Our jungle adventure kicked off last week with the sound of our single engine plane buzzing down the runway in La Paz. Mere minutes before takeoff we'd been in touch with a friend, Cass, via the Net, who has also been to this part of the world. After detailing his experience of the bus trip a few years back to the same destination we were heading to (Rurrenabaque), he made us realise how lucky we were to be taking this civilized option. His estimated 18 hour slog turned into over 24 hours due to breakdown after breakdown. In fact it even came to an abrupt stop altogether when one of the wheels detached itself from the bus and he had to continue on foot. Knowing what we were missing out on, made the flight all the sweeter and there certainly wasn't any space issues as ourselves and the only other passenger (yes, that's 3 passengers in total) had a free reign over the seating arrangments.

One hour after leaving La Paz, we touched down in a different climate and felt the familiar humid warm air of the rainforest. Tipped off to the highly competent tour agency, Bala Tours, we tracked them down after first finding a place to stay for the night. We quickly arranged to take three days to see the wetland Pampas and from this point on it was such plain sailing as to seem like a dream.

The Ecolodge that Bala Tours uses for accommodation in the Pampas is top class, any way you look at it and run very well. Surrounding the lodge, there were plenty of trees providing much needed shade and attached to some of these were hammocks which we could idly swing in until we would receive the call for dinner. Throughout the day, we'd be whisked away in an extremely comfortable boat by our knowledgable guide who would fill us in on all the wildlife we were seeing and help us out with our fishing technique for catching Piranhas. Inevitabily, by the time we returned back to the lodge, our dinner would be ready and waiting for us!

Words can barely do justice to all the natural wonders we witnessed during those days in the Pampas. For this reason, we are going to let the pictures speak for themselves. Enjoy!