The Pampas trip

We were up early the next day to pack our big bags and put them in storage at the hostel, place some stuff in the safety deposit box and head off with our small rucksacks for a change to our trip to the pampas. We sat down for our included breakfast which was surprisingly bread of the nastiest type, very dry and not very tasty, jam and tea of a most peculiar herby nature. Not ideal but it filled a hole, or rather sank like a stone into our bellies. We waited for Joyce and Oscar and headed back to the Fluvial office to pile into the red jeep for our 3 hour journey along an exceptionally bumpy road to Santa Rosa where we would get into the boats. The road in places was still wet from the rainy season and the driver lost the back end of the jeep on numerous occasions. It felt like we were back rallying again ! After 3 hours of bouncing and sliding around on barely padded benches our bottoms were very sore. We stopped for lunch at a local restaurant in Santa Rosa and were treated to some really local dishes, they were lovely, but a 3 course meal at lunch left us all a bit sleepy. It was then back into the van for the last few miles to the port.
So far we had a Spanish Driver and Claudio another Spanish Speaker. We were beginning to doubt whether our request for an English guide had gone unnoticed. However, we were saved when we picked up one more person, who turned out to be Dorio our English speaking guide. Claudio was going to be our chef for the next few days and the driver would be waiting for us on our return.

At the port we loaded up the boat, helping Dorio to lift in all the food and gasoline before hopping in ourselves. We were the first boat to leave which was fab as it meant no-one would scare off the wildlife ahead of us. We set off up a short piece of river to test that the engine was working well before swinging back round and zooming off up the main part of the river on the lookout for wildlife and beasties !!

We saw some amazing birds - we canīt remember all of their names as their local names were a bit obscure. We did see 2 paradise birds close to their nest and on looking closer saw they had a little chick. We also saw some blue/black shimmery birds, cardinals, herons, large white and black birds related to the pelican. A bird related to the turkey, black vultures and falcons. We saw lots of turtles all lying on bits of wood in the river, all of whom seemed to plop off as we went by.

We then saw some fantastic Chinchico monkeys. We stopped by a large group and Dorio asked if we had any bananas. Well after our market experience in La Paz, I was still carrying half a ton of them, so out they came. Dorio fed the first lot and then I had a go. It was really weird as they tickled your hands with their little hands, although they were strong - pulling at the banana trying to take the whole thing rather than just mouthfuls. I was careful not to let them bite my hands though. Trev also had a go at feeding at them but got a strong male who pinched the whole banana in one go ! As we headed on from them we came across some howler monkeys, aptly named for the incredible noise that they make. Our final monkey spot for the day was for a couple related to the red howler monkeys, but in this specie the male is dark brown and the female is yellow.

After a lot of wildlife spotting Dorio told us we had to crack on as the camp was 4 hours up the river. So we began to motor quicker up the river, although we still stopped to see new birds that we hadnīt spotted previously. We also stopped at the riverside bar for a cold beer and a relax in their hammocks. It was a relief for our bottoms to be off the hard wooden seats in the boat. After this stop we continued up river past all the camps of the other tour agencies. We stopped briefly at Fluvialīs first camp to drop supplies off to the manager there. It was here that we saw the campīs pet alligator, called Pedro. As we moored up at the camp Pedro slithered towards us and plopped into the water not far from the boat. All seemed a bit surreal and scary, but evidently Pedro is fairly harmless ! Still he had a good set of gnashers on him so I wouldnīt have trusted him.

We arrived at our camp at about 5pm, it was time to dress up in long sleeves and trousers to protect ourselves from the mozzies. We then headed off to the hammocks with a beer for a relax, before dinner. The food was great, Claudio turned out to be a great chef. After dinner we were relaxing when Dorio came running over saying that we should head next door to the camp there to see Antonio, that camps pet Alligator. In the dark he looked much meaner than Pedro but evidently he is fed the leftovers from the camp, so that evening he had eaten spag bol so wasnīt hungry for humans !

On returning to our camp Dorio explained the program for tomorrow and then asked if we wanted to go hunting for Caimen (like large alligators) tonight or tomorrow night. We decided on tonight, so armed with more deet and repellent we headed back out into the boat. It was great to be on the river at night. The sounds were fantastic as were the stars. Dorio explained to us some of the different constellations as we went along. We finally spotted some deep orange eyes of the Caimen but he was deep in the vegetation on the bank so we couldnīt see his body. On the way back Dorio turned the engine off and we drifted in silence down the river - a truly fab experience. When we got back to the camp the bugs were driving us insane so we retired to our beds and the relative safety of the mosquito nets. We checked the nets out for bugs and killed the odd few before settling down to sleep.

