as they were on lunch, or the museum was really far out of the centre. We only managed to get to one museum, which was all about the Inquisition. That was pretty interesting as the building of the museum used to be where they tortured people and you could still see the cells and artifacts from the time. Very interesting, it gave me lots of ideas for when I need to get something out of Stu. Later that night we set off for Huaraz and another night bus. An uncomfortable ride, eight hours later and not much sleep, we arrived in Huaraz.

Interesting Entertainment on Public Transport?

We had an interesting journey on the way back from Machu Picchu. We were on the Vistadome train, which has extra windows enabling you to see more of the beautiful landscape. This train also has special entertainment, where one of the train guards dresses up in a strange costume and gives a traditional dance. However, before that, he came round with a stuffed toy llama, which we all had to stroke. Very strange. After that, we were given a fashion show on the train by the other two attendents, one male, one female. They were showcasing the latest Peruvian alpaca fashion and it was really quite embarrassing, but some of the older, retired crowd seemed to like it, especially the older men.

The trains and buses at Machu Picchu are run by the Orient Express and cost an arm and a leg to get anywhere on them - they´ve certainly got that corner of the market nailed. It´s obvious that they´re appealing to an older demographic and one that likes the finer things in life!

The Inca Trail to Machu Picchu

We started the trail at KM102, which meant we had only one full day´s walking on the trail before reaching the Sun Gate in the late afternoon. The trail started in the high jungle with the sun beating down on us as we set off uphill, little did we know that the trek would be all uphill. We passed beautiful orchids, fuscias, cows lying in the path, amazing rainbows and pretty waterfalls. The flowers were really beautiful and I was suprised at how many there were given that the trail is used so much. We also visited Inca ruins on the way and were treated to a full history lesson by our guide.

The Inca empire as we know it, really only lasted for 100 years before being conquered by the Spanish. The reason they´re so well known, is for what they achieved in that time. The empire began in Peru in a small area within in the Sacred Valley, but then extended throughout much of South America (Columbia to Central Chile). The Incas were only conquered by the Spanish because the people who had been conquered by them saw the Spanish as the lesser of two evils. Unfortunately, as the Spanish conquered, they destroyed much of the Incan architecture and stole virtually all the gold, melting down for their own purposes. As such, little remains of the Incan empire, except a few ruins, mainly in the Sacred Valley. Machu Picchu was never found by the Spanish and so never destroyed. The only wear and tear on the ruins at Machu Picchu was from the jungle which grew over it and only destroyed sections. Even today, they´re still discovering more ruins in and around the site.

We arrived at the Sun Gate, pretty exhausted, but were treated to spectacular aerial views of Machu Picchu, which sat about 600m below. As it was late afternoon, most of the tourists had left and the clouds had lifted, so our views were as the site was meant to be seen. It was truely awesome and not what we had expected at all. The Sun Gate is special because on the Summer solstice the sun shines through the gate and into a window in the temple in the centre of the complex below. There is a second gate on another mountain which does the same on the Winter solstice, but through another window of the temple. They used these two points as sundial in the temple, which is pretty clever given the distance of the gates from the temple. Machu Picchu itself was much bigger then we expected and in much better condition. With only nature taking it´s toll on the buildings, there was much left in tact.

In the morning our guide took us round and told us more about the history of the Incas and the use of Machu Picchu. The morning was cloudy and pouring with rain, but we still managed to enjoy the tour. The nice thing about the rain was that you could see how the water systems and fountains work. The place was absolutely fascinating. In the afternoon we were left to do what we chose and we decided to climb the mountain behind the city called Wayna Picchu. This was a really tough climb, mainly scrambling up a cliff face of rickety steps - they´d never have let you do that in the UK due to health and safety! By the time we got to the top we were exhausted and very sweaty, but rewarded with superb aerial views of Machu Picchu, which from this view looks like a condor (I think you need your imagination for this). Getting down the mountain was harder at the end of the day was hard, but we were relieved, in awe and absolutely knacked.

We used SAS Travel, based in Cusco. They were really great. The tour was good, the guide helpful and knowledgable and the accommodation lovely - with a fabulous hot shower! Highly recommended.

