Leaving La Paz and going north….
Before most most people even think about getting up and all the other may think about heading home from the crazy partying in La Paz, we, the two English girls and I, have already been up for half an hour and are nearing the military airport of La Paz. From here our intention is to take a plane into the humid and overheated jungle that covers most northern Bolivia, Peru and the southern part of Ecuador and Brazil. I write “intention” as we really wanted to go but after having spend 1 freezing hour in the so called terminal (a room with plastic chairs and a TV) I asked a random pilot which casually informed me that the flight had been cancelled and we had to wait 6 hours for the next… anyways, what can you expect of TAM (Transporte Aereo Militaire). Our destination is also known as the Bolivian Pampas and is part of the more famous Amazons. The word “Pampas” comes from the Quechua language (the people/language of the Incas) and means “plain”. It is the South American lowlands which are characterized by a very humid micro environment and when the wet season comes it is totally flooded. In the dry season it is overgrown with grass but yearly burned down by the local people for agricultural and cattle grassing use. The burning ensures nitrate to the soil which makes it more fruitful.
Anyways i booked a 2 night/3 days trip into this wilderness to see what kind of animals Bolivia is offering. I was not disappointed. Packing a light backpack of only the most necessary, including a hell of a lot of mosquito repellent, we set out in a long-tail boat on the River Beni. Wooden camps were set up for us and our group counted 7 people and the guide Ansil. Ansil was raised in the Pampas and literally knew everything there was to know about animals, plants and survival. He shared as much information as he could and combined with the character he is, this trip could only work out for the best.
We had barely turned the second bend of the river when the first alligator appeared sunbathing on the bank. We were all amazed and as we saw the econdand third the excitement just went through the roof. As we saw the 100th the enthusiasm had submerged a bit but it was still magical and gave the feeling of how it must be to live here, with man eaters all around. This feeling also somewhat dropped the moment we actually went bathing with them. Not that we were riding their backs and diving peacefully, playing beach volley with them, but I have a picture with a 3m alligator not 2 meters from me. To make it all better the fresh water dolphins arrived and they were really not scared of people. The swam and enjoyed themselves not 1 meter from us and one even touched me…. well I hope it was the dolphin.
During the three days we spend here we saw so many animals and i will not bore you with all the crazy names that even I do not remember. Though I have to mention that besides alligators and caimans we witnessed capivaras, three different anacondas, piranhas, toukans and so many birds in different colors and shapes that I will get bored by the occasional spurve we see in Denmark. One night we went out spotting alligator eyes in the dark. As you know we saw a lot of them during the day, actually so many that they became a natural part of the scenery, even for us, but by night you get a much better idea. Flashing light upon the river bank and especially in the water near the bank unveiled a number far beyond my comprehension. Their eyes shines bright orange in the light of a flashlight and there were literally hundreds and hundreds of eyes staring at us as we sailed quietly down the river. Quite scary actually when thinking i was swimming in that water. That night we even tracked down a family of capivaras, they actually look like a huge hamster, but they got a bit scared and went flying from their quiet sleep. That next day we went scouring different islands, learned a lot of local herb lore and even got chased by nasty bees. We also went fishing for piranhas which we ate for dinner that same evening.
Getting back from the jungle to La Paz proved to be more difficult than we thought. There were no cheap flights available and we decided to take the bus. This meant going on the most dangerous road by night, and probably with a drunk driver. Well we only live once and as I am writing this in past sense we have surely all survived, though looking back it would have been safer to do it on bicycle.
