Pampas Tour

Our second instalment of the Amazon basin was a three day tour of the Pampas, which are the lower wetlands, which can only be navigated by motor canoe. After three days of trekking and fighting our way through the jungle, it was nice to be chauffeured around on our personal canoe through narrow canals in the marshes, spotting far more wildlife than we'd seen in the jungle.

On our first day, we sailed to our camp which was built over water on a number of narrow decks and huts. Alligators and caiman regularly hung around our camp, hoping for food; it was pretty creepy to get up in the morning for breakfast and see a 4 metre long alligator lurking right beneath your feet in the swamp!

Our hut above the swamp

Our guide was absolutely hilarious and kept referring to himself as 'el jefe' (the boss), saying he only came on tours when a really special group was involved. We were flattered but I'm pretty sure this was a lie - I think he just liked to refer to himself as the one in charge! He was a great guide though, we saw so much wildlife in those three days. One afternoon we saw a group of howler monkeys, and he told us that one male howler can have up to 8 female partners at one time.

'Mucho hanky panky for him, must be great life, no?' he said, and grinned at us, clearly incredibly amused by the idea of monkey sex. We were more entertained by the use of the words 'hanky panky' coming out of a Bolivian tour guide's mouth.

Crocodile Dundee

That night it rained and rained and rained some more. It was absolutely chucking it down, relentlessly, for about 9 hours. It meant we couldn't go out that morning because we would have been soaked before we'd even reversed the canoe away from camp, so we just had to sit in our rooms and wait until it stopped.

When it did we sailed up river a bit to a huge swampy field where we hunted for anacondas! We were wearing wellies, which was just as well as the water nearly came up to my knees. Sadly we didn't see any anacondas, but Josh had lovely squelchy feet from the experience as his wellies both had holes in the soles!

We tried our hand at piranha fishing again but as before, had no luck. I'm far too impatient for fishing; sitting around watching a piece of string in the water and trying to get excited when your bait gets eaten right off the hook just doesn't do it for me!

Our experience in the pampas allowed us to see so much more wildlife than in the jungle: all in all we saw monkeys, sloths, parrots, toucans, turtles, snakes, caiman, alligators, and dolphins (which we actually swam in the river with! Or near, I should say; it's not Sea World, they're still wild animals.) It was a fantastic three days, and despite the hundreds of mosquito bites we accumulated - and 'hundreds' is no exaggeration either, I looked like I had measles - it was worth it. Plus now I can say I've been to the Amazon!

Relaxing

In the jungle, the mighty jungle...

As many of you may know, I'm not what people would call an 'outdoorsy' kind of person. In fact, I really like it indoors, away from rain and wind and generally where it's more comfortable. But when we had the opportunity to visit the Amazon basin in Bolivia for just under a week, I couldn't really say no; how often does the chance to visit the Amazon come along?! We decided to do a three day jungle tour, and a three day pampas tour, which is through the lower wetlands, and has to be done entirely by boat.

We'd been advised to fly there by almost everyone we spoke to, as the town of Rurrenabaque is really far from La Paz by bus. Sadly we did not take this advice, and organised a private people carrier to take the six of us doing the tour together, thinking this would be fine. 'It take 12 hours to get there, don't worry' the company assured us. 'We pick you up at 2pm, get there by 2am, you go sleep and wake up for tour at 8am - perfect.'

It did sound perfect. Unfortunately it was not. We called them when they didn't show up by 2.30 and were eventually picked up an hour later. Apparently they lost the piece of paper with our hostel's address on so had no way of finding us. The journey was along a road as dangerous as Death Road, and since it gets dark at 6.30pm, we did nearly the whole thing at night. It was awful.

