Rurrenabaque

"Look closely at Central America, and try to imagine what would happen if this vital region were to fall into Communist hands. What would happen is a lot of Communists would be stung repeatedly by vivious tropical insects the size of mature hamsters."
~Dave Barry

Friday, November 7th 2008

Rurrenabaque, or Rurre as the locals calls it, is a hazy small town on the banks of the Beni river near the the Madidi biosphere reserve. The place got famous mainly amongst Israelis and later internationally when in the early 1980s an adventurer named Yossi Ghinsberg moved off the beaten track of backpackers and went into the jungle. He got separated from his group and wandered lost in the jungle for 25 days. He was near starvation when he was rescued and taken back to Rurre. The book he wrote about his adventure called "Back from Tuichi" inspired a whole generation of Israelis to follow in his footsteps and perhaps was responsible for the strong "after the army" backpacking movement that is still sweeping through South America today. Nowadays Rurre is famous as an entry point for the nearby Madidi jungle or Pampas swamps. After my experience on the death road and my knowledge of Bolivian driving style, I didn't felt like risking my skin again in a 18-23 hours ride in one of the tin cans the locals calls bus, so I booked a round trip flight from La Paz and hoped that they fly better than they drive..

The flight was scheduled for Friday noon, but as I got back to my hotel on Thursday night, I found a message from the travel agency that it was moved to 7:30 in the morning and that the airport transport will pick me up at 6:00am. Still drowsy from the early wake up I boarded the small van that drove for almost an hour through the insane traffic and dropped me off at the small airport located at staggering 4000m above sea level. After paying the airport tax I got my ticket and waited to board the plane who waited outside. No effort was made to check my luggage or that of the other passengers. Surprisingly the flight took off on time and was quite comfortable. I got a great view from the plane window of the Bolivian high plain called Altiplano, the impressive cliffs of the Yungas and the evergreen jungle with it's network of rivers below me. After little more than an hour the plane landed on a sandy runway with the wheels scraping the tops of the nearby palm trees. As soon as I entered the small terminal the place felt different than any other I visited so far. It seem that time itself moves slower here and together with the heat, the jungle covered mountains around and the street atmosphere, the place looks and feels more like a Central American resort - only the beach is missing. There are no Taxis to be found and almost no cars and the public transportation is made from river boats and Mototaxis - a motorcycle who takes you to and from the small airport or the mirador pool - the two only places that you can't walk to in less than 5 minutes. Other than small hotels and traveling agencies, Rurre also offers few good restaurants, a small french bakery (owned and operated by a french baker) and an American who sells great Falefel and banana bread on one of the street corners. I didn't stay long in the town and used it as a base for my Pampas and jungle expeditions but I enjoyed some good meals, good company and good sunset from the pool above the town during my short stay..