We are back in La Paz. We did the Chorro Trek and then went to Rurrenabaque. Internet was scarce. Thats why its been so long since you heard from me. We decided to fly back to La Paz because the bus ride there was horrid. The bus ride is 17 hours on a dirt bumpy road, plus you go up ¨the worlds most dangerous road¨ on the way back. The air plane flight was less than an hour.

The Chorro Trek was beautiful, but I got sick, so I couldnt enjoy it too well. I must have eatten something bad. It took a few days and I was feeling fine again, but it came on right on the first night of our hike. The total trail takes you from 4800 meters all the way to 1200 meters. I think it was about 54km. We did three nights 4 days. The trail takes you down an ancinet Inca trail, and past some Inca ruins. The views are spectacular. The last night you come to a place where a Japanese man moved to back in the 40`s. He keeps a Japanese garden, even today in his old age, he is out there picking away at the garden. The view up the canyon from the garden was one of the most magnificent. We could see the way we had come with snow covered peaks looming in the distance. I really wish I could have better enjoyed it. Both Erik and I got blisters, I think our feet got soft from wearing only sandals for the last month and a half. Erik had to carry my pack some of the way just so we could even go any where. One of the days we hired a porter to carry most of our stuff. We only did that about half the day, since the old man wasnt doing to well on the uphills. I thought he might die on some of the hills. I felt like dying too though. We made it to the bottom though.
Then we spent a night in Coroico and hopped a bus to Rurrenabaque the next day. The bus was really bad. We were in the second to last row, which for some reason had half the leg room of every other row. Both Erik and I had to sit sideways for 15 hours on a rough dirt road. But we made it as always. Our motto now is, "it could be worse".
We arrived in Rurre about 6AM and signed up for a Pampas tour right away. We left about 10 and headed to the river. After a three hour Landcruiser ride we got on a boat. From there the tour really starts. We had 8 people in our group. We saw tons of alligators and crocodiles. Capibara (the worlds largest rodent, R.O.U.S.´for those of you Princess Bride fans), squirel monkeys which jumped all over us to get bananas (not too eco friendly, but fun. We also held the crocs and an anaconda). We hunted and found an anaconda, only about 1.5 meters longm but neat. Frogs and birds were also plentiful. We also fished for piraña and ate them for dinner. Pretty cool over all. Then we got back and headed to the jungle for another three days. We had a native guide who showed us all of the cool trees and plants. Ones with water, poison, milk, medicine. One was the tree they make malaria pills from. We saw enormous mahogany trees. Not too many animals however. Some alligators, capibara, birds, and from a distance some boars. We also ate termites that tasted slightly like mint. One night we decided to go fishing. The guide told us we would catch neyr large fish. The sizes ranged from 10 to 50 kilos, depending on how much he wanted to eggagerate. He caught two small 10" fish to use as bait, and we headed for the river. The river is called Tuichi, it flows eventually to the Amazon. The whole area where we were is the Amazon Basin. Anyway we fished for a few hjours and caught nothing. We came back that night, when the "real big ones" are out. The primitive fishing method involves a rather large line wrapped around a block of wood. The guide likes to be the one to throw the line outm but then he gives it to his tourists to hold. We found out why, the hard way. I have caught fish with a line wrapped around a can before, and I know that even a small fish can pull pretty hard when all you have is a line in your hand. I decided that if the fish were really as big as he descibed them, I did not want to be holding the line. I let Erik and James (our British companion) hold the two lines. I think it was more of an intuition thing, I did not really forsee what would happen. We sat for sometime, then sudenly Erik almost lost his hand. The line he was holding got snagged on a passing whale or some other such creature. In a matter of seconds he had dropped the line with a loud yelp. His had got cut pretty deep. ill try to get pictures up when i can, of everything.
Overall the experience was very memorable. Now we are back in La Paz. Its time to do some shopping and head to Cusco and the famous Macchu Picchu. I think we only have about 10 days left, so we will be home before you know it.