The road was only just wide enough for one car at points, but it's the main thoroughfare between La Paz and the jungle, where a lot of produce and food comes from, so huge great trucks are driving along in both directions, which causes ridiculous traffic jams, and a lot of reckless driving when people try to overtake these slow vehicles. We were honestly afraid for our lives. After about 6 hours we came across a huge queue of stationary traffic and it turned out there had been a landslide onto the road. We waited there for 20 minutes while people tried to clear a way, and when our driver came back from helping (we weren't allowed out of the car), he told us a man had just been killed by a falling rock. We were stunned - if our car had been 200 metres forward, it could have been one of us. And yet our driver was so casual about it that we could tell this was an all too regular occurrence for the Bolivians who drive this route multiple times a week, which was a pretty shocking and sad realisation for us.

We eventually reached Rurre at 6.30am, 4.5 hours after we expected - it had taken us nearly 16 hours to travel 400km (250 miles).

No room at the inn

Our tour started at 8.30am so there was no time for bed. We showered at the hostel we were meant to stay at, had some breakfast, and set out for the jungle. It started with a 3 hour boat ride up rover to our camp, which was in the middle of the 'selva' (jungle in Spanish). We had lunch and were assigned cabins, then set off for a three hour trek through the jungle with our guide. He had been raised in a small community in the selva, so knew the enormous jungle like the back of his hand - we on the other hand, would have got lost 5 minutes after leaving camp. He showed us different plants and trees that had medicinal uses - this one cures kidney pains, that one helps ease arthritis... It was really interesting seeing how much the jungle is used by people like him and his family, they literally live off it, relying off it entirely for food, water, and their health. We saw a couple of toucans and parrots too, but we were making too much noise to see any animals.

Our jungle cabin

That night our guide did a ritual to pachamama (mother earth) to pray for good weather and a happy tour for us visiting his home. It involved us sitting around him in a semi-circle, with him in the middle facing out, in front of a hole in the ground with an animal skull in. He lit three cigarettes and placed them standing up in the ground around the skull, where they slowly burned down. The ritual involved A LOT of cigarettes in fact, with him chain smoking and blowing smoke into the hole while chanting to pachamama. He threw rice in the hole, then passed it round the circle and we all had to throw a bit of rice in too. Then the same happened with salt. Then I was asked to take the skull away, and put it behind our circle. He then lit another cigarette, put it in his mouth backwards and beckoned to us one by one to kneel in front of him. He blessed us, and blew smoke over our heads from inside his mouth from the back-to-front cigarette - I was amazed he didn't burn his tongue. It was really cool to watch though, and afterwards we all sat under the stars in contemplation.

The next day we went on a longer hike in the morning, and saw a herd of wild pigs - they were so smelly. They've been known to attack humans, kill and eat them, so we had to stay really quiet and still. There were about 30 or 40 of them, the biggest ones being about the same size as a Labrador. After that we returned to camp, had lunch then went piranha fishing in the river. It was not a success for any of us, plus it was really hot so we went swimming in the river instead! Much nicer. (These piranhas don't eat people FYI). Our guide caught one, which josh was instructed to hold but he somehow managed to let go of it in a fast flowing bit of the river, so one of the boys jumped in fully clothes to catch it. We didn't trust josh with holding important things after that!

That night the others went on a nighttime jungle hike but I opted out - i'd been warned that pretty much the only thing you're guaranteed to see is enormous spiders, which is not my cup of tea, to say the least! They came back after about an hour and had apparently seen one of the most deadly spiders in the world - one bite and 15 minutes later, you're dead. Was not at all sorry to have missed it!

Our third and final day was spent making jungle jewellery - I sanded a ring out of a sawn off part of a small coconut-type thing, which you then polish in a combination of mud and ash to get shiny.

We headed back downstream to Rurre that afternoon, dirty exhausted and probably very smelly after many wonderful hours of crashing through the dense, humid, sweaty rainforest. A shower was very necessary for all of us!

Jungle camp

The World's Most Dangerous Road

Death Road is named this way for a reason; before an alternative road was opened in 2007, approximately 200-300 people died each year on this road, which is less than 50 miles long. The road itself, and road is a generous term at best, is a maximum of 3 metres wide, and is built into the side of a mountain, with a sheer drop to your left the whole way down.