We were up at 7am the next day ready for our walk in the pampas looking for Anacondas. We were joining up with the group in the camp next door who appeared to be affiliated with fluvial tours. We set off up the river for a few minutes before docking at the side of the river and disembarking. Dorio had given us sticks to help us walk in the soggy pampas but Louisīs group didnīt have any. So Dorio and Louis headed off in to the woods to cut new sticks, leaving us to contend with the mozzies. It was then time to commence the walk. We were given some direction as to where to walk so set off about 2 metres apart into the sunshine. The ground started off just a bit muddy but gradually got wetter and wetter until we were up to our knees and beyond in the water.
( Trev - Hmm, I vaguely remember thinking how odd, or perhaps plain stupid :-), it was to be wading through knee deep water looking for a water snake that can grow up to 5 metres long and in the words of our guide - can eat anything - he then showed us several scars on his hand where he had been bitten and the teeth had gone right through!)
There were different areas of the pampas, some were just wet with water lilies, some had small plants and others had reedy grass and tall woodie plants like hibiscus in them. All of it was very muddy though.

As we walked I got chatting to an English chap from the other group. We had a good natter about travelling - he had been travelling for almost a year now. He thought Trev and I were teachers. Trev thinks that this is due to my baggy shorts and safari hat - I personally donīt believe a word of it ! Joyce and Oscar didnīt enjoy the walk at all - not aided by the fact that they dropped their binoculars in the water. It was a bit boggy and a trifle smelly but Trev and I loved it, always hoping that we would be the first to spot an Anaconda. After 2/3 hours we returned to our starting point exhausted from the heat and the difficult walking, most of us had nearly fallen over at some point. We returned to the boats to recover while Dorio and Louis searched for another hour to try to find one for us. Sadly they came back empty handed apart from a snakes skin from his tail. There was too much water really to find the snakes, the drier it is the easier it is as they congregate around the water holes.

We pottered back to our respective camps for lunch and then some relaxation. We all took to the hammocks and had a doze. At 3pm we got back in the boats and set off downstream to go and swim with pink dolphins and on our way back to fish for catfish as piranhas arenīt in this area at this time of year. As we headed into the more pampas environment again we saw a caimen slither off the bank and into the river right by our boat. A fab thing to see if a little frightening, given our small wooden boat ! We also didnīt seem to head out much further before Dorio started circling the boats calling \"flipper flipper\" and tapping on the sides of the boat. Very quickly dolphins appeared, some very pink, others more grey. The older the dolphins get the pinker they get. They had a flattish back to them and were bottlenosed. We were soon in the water with them and whilst they came extremely close to us, in fact Trev got a finflip in his face which scared him witless, (Trev - I prefer the phrase made him jump :-) ) they didnīt want to be touched.
They came close to us all and seemed encouraged if we swam more. We were in the water with them for about 30 mins before getting back into the boat. The riverbed had been very muddy so it was odd to be back on board. Another group showed up so we pottered off to fish. As we went we scared some bizarre birds out of the grass - they flew with their legs hanging down and making a right noise. We also saw a fish eagle as well which was very impressive. We stopped to fish close to the point where we had seen the Caiman. Whilst fishing we saw another pink dolphin and we feared we would catch that rather than the catfish. Nothing was biting so after a while we went back up the river to a spot closer to camp. Still nothing was biting there except for the mosquitos so we gave up and headed back to the camp. We donned the long clothes again and sat for a while outside watching the sunset before the bugs drove us inside. After dinner the heat and the bugs were too much so we headed to our beds and the safety of the mozzie nets. We had a 5am start tomorrow to see if we could spot sloths before they woke up and disappeared into the undergrowth. The sounds of the wildlife as we drifted off to sleep were very loud and at times eerie.

The next morning dressed in Mozzie gear we clambered back into the boats in the dark and headed off upstream. It was beautiful to sit there as dawn broke and then to see the sunrise. There was a lot of bird activity on the river, although it was too dark to see them you could hear them chatting and flying past. Dorio picked a spot for us to sit and watch the sunrise and not long after that he spotted a sloth close by. Binoculars at the ready watching him, we saw him wake up, stretch and start to move really slowly into the trees - it was a great sight. Whilst we sat there another pink dolphin swam by and two Toucans passed overhead - an awesome sight with all their colours. We then went upstream again where we spotted another sloth fast asleep in his tree, as well as some more howler monkeys. As our tummies began to rumble we headed back to camp, spotting another sloth very close to the camp, which is evidently unusual as they seem to like more remote areas.

On arrival at the camp we had another delicious brekkie before packing up our bags and heading back to the port. This time we spotted the wildlife but didnīt really stop for it. We did however, stop at the riverside bar again, to get cold drinks, however, they had sold out :o( We finally reached the port at Santa Rosa at about 11:30. We had a cold drink and waited for the other group to arrive to have lunch. When lunch was over it was time to say goodbye to Dorio and get back into the jeep for the 3 hour journey back to Rurrenabaque. Joyce and Trev managed to lay down and sleep. I sat up at the back and managed the odd doze, but the journey was making me feel a bit sick. We stopped at a small village on the way back for refreshments and met Frederico the paraqueet. He liked his owner but wasnīt too fussed about the rest of us. We got back to our hotel in the late afternoon and had a much needed shower before gathering our laundry and setting off to the laundrette followed by the fluvial office to book our jungle trip. Due to the delay in our flight to Rurrenabaque, we only had 2 days in the jungle. After booking our trip we headed to a restaurant called Camilaīs for dinner and managed to swap our books here as well - an added bonus, before bed and a much needed sleep.