Rurrenabaque in the North East of Bolivia has become a major backpacker’s center for organized trips into the jungle and pampas that surround the town. For many travelers a Pampas trip, along with biking the Death Road and taking a tour on the Salar de Uyuni, has become one of the ‘must does’ while they are in Bolivia. Just like in Uyuni, there are lots of agencies competing for the business, some of which are good and some that are not. Rurrenabaque used to have a Rankings Office (like in Uyuni) which tired to grade agencies but it no longer exists so travelers are reliant on recommendations from other travelers or trusting to luck. Having just returned from a Pampas tour I have a few comments which may be of use to other travelers.
Most tours are three days, the first and third days invoke getting out to the River Yacoma region while the second day is taken up with activities. You stay out in camps along the river bank some of which are owned exclusively by agencies. Booking with one agency does not mean that you will be on that agencies Land Cruiser or staying at their camp, just like Uyuni the agencies pool their clients to make up numbers. Prices are often very low, $20 a day for all transport, accommodation and food. With some of the more expensive agencies they were not running tours when I wanted to go as they had no other clients. In my opinion three days is too long as most of the activities that fill the time are boring and pointless and is some cases dangerous to the wildlife. This is what you get up to.
Day One. Starting at 1030 there is a three hour Land Cruiser up a dirt road to the village of Santa Rose where you have lunch at a restaurant with lots of captive animals. The food is quite good though and this was generally the case throughout my tour, a real highlight. You then go to the riverside to get on your long boat down the river. The trip down the river to the camp is the best part of the tour, going up and down the river is where you will see most of the wildlife, there is little around the camps.
If you have ever wanted to experience what living in third world slum is like, then this is your chance. The camp I stayed at had no power or running water and the dorm beds were practically bare wood. It was gloomy, very hot and alive with Mosquitoes, take lots of repellant. Some of the other camps do have generators and running water, I was taken to one of these for a shower on the second day and some have gas powered fridges for cold beer. Hopefully you will end up at one of the better ones.
After dinner you are taken out on a night boat trip. The stated aim of this is to see Alligators eyes in the darkness (which you do) but the real aim is for the guide to capture a caiman for the ‘look at me holding this croc thing photo op’. My group declined this but it’s apparent that some backpacker groups insist on guides finding animals for them to pose with. Some agencies say that they don’t do this and make a lot of their environmental awareness. Sitting in the boat gets boring but the stars are pretty.
Day Two. This morning you are taken out into the Pampas itself. You are given gym shoes (tough if you have small feet) or Wellington boots. You then spend two to three hours walking through a stinking swamp to little purpose. The aim of this activity is for the guide to capture a snake, preferably an Anaconda for the ‘look at me with the snake photo op’. There is a lot of birdlife on the Pampas but the guides don’t know anything about it. You have to wear trousers for this trip as you will be walking through long, sharp grass so if you only bought one pair with you, you will have to wear then wet and stinking when the mosquitoes come out.
After a rest and lunch the afternoon activity is ‘swimming with dolphins’. The guide goes up and down the river hoping to be the first to find some dolphins for his clients. You then moor and have a swim or stand around in the river, which is quite good fun for a while. The dolphins wisely stay well away. My guide found some dolphins but there were lots of boats trying to get near to where we were, so those guides’ clients could ‘swim with dolphins’ as well. As ever this activity went on far too long.
After this I was taken for my shower. At sunset the guides tend to take their groups to one of the few camps that have beer ($1 a can) to watch the sun go down, so there is quite a party atmosphere. Then it’s back to your camp for dinner and an early night.
Day Three. The morning is spent Piranha fishing! You are taken out in the boat to a likely spot, given some line, hook and bait and away you go. Some of my group did catch some, as did the guides. The fish are then fried and served up as a supplement to lunch so that everyone can say they’d eaten Piranha. How much fun this is depends on how much you like fishing, as ever it goes on far too long. Local people have always caught piranha, but how sustainable this is I don’t know, nor did the guide.
The trip back to the road by boat was again a real trill because you see lots of quite stunning wildlife on the backside, including in my case, a lizard a meter long and a large swimming snake! If the drive to Santa Rose wasn’t so long, the river trip who be an excellent day trip.
I can’t say that the Pampas tour was particularly enjoyable. I guess it’s what people want or what the agencies think they want. I wanted to see wildlife and I did, even when I was sitting around waiting for an activity to happen/finish. The FAQ from other travelers when I got back was, ‘Is there beer there.’ I can only guess that people go to party or because they are ticking the ‘things to do in Bolivia’ box. In the past there used to be a fixed $35 a day minimum charge for these trips, which was charged by all the agencies. This has now gone and agencies are now undercutting each other, forced to some extent by groups of backpackers insisting on lower prices for large numbers. At $20 a day for everything, there is not enough money to invest in improving the camps or in providing better training for guides. This constant pressure on prices just means that there will continue to be backpacker slums on the riverbank. So shop around, listen to recommendations and pay extra if you can and hope you see the value.