Yuvari, There She Blows!

Whilst in Puno we visited one of the oldest steam ships in the world, which is moored just outside Puno. The boat was commissioned by the Peruvian government as a vessel for Lake Titicaca and was built in Britain, then shipped in pieces to Arica in northern Chile, then transported by mule, over the Andes to Lake Titicaca. Each piece of the ship had to be made into small pieces not over 400lbs as they needed to be carried by the mules. They built the ship in four months, cut into over 2,700 pieces and then transported. It took six years in total to get all the pieces to Lake Titicaca! The ship was found in the 1980´s and restored to it´s formed glory and is now a working ship and museum on the lake.

The engine was pretty cool and Stu loved it. The fixtures and fittings are, where possible, the original features and it is loved today by a very passionate crew.

The Floating Islands of Lake Titicaca

After we left the Isla del Sol, we went to the Peruvian side of the lake. We stayed in the town of Puno, which sits just on the lake side protected by two penisulas about 20kms apart. This allows the lake to be perfectly still and allows lots of reeds to grow. From these, the indigineous people have made reed islands which float on the lake. Originally these people built the islands to flee the Incas, and have remained there ever since. There are a number of islands with different communities and families, and the Uros Islands, which we visited had a total of 4,000 people living on these islands. Each island has about four houses on it which seem to support one extended family. The houses have wooden frames with reeds that form the outer cover. The floor is reeds, the furniture is reeds, the transport is reeds and well, pretty much everything is made from reeds. These days the islanders have solar panels and watch all the Latin America soap operas, only coming outside to greet the tourists and try and sell their wares, which range from postcards to stuffed birds and fish (umm, interesting).

We were a little disappointed with these islands as they seemed very fake, only there to exploit the tourists, or perhaps that´s the other way round. Regardless, it wasn´t the best morning we had. Shame. The town of Puno wasn´t that great either. They had really commercialised the lakeside in a bad way and unfortunately, weren´t putting much money to cleaning the lake and surrounding area. The lake was full of green algae and plastic bottles and the edge of the lake was being used a site for ´spoil´, a term for surplus rubble and soil from building sites, which they seems to laying at the edge of the lake. Unfortunately, this was attracting rubbish from the local people who also seemed to have a total disregard for the potential beauty of the lake. It was a stark contrast to the Bolvian side.

Funnily enough, we met plenty of people who said don´t bother with the Peruvian side of the lake as its not as nice as the Bolivian side, but we still felt we had to go to Puno and the Islands and see for ourselves. There are some islands further out which aren´t quite so commerical and where you can stay with the islanders for overnight or for a couple of days, but we simply didn´t have the time.

We quickly left Puno the following day for Cuzco and the Sacred Valley.

Suprising thoughts about Bolivia

After leaving Bolivia and feeling a little sad to leave such a lovely country, here are some thoughts that suprised us about a country which we´d had such bad reports about:

1. Everybody said that the toilets would be awful and they weren´t. Lots of loo roll, clean and plenty of them - although you had to pay to use them, they were much better then the public loos in the UK.
2. Everyone we met said that Bolivia was really dangerous with frequent robberies, especially bag slashing. We actually felt really safe in Bolivia. The people were quite timid, but always really lovely. The only scam we came across was gringo prices and the odd short-change tactic by street vendors.
3. There is more black market activity then official business in Bolivia. The street kiosks, market stalls and street vendors all make up this section of the economy. They´re everywhere, they don´t pay tax and we were told they make more money then middle class professionals who tend to have high rents and taxes for their businesses. Recently, the Bolivians elected their first indigenous president, who previous to this role, had worked in the black market.
4. The diversity of landscapes in Bolivia is amazing. From volcanos to salt plains and cities at high altitudes to steamy jungle towns and villages - there are so many different landscapes, each incredible.
5. Almost all the women in Bolivia dress in the traditional dress with knee length skirts and hundreds of petticoats, shawls to keep warm and bowler hats. It´s hard to find a woman in non-traditional dress.
6. Finally, high altitude seems to affect the liquidity of deodorant making it difficult for the liquid to come out. That is, if the rollerball hasn´t already popped out!