And I decided it was a good idea to mountain bike down it last week!

Given that I haven't got on a bike for about 18 months, maybe this particular journey wasn't the best way to start up a long abandoned hobby again but it was a bit too late to turn back once I'd got to the top of the 4900m mountain where the road begins. So really, the only way was down.

The first part of the road is tarmac - this is part of the new 'alternative to Death Road' road, and was about a quarter of our journey. It was 9am, we were 5 kilometres above sea level and even with my six layers on I was freezing. And that was before the downhill zoom!

It started to rain on the tarmac road, and the bikes don't have front mud guards so the tyre was handily spraying a stream of water directly into my eyes, which is not what you want when you're whizzing down a road named for it fatalities. My fingers were gripped so hard on the brakes that I think they froze in that position for a while (it certainly felt cold enough anyway) but we made it down that first stretch with only a few problems: 1) I was chased by about 8 dogs at one point, and they were almost under my tyres so I though I might crash; and 2) my back tyre fell off the edge of the cliff at one point and it was only my quick reflexes that saved me by braking super hard! And this wasn't even on the official Death Road bit yet! (Breathe mum, I'm OK).

Death Road itself is now closed to traffic, so the only people you meet on your way down are fellow cyclists, motorcyclists or the minibuses that accompany each bike tour in case anyone gets cold feet and wants to ride down the easy way, inside a vehicle. No-one is allowed back up via that route so at least the minibuses don't have to worry about trying to pass another vehicle on a road barely wide enough for one (this is how most of the accidents happened, by buses trying to pass each other - one might lose balance and topple off).

The ride is 63km in total, and we stopped a few times for a snack and drinks, which are vital for survival. The views out across the valleys were amazing, although a little scary when you see just how high up you are, and how steep the drop to your left is. About halfway down my wrists had seized up and I was finding it very painful to grip the brakes. On gentler stretches I had to let go of the brakes a bit and wiggle my fingers to see if I really had lost all sensation in them. It was hard work. Also the gears were broken on my bike so on the parts where you had to pedal, I always got left WAY behind the rest of the group cos I couldn't pedal hard enough to keep up!

But I didn't finish last! And I survived! At the bottom I got off my bike and pretty much fell to the floor in exhaustion. I was so bruised and stiff and sore the next few days but it was worth it. I made it down the world's most dangerous road! I don't think I'll be getting back on a mountain bike any time soon though...

Salar de Uyuni

Imagine standing in the middle of nowhere and the only thing you can see is miles and miles of white stretching out in front of you. In the far far distance there are mountains and volcanoes, but really all there is is whiteness. That's exactly what it's like at Salar de Uyuni, the salt flats in southern Bolivia. The sky was bright blue, there were a few clouds but they were the fluffy kind, like the ones you drew as a child. It's an awesome sight!

We took a three day tour from the town of Uyuni, in a jeep with two of the American and English guys we met in Paraguay, plus another couple we met that morning in our 4x4, who were from France and Korea. Our driver was a Bolivian guy who'd been doing tours of the salt flats for 8 years; he was also to be our guide and cook for the three days too.

The first day we saw the Salar (salt flats) which apparently used to be flooded and possibly a part of an ocean, but the water is long gone and it just left a big salt desert in its place. The boys in our jeep decided to go streaking across the flats, conpletely butt naked! It was hilarious seeing four very white bottoms running away from you; they all had great tan lines from their swimming trunks. A lot of people stopped, stared, and then proceeded to take photos! So there are lots of gringos out there with a picture of Josh's bum!

We had llama chops and quinoa for lunch, two staples in the Bolivian diet. Quinoa is grown everywhere and they export most of it to the US and Europe because we've just decided how 'fashionable' it is to eat! Both were really tasty, although the Korean girl refused to eat the llama, because there was a live llama grazing nearby to where we were eating and she couldn't bring herself to eat its cousin. Naturally, that thought had never even crossed my mind while I was chomping away!

