{"id":4291,"date":"2013-09-01T12:31:45","date_gmt":"2013-09-01T16:31:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/memmott.us\/blog\/?p=4291"},"modified":"2013-09-01T13:14:08","modified_gmt":"2013-09-01T17:14:08","slug":"rurrenabaque-and-the-pampas-bolivianas","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/memmott.us\/blog\/2013\/09\/01\/rurrenabaque-and-the-pampas-bolivianas\/","title":{"rendered":"Rurrenabaque and the Pampas Bolivianas"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Sunbathing<\/a>

Sunbathing Turtle on the Rio Yacuma<\/p><\/div>\n

We spent three days exploring the pampas of Bolivia southwest of Rurrenabaque.\u00a0 It was a great time and a fun explore.<\/p>\n

From Rurrenabaque, there are two directions the tourists take.\u00a0 You can go upriver into the jungle, or downriver onto the pampas.\u00a0 Several people, and some online investigation, suggested that the pampas is actually more exciting, as you see more animals because the countryside is more open. \u00a0We did see a lot of animals (below).<\/p>\n

I can’t say about the jungle (yet), but a trip to the pampas is certainly worthwhile.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/a>

The Cabins: comfy, but cool when the temperature drops<\/p><\/div>\n

We stayed at the Caracoles Lodge, which belongs to Bala Tours.\u00a0 We were in cabins, with private baths, and they were reasonably comfortable.\u00a0 Nights were quite cool, and we could have used another blanket, but the bed was not bad at all. \u00a0There is no glass in the windows, only screens, which is probably nice when it is hot, but doesn’t provide much insulation from the cold.<\/p>\n

There is no hot water, but that’s not too big a problem when the weather is warm (as it was for us after the first day).\u00a0 Also there is only electricity for a couple of hours in the evening, and no sockets in the rooms, so battery charging is done at a central location.\u00a0 Best to bring extra batteries and a fast charger, if possible.<\/p>\n

The food is quite good, and included in the package.\u00a0 You pay apart for anything beyond watery juices and water (and water, beyond a certain limit is also charged).\u00a0\u00a0 We didn’t skimp, and did pay an extra Bs 400 (about $60).<\/p>\n

Of course, you are there for the tours.\u00a0 I was surprised to discover that the lodge is not in or near a national park or reserve.\u00a0 Instead, it’s on the xxx.\u00a0 I’m not sure that makes much of a difference, but the protected area did seem small and we were never to far from grazing cattle.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/a>

The lazy Yacuma River<\/p><\/div>\n

Most of the tours, though, are by boat up and down the small Yacuma river, and since the river runs through a narrow depression, you don’t see much of the surrounding area, mostly you are enjoying the flora and (mostly) fauna of the riverbottom.<\/p>\n

Most tours to the pampas are two nights\/three days. \u00a0Since half of your first and last days are used up in travel, it is more like two nights\/two days. \u00a0We decided to take our time and go for three nights, which I think was the right decision. \u00a0Since I expect most tours follow a similar itinerary, I’ll divide the post into the different days.<\/p>\n

Pampas Day 1: Arrival, The Camp, Introduction to the River<\/p>\n

Pampas Day 2: On the River, Birding, Swimming with Pink Dolphins<\/p>\n

Pampas Day 3: Hunting Anacondas, Monkeys, Fishing for Piranas<\/p>\n

Pampas Day 4: Horseback on the Pampas, Back to Civilization<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

We spent three days exploring the pampas of Bolivia southwest of Rurrenabaque.\u00a0 It was a great time and a fun explore. From Rurrenabaque, there are two directions the tourists take.\u00a0 You can go upriver into the jungle, or downriver onto the pampas.\u00a0 Several people, and some online investigation, suggested that the pampas is actually more […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[139,92,91,59,9],"tags":[187,170,155],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/memmott.us\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4291"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/memmott.us\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/memmott.us\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/memmott.us\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/memmott.us\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4291"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"http:\/\/memmott.us\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4291\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4311,"href":"http:\/\/memmott.us\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4291\/revisions\/4311"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/memmott.us\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4291"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/memmott.us\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4291"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/memmott.us\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4291"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}