Isla del Sol - the Prettiest Place on Earth

We arrived at on Saturday at Copacabana, a small town on the edge of Lake Titicaca and promptly left for the nearby island of Isla del Sol, the place where the Inca empire was borne and a very scared place for Incas. After a ropey hour and a half on a small boat we arrived at the Island. I wasn´t feeling too great and really wanted to stay in Copacabana after hearing good reports of the town, but Stu was keen to get straight to the island - I have to say this was the best move yet. As you arrive at the island you first see a gentle waterfall down a steep hill - this is the natural spring trickling down the hillside that has been cultivated into pretty garden terraces. Next to the stream is a stone staircase and the only route up to the village at the south side of the island. The trickling water simply complements the tranquility you feel when you first arrive - it really is lovely. There are no cars and no roads on this island and all the inhabitants live a very traditional lifestyle mainly farming or looking after the tourists.

We were greeted by a handful of touts all demanding our attention and trying to sell the rooms in their hostals. We seemed to get attached to one young man, who we followed up the stairwell. Halfway up, we needed a rest - we were at 3,500m, the staircase was extremely steep (and about 50 steep steps), we were carrying our huge, heavy backpacks and our lungs just couldn´t cope. The lovely young lad, kindly offered to take my backpack and I gladly gave it to him, thinking the hostel was at the top of the stairs. Twenty five minutes later, we were still going up the hill and we didn´t seem to be near the hostel. The young lad kept saying "arriba, arriba", roughly translated "to the top" and soon after we were found the hostel, absolutely exhausted and a little guilty after he carried my rucksack virtually all the way - there was no way we couldn´t stay at this hostal now! We were glad to have finally made it and were rewarded with a really pretty house and the most amazing views across Lake Titicaca. It was mid afternoon, so we sat down on the terrace, literally overhanging the steep hill, and enjoyed a cold beer as the sun set over the hills in the distance and an eerie mist set in (see photo above).

This really is the best place we´ve been so far. The views from the hills are truely magnificent and the village is somewhat unspoilt by commercialism driven by tourism. There are plenty of hostels and restaurants, but there is little or no sales pressure and the place was generally quiet. This seems the Bolivian way, but we were also blessed with being here before the high-season. That night we went to a restaurant across the road and the owner had to keep nipping out to buy the various elements he had promised to cook us. We all tucked into trout from the lake, washed down with a few more beers.

The next day we walked to the other north side of island to the Titicaca Rock and a special site of Inca ruins. This was a reasonably tough 3 hours with a few hills to challenge you at altitude, but since the trail is at the top of the hill, incredible views are provided either side. These are either across the lake to Peru and Bolivia (depending what side you´re looking at) or down into small coves with clearest, blue water lapping white sandy shores. The local people are dotted around the cultivated hillsides looking after their small flocks of sheep and few donkeys. There are plenty of eucalyptus trees and the landscape kind of reminded me of Mediterranean island, although Isla del Sol is a touch more special due to the mysticism from the Inca ruins.

After walking round the ruins and understanding most of what the guide was saying (our Spanish is improving), we walked the 40 minutes to the northern village, had some lunch and caught the boat back to the south side, and again, sat on our terrace in awe of the view in front of us.

Surviving the World´s Most Dangerous Road

We have just completed the ´Calle del Muerte´ or ´Road of Death´ which is the world´s most dangerous road and the route is from La Paz to Brazil. More people die on this road than any other in the world, it´s worth noting that the second most dangerous is the road into Bagdad, so we are off to Iraq next to try that! The deaths are mainly caused by drunk drivers, tired drivers (they work 48 hour shifts) or passenger buses crashing into other vehicles on the blind bends on the single, dirt track, then going over the 500m sheer drop at the edge of the barrier-less road. That´s why we decided to go down on mountain bikes! It was a great 67km down a 3,000m desent on dangerous dirt road. We paid a high price to go with the best company and had great bikes, cool guides, a t-shirt and lots of safety talks on the way down. The only downer was that we had to come back to La Paz on the bus, up the same road - which was more terrorising then the bike ride down!