There are areas of the Salar that are still a little bit flooded at certain times of the year. Because the land is so flat, and the water is so clear, it turns the ground into a huge mirror. It's a bit trippy, as you're looking at a mountain in the distance and right below it is a perfect reflection upside down. It's absolutely amazing to look at though.

Reflection

That night we stayed in a hotel entirely made of salt; the bricks, the tables and chairs, even the bed! We played cards and then when the lights were turned off (electricity and running water is rationed in a lot of Bolivia) the boys climbed the mountain behind our hostel in the dark. This mountain was absolutely covered in cacti, some were over ten feet tall, so I opted for bed instead!

Mountain in the mirror

The next day we spent a lot of time in the car, driving to various lakes and through a lot of mountain scenery. We saw loads of wild flamingos which was pretty cool! The altitude in places was as high as 5000 metres above sea level and you really feel it; I had a mild but constant headache for the whole tour. You also need to drink a lot of water to stay hydrated as the sun I really strong (I managed to burn my whole face on day one, so I was REALLY red for a few days after; the photos aren't pretty). The trouble with drinking lots of water when you're driving through the middle of nowhere for hours at a time, is there are obviously no toilets. Nature pees became very frequent, but the land is so dry that there are hardly any 'private' places to go, as there are no trees or bushes! So I had to make the boys swear to look the other way, leg it into the distance and attempt to hide behind a small shrub to maintain a very small amount of dignity! So ladylike.

Mountain scenery

That night we stayed at a very basic hostel next to a bright red lake. We went for a walk up a hill that looks over the lake to get a good view, but it was freezing and so windy and we didn't stay up there for long.

That night we played cards in the dining room of the hostel, but a very rude grumpy Austrian lady came out of her room and shouted at us for keeping everyone in the hotel awake and told us 'this isn't a casino!' We politely pointed out that it was only 8.30pm and we hadn't realised anyone had gone to bed yet! She shouted at us an hour later too, at which point Josh told her that if she was really bothered by the noise, why didn't she shut her bedroom door, as it had been wide open all that time and all the rooms backed onto the dining room. It was almost like she just wanted an excuse to pick a fight! She walked off in a huff and according to some girls we'd made friends with that were sleeping in her dorm, she kept insulting us in German to her poor husband, who was really nice.

The final day we left the hotel by 5.30am to watch the sunrise over the mountains. We went to some geysers which smelt very eggy, then we went to some natural hot springs and spent an hour warming up in them; it had been so hard to drag ourselves out of bed that morning as the hotel was freezing. Josh and I slept under seven blankets! Most of day three was spent driving as we had gone so far from Uyuni by this point that we were nearly in Chile. It was a fairly uneventful day, although we stopped by some big rocks which we had a bit of a climb on. We overtook the jeep that the grumpy Austrian lady was in at one point, and two of the boys mooned out of the jeep windows which our driver was very unhappy about!

All in all it was a really fun trip, with some incredible sights and scenery, plus more llama herds than I ever thought I'd see, even in Bolivia. I have my llama wool jumper, hat and gloves now too, so I stand out as a tourist more than ever! Result.

Windy mountain roads

Road Trip - Argentina styleeey!

'Let's hire a car and drive around the north of Argentina for a few days!'

This is always the best way to make impromptu plans, someone throws an idea out there and the other one says, 'yeah why not!'

So we did, we hired a little Chevrolet corsa or something and drove south from Salta, to Argentinian wine country. It was incredible; the landscape in the north of Argentina is amazing because there are so many mountains and deserts and rolling hills, so the view changes dramatically every ten mins or so. We drove to the top of one mountain which put us at 4000m above sea level!

