Rurrenabaque

We had been trying to get to Rurrenabaque from La Paz for a week by plane, when we just gave up and got the bus. The problem with flying is that Rurrenabaque, in Beni Province, Bolivia, only has a grass runway, which makes it impossible to land after rain. We arrived at 11 AM at the bus station, to find there were no bus tickets to our destination, only somewhere 3 hours away called Yucumo. We jumped on board, eager to venture in to the rainforest, drove for 30 minutes, and then stopped for five hours, while repeated attempts to fix our bus' major smoking habit totally failed and it grew dark. We finally switched buses and hit the infamous road of death at sun down and surrounded totally in fog, which was upsetting because rather than being scared to death it wasn't frightening at all.

From Yucumo we had to get a bus to "Rurre". We quickly saw what the rain could do to the road (imagine the runway), and our little minibus had to drag another "camioneta" out at one point.



When we arrived in Rurre at the terminal, we took motorbike taxis to our hostel, "Lobo Mirador". Below is the hostel, and the view of the river from our room.





Ofri drove us across to the other side to show us his little project - building a pool using a little waterfall. We helped in the building of some steps.





The locals use canoes to get around, with engines (apparently) made from old washing machines, amongst other things.



Up river there is a rock with a ancient carving of a snake. Below can be seen a flower-like representation of a whirl pool. When the level of the river reaches the snake, it means that the river is too dangerous to cross.

Uyuni Salt Flats

Finally arrived at the Salt Flats of Uyuni, Bolivia, after a four day tour taken from Tupiza. Stayed in a hostel made of Salt the night before. Team photo, below, includes our cook and driver, from Lippi tours. Recommended.



Obligatory jumping photo. Other humorous perspective shots were of course made (but exceptionally cliché).