The road is the most dangerous simply from the number of deaths per year and some people have lost relatives or entire families. At one time a bus went over and an entire community were lost. Now, those who have lost loved ones stand as ´human traffic lights´on the corners where the accidents have happened. The show red or green flags to indicate if traffic is coming and truely they´re a godsend, however they´re not on all the bends and don´t man the roads during the night, so you´re reliant on sounding your horn and praying that nothing is coming! There really were some sad stories of accidents, most easily avoidable as there is a new road that has been built, but it´s not open yet. Its taken 12 years to build to date and so far is not finished, mainly due to corruption - that´s Bolivia!

The highlight of the trip was Stu being attacked by a cute, little spider monkey who jumped on his head when we were chilling out after the trip with beer. Unfortunately I was a bit slow with the camera and didn´t catch the cheeky, little, blighter trying to bite Stu´s ear lobes off. He was cute mind… at least he didn’t have claws.

Pesky Bolivans

La Paz is beinging to really grow on us now we´re used to the crazy people, mad driving and general way of life. Almost 90% (not sure if that´s accurate, but it´s a pretty high number) of the inhabitants of La Paz are indigenous and the women all wear the traditional dress , which is at least five underskirts and loads of jumpers and shawls. This makes even the skiniest old lady look like really quite fat, or like ´pequeña gorditas´ (little fatties), but in reality it´s an absolute godsend for them as the weather is so cold and most of them sit around all day manning kiosks or selling goods off the pavements. These innocent looking ladies are also well shifty and will short change you at blink of an eye. Any chance to overcharge and they will, pesky buggers!

The streets are bustling with vendors selling everything from bread to batteries and socks to clocks. You really can get anything on the street without even going into a shop. There are so many stalls, street sellers and kiosks now that the government it trying to regulate them, and of course this is causing uproar. The people of La Paz get up in arms about anything and regularly protest and cause road blockades where the transport system (minibuses and taxis) block the major routes in and out of the city and this can happen for days on end. They literally just park up in the middle of the street, bumper to bumper and then leave their cars or vans until late in the evening. Added to this are marches, where the protesters set off fireworks, mainly bangers, which sound too much like gun fire for my liking, but I´m assured they´re only fireworks. Tomorrow it should all be back to normal and by the end of week we should be able to make it out of the city.

It´s spring now and the weather is pretty cold. It doesn´t get that warm in La Paz at all, mainly due to the high altitude. You´re reminded of just how high you are everyday as the La Paz sits in a steep valley between a range of mountains topped with snow all year round. The streets climb the steep sides of the valley and many of houses literally sit into the cliff face.

Stu and I are really feeling the cold. Our hosts, and probably most of the inhabitants in La Paz don´t have any heating (and we´re staying with a well off family, the man of the house is an accoutant), which explains the many layers of clothing worn by the locals and our hosts. The shower is also frequently cold, so itt´s certainly different after Rurre where we welcomed the cold showers!

Living, Breathing Spanish

Safely back in crazy La Paz now and we´re living with the family of our Spanish teacher. We´re putting in loads of hours and spending more the day either doing homework or in lessons. It´s pretty tiring, but hopefully it will pay off. Isabel is a great teacher and the best thing about it is that she feeds us at the end of the lesson!

Getting back to La Paz

Well, this was quite a challenge. On our last night in Rurre it absolutely poured it down and unfortunately the grass runway at the airport just couldn´t cope and so we just had to wait for the grass to dry and for our turn to come round to fly out. So we settled into a local bar for some more mojitos and watched the beautiful sunset over the River Beni. We finally managed to get to La Paz the following evening.

Raft Making Antics

In the afternoon of our second day in the jungle we had to make a raft. Well, Stu and Action Man made a raft and I supervised. Chopping down trees and making rope is man's work (it's actually very hard and I was pretty useless). I thought the raft was for a bit of fun on the river, but then as Mario got quite serious and pensive about the type of wood that was being used and where the wood was being placed, Stuart realised that this was no 'bit of boy fun' but actually our means out of the jungle. By late afternoon it was taking shape and as the heavens gave way to some proper jungle rain, we took it on a trial run on the river and floated back to camp. Mario was quite funny and happy to whip off his shorts to reveal his little, tight, semi see-through, white pants at any given moment to go into the river. I didn't know where to look! That evening we did some fishing and watched the tropical storms over the mountainous jungle in the distance.