As you can imagine, doing wine tasting in a vineyard on the side of a mountain in the middle of nowhere in Argentina is an awesome experience. We were walked round the factory where they process all the grapes they grow, produce and bottle all the wine, then box it up for exportation. The area we were in, Cafayate, is famous for its Torrontes wine, which is white and fairly new to the game in comparison to grapes like Pinot grigio and Sauvignon blanc. It's also delicious, I recommend that you try some, and chances are it'll come from the region we were in too! It only grown in four places, three of which are in Argentina, and one in Chile.

I was so ill the three days we were there unfortunately. I caught some sort of coldy/fluey virus and felt absolutely awful (forced myself out of bed for all the wine tasting though, obviously). I didn't even drive the car we hired because the roads were all on cliff faces and I was sneezing so much that I was afraid I'd close my eyes are the wrong second and drive us off the side!

We had an incredible three days, came away with a lot of wine to keep us going, and were very pleased with our little adventure! We had a slightly unfortunate incident the day after we got back however, as we left our camera with all the hundreds of amazing photos on in Salta, and when we called the hostel from our first stop in Bolivia, they checked the room for us and said it wasn't in there :( so some lucky bugger has themselves a nice new camera, complete with all our snaps of northern Argentina, the bastard. Luckily they are the only pics we lost as I backed up all the others a few days before, but it hardly softened the blow. I got one pic on my iPod, which is where I am writing this post, so I'll post it below so you can see a very poor example of some of the stunning views that we saw. This photo does not do it justice!

Oh well, onwards and upwards, and on to Bolivia baby!

Paraguay

I haven't written in quite a while, and once you get out of the habit of writing after each place or event, it's hard to get back into it again!

So after Iguazu Falls, we went to Encarnacion, a city in southern Paraguay. Paraguay is basically only travelled by about 1% of backpackers in South America (that might be a made up statistic but judging from the very few people we met there, and have spoken to about going, it's fairly accurate). It rained a lot in Encarnacion so we didn't do much, but it seems there wasn't much to do anyway. There is a Unesco World Heritage site nearby of some Jesuit ruins, which quite frankly, we could have done without seeing. They were literally a few fallen down walls with signs like 'this was where the head priest lived' or 'this was the store room for the missionaries corn'. Thrilling stuff.

We then headed to the capital Asuncion thinking it might be a bit more exciting. Unfortunately, it wasn't. However, we did meet up with three guys who had stated in our hostel in Encarnacion so we had a lot of fun in the evenings playing drinking games and cooking epic BBQs but we could have done that anywhere really! We ended up staying for an extra day because the other guys were going to a big football match between the two major Asuncion teams and Josh said we should stay for it. I didn't really care either way but we thought it would be cool to see a match while in South America so we stayed. What a waste of time. We walked to the stadium the next afternoon, but when we got there, it was completely empty. We asked the security guard what was going on and all he said was, 'cancelled'. Great.

Oh well, I have a Paraguay stamp in my passport now, which very few people can claim!

Las Cataratas do Iguaçu

So, casually went to visit one of the new 7 natural wonders of the world the other day. Las cataratas do Iguaçu, or Iguassu Falls in English, are a series of many many waterfalls which straddle the Brazilian-Argentine border, and quite frankly, they´re bloody spectacular. (Have a look here: http://tiaraintransit.files.wordpress.com/2011/03/devils_throat_iguassu_falls_argentina.jpg )

They were incredible, I was absolutely awestruck by how enormous they were, and how many of them there were too. You can visit the falls from both countries, and you get a different experience from each side. The Brazilian side is more like a panoramic view of all the falls in a row, and there was one bit where you´re so close to one of the waterfalls that you get absolutely drenched. It was so fun!

Then we crossed to Argentina the day after, and went to see the falls from that side. There, you´re kind of above them, and you get to walk out on a fairly rickety brige so you´re standing abve them, looking right down onto them, which is incredible, although made my knees feel a bit funny!

Now we´re in a little town in Northern Argentina called Posadas, where there is nothing to do if it rains, as we found out! Tomorrow we cross to Paraguay, and are going for an adventure through a very un-travelled country, which I`m very excited for!