We left loki la paz and headed for the bolivian international airport. The drive there was amazing as it enabled us to see the city from above and it is truly sprawling, all up the sides of the surrounding mountains.
The flight to runnenbarque (north east bolivia) was awesome. The plane was by far the smallest I have ever been on, no leg room and no head room. Like a coffin. The flight however was uneventful.
Landing in runnenbarque was like landing in a lost city, although the runway was tarmac. The temp there was so much warmer then la paz and at first it was a little startling, with sweat oozing.
We caught the bus (which had to be started with a screw driver) through the small town. Dirt roads, huts, chickens running wild and the beautiful green mountains in the back ground.
We stayed in a nice little motel and then headed out into the jungle the next morning. The drive was crazy and about 4 hours up a dirt road. From there we took a 2 hour boat trip to our hut which was situated in the middle of nowhere, held up on struts in the river. It was very cool and we had a caymen (bigger angrier alligator) which lived under the hut.
That night we watched the sunset over the grass lands and swamps and then went on a night spotting mission in our boat. We saw some pretty crazy caymen, alligators, monkeys, birds, turtles etc..it was pretty eerie out the at night, with just the sound of the jungle.
The next day we went looking for anacondas in the swamp, up to our waist in water, which , as it sounds was a little suss..we were unlucky (of lucky) not to find any but we did find a few other animals whilst out there.
We also went piranha fishing that afternoon. We caught about 8 out in the swamp, but once 3 other boat loads of Israelis turned up the fish went missing (dont know why??). That night we chilled in the hammocks and stirred up the caymen (lach almost got his foot bitten off).
The next morning we woke at 5.30 and headed out to see the sun rise which was surreal. All the animals were cruising about and the colors over the river and swamp were amazing. That morning we also went swimming with pink dolphins. Unfortunately we didn’t get to touch any but there were plenty around. It was a little stressful swimming around in black water which we had seen alligators and Cayman in but the dolphins apparently keep them away!
It was a very relaxing few days and allowed us to get healthy again. Of special mention is rapha (the little 3 year old boy who lived out there with his mum) who was a source of constant entertainment, greeting us with holla amigos and our names each time we came back in..
The drive home was equally as crazy, this time we lost the rear bumper (the front was lost on the way out) and only got bogged once!
Back in la paz! These 3 days are more a blurr of partying and our friend charlie more than anything else. Cultural activities took a back seat to stupidity, sleeping and eating. We did make the effort to go to the zoo (it cost 50c to get in). We saw some pretty cool animals, jaguars, snakes, monkeys, loions etc…
Our last night in la paz was pretty epic, with just the usual drinking at the bar and then going out. Notable incidents over the 3 nights include: a hostel door getting kicked down and a window accidentally smashed by lach (he needed 7 stitches), will running off to rout 36 at 6 in the morning to return the next day at 11am, me ending up alone at 4 in the morning in a clown suit, pink wig and mask trying to buy street food from an old lady and having my wallet handed too me by a police officer (who i initialll thought was trying to rob me..showers and random new friends..great times and very lucky young men we are (to be alive and still travelling without major injury) ..
It was a pleasure to finally leave la paz, as good as it was too us we were starting to get cabin fever. Unfortunately we missed our bus to lake titticaca (we slept through) and had to get a mini van crammed with 15 bolivians for the 4 hour journey. It was hilarious. And smelly.
We arrived at Copacabana (on lake Titicaca) and were immediately hounded by the locals for hostels (which we were in no shape to deal with). Luckily we found availability at an amazing little villa overlooking the lake. It was sensational and so heap, just what we needed after la paz.
We shopped in the small marked during the afternoon and decided that it would begood if we finally decided to cook something for ourselves..we had a delicious health dinner, watched the sun go down and went to bed nice and early..
