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I got to the tour office as instructed for half eight and checked in.
We go at nine she told me.
So why did I get here for half eight I moaned to myself as I went next door for a pastry.
Nine o clock arrives and we walk down to the river to get a boat that takes us in to the jungle.
The seats were really uncomfortable, but at least it was plenty of space and in the nice open air.
Three hours later the boat pulls up and they unload everything off which is our food and drink for the three days.
Ok amigos we need to carry everything to the camp our tour guide tells us.
Eh? You never mentioned that in the brochure.
We are talking gas canisters, lots of water and some really heavy stuff.
So we grabbed as much as we could and set off in to the jungle.
I only had my cheap flip flops on and started to slip and slide all over the place as I was trying to carry 12 big bottles of water. Then we came to a tiny plank across a river that we had to cross.
How none of us fell in trying to balance with all this weight I do not know.
Anyhow about fifteen minutes later we finally made it to camp which was a clearing in the jungle.
Same as before, really basic and run down.
Having been to the zoo and seen animals before, I was not over fussed on doing the jungle tour, but figured having already come so far, it would be silly not to.
I was expecting to see huge monkeys, tarantulas, Jaguars, all the stuff I used to see on tarzan when I was little.........
Yes we all know where this is going.
So in the afternoon our first trek begins. Our tour guide was a really old man who absolutely loved his job and was so enthusiastic. I was with an American couple who luckily spoke great Spanish, so she translated for me all the time.
It started off ok seeing plants that could be used for bandages, or contained ink or tasted of garlic, but there was a distinct lack of wildlife.
I started to get bored as we just walked through the trees.
I dont think David Attenborough would have managed to spin an episode out of it.
Then we heard a noise in the distance and the guide got really excited and told us to be quiet and not move.
Then he got out his lighter to see if we were down wind or not.
Now you are talking I thought.
This is going to be some serious s*** going on..... a jaguar, panther, puma who knows.
He whispered to the girl who leaned across and whispered the translation...........
Pigs........
Eh?
Are you s***ting me?
Wild pigs she said all excited.
Whoopy do. A pig.
I faked a little smile to everyone to pretend I was excited too, and then just started to think about what we might have for tea.
But that was not all, later we saw a squirrell!
I could not contain my excitement. Gosh, yes, we don't have many of those in England at all......i always wondered what they looked like I said sarcastically.
They did not get it.
I was so glad I had only booked the two day tour and not the three day.
The trek seemed to go on for ever but finally we made it back.
Tonight is the night tour after dinner our guide told us. Hopefully a few things will come out then I thought.
There was a tarantuala that lived in a tree on the campsite so I got a picture of that. Talk about tame.
The night tour was as bad as the day tour, only it was dark. We saw a little monkey and lots of mushrooms.
Next morning we did another trek.
Same old crap as the day before.
So just how many jaguars do you see in a year I asked the girl to ask the guide.
Last year I saw at least four he said all excited.
Four?
Is that it?
I felt a little bit of trades descriptions act coming on as I thought about all the adverts that have a jaguar on the front.
So lunch time arrived and it was time to go back to Rurrenabaque. The sun was shining as we got on the boat so I got my book out for a nice leisurely read for the two hour journey back.
I had been carrying the book around with me from the moment I left the UK, so it would be a good chance to finish it off.
Some of the people kept their bags with them, but I gave mine to the captain who put it under a waterproof sheet with some other stuff.
We set off back down the river and then half an hour later it looked as if someone had put up a huge black curtain across the river ahead. It was bizarre to see, but it was a wall of rain. We were heading in to a storm.
Boy did it rain. The boat was open apart from a little roof, so we all got drenched and the poor people that kept their bags with them had everything wrecked.
We got back to Rurrenabaque like drowned rats. You would get less wet going on the log flume at Thorpe Parke.
I had booked another night in the small town and then had a flight back to la paz the next day and then I was going straight to lake titicaca.
The rain just carried on so I thought it would be a good night to catch up on my blogs, but met a crazy guy in the bar from sweden who I had a laugh with and we stayed there the night and got hammered instead.
Next stop.......lake Titicaca..........
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