When Mario came to his tent that night, he had encountered a monkey in the camp. We heard a bit of scuffle through the trees and Mario had said that we had to get out of the tent. 'Peligroso! Peligroso!' he shouted, which to means 'Danger!'. I panicked once again and was ready to run for my life in my nightdress, but the excitement was soon over. He kindly informed us that monkeys can be very dangerous in the jungle, but a rare sight. Unfortunately it was pitch black and we didn't manage to see him.

The next morning we were a hive of activity. The boys went off to finish the raft and I washed up. A lot of work went into that raft and in the end it was really impressive. It had to be finished by 9.30am so we had enough time to get to the meeting point. All the camping equipment had to fit on the raft and be kept dry along with all three of us. The raft finally took shape and looked great with a shelf for all the equipment and a little place for us to sit down. We wrapped all the luggage and camping gear up in a plastic sheet and fastened it tight to the shelf. Mario seated his passengers and we set sail. Three hours of sailing, a bit of fishing off the raft and some crazy rapids later we reached the little beach where we were being met, safe and completely dry. Our only tale to tell was sunburnt feet and knees!

Sailing down a river in the Amazon Jungle on a raft that you've made is pretty cool thing! It will be one we'll remember. Unfortunately, we don't have any pictures of our little journey as the camera may have got wet, but the photo above is of the half made raft.

Me Tarzan, You Jane

When we got back to Rurre, we settled in for a bit of luxury (bed, cocktail, table, you know, the normal stuff) as we were about to venture up river into the Bolivan jungle. This trip was more about the sights, sounds, plants and trees, rather than animals. In the jungle the animals are lot more savvy and so tend to hide away from pesky humans!

We travelled in a fast river boat up the Beni river for three hours until we reached our camp - a very basic home for the next three days. There was only Stuart, myself and Mario our guide, AKA Action Man. He was pretty hardcore! We were sleeping in tents and the only luxury we had was a gas burner for cooking. There was no cover from the rain, no seats and going to the toilet was going to be ´au naturale´ for the next few days!

The first thing that struck me was the noise of the bugs. All shapes and sizes, and all sounds - car alarms, ambulances, whizzing, wurring, buzzing and so on. It was really incredible and the evening was to be even noisier as more bugs come to life.

On the first day we went for a short 2 hour trek through the jungle. I don´t think we went far, but when you´re hacking through plants and trees, it´s pretty hard going. The vegetation is amazing. You really can swing from the vines ala Tarzan as they are filled with water and so have quite a fair amount of flexibility. They´re a good source of water if you can´t find any, and some can contain up to 4 litres in the length of one metre. Beautiful flowers, trees and palms litter the ground and it´s truely a feast for the eyes. It´s pretty amazing, although I spent more time worrying where I put my hands as it was essential to hang onto things for balance whilst avoiding the millions of bugs! This worry soon passed away, when I realised that we were going to be here for the next few days! At one point Mario left us to try and find the way back to camp. He was gone for about 30 minutes and this became particularly eery with the hum of the bugs and distance growls of Howler Monkeys. I almost began to panic thinking that he wasn't going to return. Fortunately we began to hear him chopping through the plants and we were on our way. My imagination at that point had been running wild though - leaving two tourists for dead! When we got back to camp, there was no rest for the wicked and we were set straight to work by fishing for our dinner. Unfortunately we didn´t get anything. I was useless at casting out the line and Stu and Mario kept getting their lines crossed. Luckily the guys on the boat caught a fish at lunch, so we had that.

The next morning we went for another trek through the jungle and as we climbed the steep hill it interesting to see how the vegetation changed from thick plants and vines to more trees. The trees were very strange with ones that look they have legs (Walking Palms) to ones that phallic roots that sprout out half way up the trunk - that certainly got a giggle from us! There are also trees that have garlic smelling bark, rubber trees and menthol vines used for medicinal purposes. We had a couple of goes swinging from vines again and eventually made it back to camp after sweating about 3 litres water each!

