Hotel Rurrenabaque

So we decided it sounded like a good idea to go to the pampas in Bolivia. Kind of swampy river rainforest near Rurrenbeque. We also thought the bus was a great idea at about US $7 for 18 hours as the lady booking it assured us the road was new.

Well... the new bit was fine for the first 3hrs but then it was just plain scary, white knuckle cliff edge, tiny wet, unpaved road, passing lorries on a ...

... Tours. We´d met the founder in La Paz, and she completely sold us. She´s the pioneer of conservation in the area, including the move to create the national park, and is featured in a fascinating National Geographic article. Her company´s conservation efforts sounded oustanding, and so we decided it was the company for us. Our trip started with a 2 hour boat ride from Rurre, in a long canoe type boat that is remarkably stable. I love ...

Oh my god!!! This is now my highlight of the trip! Never thought that Iguazu and the Salar could be beaten but they have!

We flew into Rurre - an amzing flight that takes you from 4100m to 200m over snow capped mountains and then into rainforest. Rurre itself is a very cool little town with a completely horizontal vibe! We claimed our two free drinks from the local gringo bar to calm our nerves after our landing - it felt like the plane was about to ...

Think hot, humid and sticky. So humid you're dripping in sweat, you've never been so hot in your entire life. You're wandering how you could possibly get cooler, you consider cutting the ass cheeks out of your underwear, just to be wearing less clothing. Welcome to the Jungle...

Rurrenabaque is in the north east of Bolivia, about a 45 minute flight from La Paz (or a 24 hour bus ride down a dry river bed for the more adventurous). Rurrenabaque airport is a dirt ...

... be lying if I said Richard and I didn't walk down the main street in Rurrenbaque drunk as skunks singing the wonderful Elton John and George Michael duet 'Don't let the sun go down on me'.
It may all sound as camp as a row of tents but I assure you, it is all very heterosexual.


Act II
Back in the beautiful town of Rurrenbaque..
It is the same night of the infamous Allan and Richard duet.

I found someone.
Someone ...

... private wildlife refuge of Serere. We spent four days there walking in the jungle and paddling dugout canoes around the five lakes they have in the area. We stayed in luxury mesh cabins that left you felling as if you were a part of the jungle, especially as the sounds lulled us to sleep at night. The days were amazing with vivid sunsets, monkeys, capibaras (guinea pigs the size of a cow), Parrots and a plethora of other birds and ...

... thick deep green forest. Not long after we arrived, we set off on our first guided expedition into the forest. We were both slightly sceptical at first, as Sandro would stop dead in his tracks, cock his head to one side, point off into a tree, and say something like 'wachi bird, we've just missed it'. But after a few 'ooo we've just missed its' we started to spot a lot of jungle wildlife. The guide would imitate the calls of the animals perfectly and they would answer ...

... our driver told us we had to go further on down the road – thankfully it was only another ten minutes and there was the boat. However, the guide then told Tom and I that we weren’t allowed to board the boat as it was for a different company and we would have to wait for the Andean Epics boat. 30 mins later we were still waiting – thankfully the other boat waited with us and also our cook. Finally the guide decided we should get ...