Tag 63 - 65 / Pampas Tour

In the morning, we drove about 3 hours with a car to the river. Shortly before we arrived there, we had lunch. At the river, we had to wait for the other 3 tour participants, but in the meantime, we could already watch river dolphins.

With 9 people plus our driver, we then drove up the river into the Bolivian Pampas. Our boat was very thin and long.

It was hot in the sun and the air was humid. When we spotted animals on the way, we got closer. We were able to observe many strange-looking birds, many small monkeys, and an anteater.

Our accommodation was very idyllic. Everything was about 1-2 meters above shallow water, in which there were also a few caimans.

In the trees above us, there were regularly small monkeys, which, when no one was in the room, sometimes stole leftover food.

In the evening, we drove to another accommodation to be able to observe the sunset better.

There, our guide and driver suddenly learned that his father had died. We then went back to the lodge and were supposed to get a new guide the next day.

~Viktor

After some of us woke up quite early, partly because of a bat that got lost under the mosquito net, we had the best breakfast at eight that I have eaten since Rio. 🦇

After that, we took the boat to a small island infested with mosquitoes to search for anacondas. We found a million mosquitoes, a big spider, a wasp nest, a sleepy owl, an eagle, and the tail end of an anaconda. 🕷 🐝 🦉 🦅 🐍

During the day, the caimans that live under the hostel were occasionally fed, which always looked quite impressive. The biggest one is called Santa, and when he jumps high, he reaches the dock where we all stand.

Aside from that, there is also a staircase that currently leads into the water to the caimans, as there is no water under the hostel during the dry season, but theoretically, they could just walk onto the dock. But they wouldn't do that. We all hoped that the guides were right... 🐊

After lunch back at the hotel, we went back on the boat towards the dolphins, where we were allowed to enter the water. We simply ignored the fact that this was the same river water through which the caimans paddle. The pink dolphins were playful, often swam against us, and sometimes bit more or less gently. It was really nice to observe these animals from up close. 🐬

Afterwards, we went to a place where we fished for piranhas. In total, we caught three, which wasn't enough for dinner, but at least we all got to try them. You don't often get the opportunity to do that. 🐟

At noon, Kiran and I got a fruit from a fellow traveler that is supposed to work like tattoo ink. When we applied it, we could hardly see anything, and we tried it a lot, even on our faces. Over time, the color became darker until it eventually turned deep blue, almost black. The guides laughed and said that the color would disappear after ten days. Actually, a pretty cool fruit.

~Lenja

On the 3rd and last day of the tour, we left early in the morning at 6 am to watch the sunrise.

Afterwards, we had breakfast and then soon took the boat back. On the way, we saw many monkeys and could touch them until we were back at the place where we had to switch from the boat to the car.

After 3 hours of driving by car, we were back in Rurrenabaque.

~Viktor