Playing in the Pampas

After checking into our hotel with our new friend Heidi (she was also stuck in La Paz waiting to get to Rurre), we rushed straight out to book a tour for the next few days. We settled on a company called Indians Travels for three days in the Pampas and three days in the Jungle. So we celebrated with a mohito or two and settled down for a good dinner because early in the morning we were to set off to the Pampas.

The Pampas is an area surrounding the the jungle that is lush, tall, grassland and home to lots of animals including capybaras, caimans, monkeys, anacondas, piranas and lots of crazy bugs. It´s almost like a savannah. Our journey to the camp was three hours by jeep along dirt tracks, with nine of us squished into a Land Cruiser, and then three further hours by dug-out canoe. The canoe trip was our first opportunity to see the wild animals, which was really cool. We stopped at a wider section where we could swim with Pink Dolphins - they protect you from the aligators and caimans. I sat in the canoe like a chicken whilst Stu braved the murky waters. It´s funny, the animals aren´t really phased by the canoes and humans. It seems they understand that in a canoe, we´re pretty harmless. Out of the canoe is a different matter and they all stay pretty clear, which is a relief in some cases. The highlight of the first day was two capybara having sex! These are the largest rodents in the world and are about the size of a Labrador. In the evening we went to our look out, where Billy gave us cool beers and we watched the sun go down over the grasslands.

The second day we were woken by Howler Monkeys in the trees behind the camp. This was the strangest sound and so loud it can carry for miles and miles, and they´re only little. In the morning we did a long trek (in the boiling hot sun) in search of anacondas. Unfortunately, Stu had a little too much to drink the previous night and so wasn´t feeling so good. This coupled with walking in 35 degree heat in wellies with no socks wasn´t the best idea from him. He eventually threw up and then felt much better. He blamed it on the anti-malaria tablets, but I think we all know the truth! The snakes weren´t coming out to play that day, so the two guides, Reynaldo and Action Man left the group under a tree whilst they went in search at a nearby lagoon. Their advice to us was to climb the tree if we saw a snake. Unfortunately, the little tree we were sat under wasn´t going to support 11 of us! We all sat there waiting for them to return, with our fingers crossed that the snakes didn´t find us first! After about 40 minutes, they returned with another guide and 2.5m anaconda, which luckily had recently fed. This was obvious from the big bulge halfway down its body.

It was good to get out of the camp and see more of the grasslands on foot, rather than in the canoe. Unfortunately, the land owner is burning much of it down to make way for cattle, much to the detriment of the local flauna and wildlife. I think this was probably one of the reasons it was difficult to find the snakes. I was quite glad to get back to the camp as the trek was a really hard slog in the humid heat of the Pampas.

That evening we went piraña fishing. They´re fast little buggers, ripping the meat of the hooks within seconds. They even jump out of the water for the meat! Unfortunately, we didn´t catch any, but I did manage a cat fish, dog fish and a sardine. Not quite enough for dinner.

The final day, we got a little closer to the wildlife. We watched the monkeys have breakfast which was a real treat. They´re so cute! A little later we were going to get even closer to some wildlife - aligators! Stu gave one a little stroke on the head!

The Pampas was really great - a real treat for wildlife lovers. I have to say, that the heat was immense and I was pretty glad to get back to Rurre and some well deserved Mojitos!

18 Seats and 2 Small Propellers

After spending two days trying to get to Rurrenabaque, we finally made it! It was a short flight, only 40 minutes (the alternative is an 18 hour bus ride) and the scenary is amazing. As you get closer to Rurre, the landscape changes to jungle covered mountains with steep sides and a dirty river in the valley. It looked just as I imagined the Amazon Basin would.

The airport at Rurre was a mere shack with a large grass landing strip. Since it was grass, it has to be dry in order to land, hence all the delays at the airport back in La Paz. It was a strange landing as you could see right in the cockpit and through the window to the landing strip. Interesting. I wasn´t entirely happy about that, but it seemed to get us to the jungle!