As a Geography teacher this was definitely on my bucket list for South America. I was saving myself to enter the Amazon through Bolivia as this is the cheapest place to access it. You can also access it through Colombia, Peru and Ecuador.
In Bolivia, there are two options offered to travellers, the ‘pampas’ tour or the ‘jungle’ tour. As it was rainy season the jungle option seemed like a no go. I was sold to the pampas option as it was the one where you seemed to see the most wildlife, and they were correct! There was also the option to do both the pampas and the jungle if you are torn between the two! Just be careful with the rainy season (Jan- March).
If you are there in rainy season, make sure you load up on ponchos! Also bring a long sleeve top and trousers to fight off the mosquitos. I was super anxious about getting bitten given what happened to me in Peru, but I did not get one bite! The universe was on my side this time.
I booked through ‘fluvial’ tours and paid roughly 1400 BOBs for a 2 night 3 day tour which included the flight, accommodation and food. There was the cheaper option to go by bus (18 hours) but I had heard horror stories of buses being stuck in mud. The flight was on the smallest plane I have ever seen, I think it was also the shortest flight I have ever been on (40 minutes). You are also flying over the rainforest which is a pretty spectacular view. Only seeing a section of it made me realise the sheer size of the forest.
I arrived in Rurrenabaque the night before the tour started and spent a night in ‘Hostel el Lobo’. There are not so many hostels in this town so there was not much to choose from. It was a pretty basic hostel but it did the job for one night. The tour begins at 09:00 and the transfer picks you up from your hostel which makes it easy. The group was a perfect size- 5 people, by the end of the tour we had all got to know each other pretty well.
The pampas are the wetlands of the Amazon and exist on the edge of the rainforest. It felt much like a swamp and reminded me of the Everglades of Florida. In the pampas you enter and are transported around by small boat.
Most of the first day is spent travelling along the river watching out for alligators and monkeys! Of all of the tours that I have done, this was the most chilled for sure. They give you lots of free time which was spent playing endless card games. The lodge was basic but clean, there is also a cayman that hangs out in the water around the lodge. Going to sleep in the rainforest was an interesting experience, as you can imagine the number of sounds that send you to sleep is pretty remarkable.
The second day was anaconda day! We spent about half an hour searching through reeds and bushes to find an anaconda. Eventually our tour guide found a baby one, which was still about 2 meters long.
The afternoon was spent piranha fishing. On our way to the fishing spot, we saw a jaguar fall from the tree. We then tried to follow its path to catch a glimpse of it but it had scuppered. The fishing was an interesting experience, nobody in our group was successful in catching one, somehow the tour guide was able to fish 5! The day finished by watching the sunset at one of the shacks along the river.
The final morning was filled with swimming in the river with pink dolphins. A mistake that we made was that we jumped into the water with sun cream and insect repellent which is damaging for the aquatic life. The dolphins remain a distance from you in the water but you can still see them jumping in and out which is a magical experience. The afternoon of the last day was spent travelling back to Rurrenabaque.
In terms of restaurants and bars there is a fun place called the ‘Luna lounge’, they have good pizzas and cocktails. Due to the humid climate, Rurrenabaque really reminded me of being in Asia, a huge difference from La Paz which had a cold climate.
If the Amazon is something that is on your bucket list and you want to do it cheaply then I would recommend visiting it in Bolivia. However, if you want a more authentic experience of the actual rainforest with knowledge about the trees and adaptations it could be good to visit in Peru or Ecuador.
Romy's Roamings 