Choro Trail and Jungle Trip

Hi everyone,

I am now back from a fantastic ten days spent trekking the Choro Trail and visiting the Bolivian jungle.

Choro Trail

The Choro Trail is a four day trek which starts at about 4600meters and descends to about 1500meters. The landscape and climate change dramatically on the trail from high Andes cold to the Yungus warm and tropical. We started the trail at La Cumbre, about one hour from La Paz, and the first day can only be described as wet. We were greeted by freezing cold and snow when we got off the bus, not the best start we were hoping for. Here is a shot of me at the start of the trail:



The first hour was pretty hard going in the freezing conditions, however once we made it over the pass we began to descend and the cold and snow just turned to rain. We arrived in camp by 4pm by which time the rain had stopped and we set to making dinner and and drying out. Day two again started wet and it was pretty miserable putting on damp clothes and striking camp in the pouring rain. However by mid morning it had cleared up and the sun came out. The lunch stop looked more like a Chinese laundry as we all dried our clothes.

The terrain was pretty hard as it was slippy under foot and all downhill, so progress was slow. The scenery was really beautiful as we descended the valley following the river. We eventually stopped at 5pm and made camp for the night. Day three started fine and clear and we set off across one of the many rope brides for our final campsite of the trail. Day three was probably the hardest day with more uphill and a greater distance to cover. We arrived in camp (run by an old Japanese man!) at about 5pm.

On the trail

Everyone crosses the rope bridge

Me crossing one of the rope bridges

Day four was very short and all downhill. We arrived in the town of Chairo by about 10am. The picture below is me at the end of trail, quite a contrast in climate from the picture at the start!!!

We managed to secure the services of a local truck driver to take us to the town of Coroico which was to be our base for the night before heading for the jungle. It was great fun traveling in the back of the truck although we did feel a bit like cattle:

The town of Coroico is set in the Yungas region and was a great place to relax after the trail. The weather was hot so we all hit the hotel pool to chill out and prepare for the mammoth sixteen hour bus journey into the jungle!!

The Jungle

The bus journey to the town of Rurrenabaque was as bad as it sounds. Sixteen hours on the bus along winding and very rough Bolivian roads - not recommended!! The picture below was taken from the bus window, the road can be seen on the right with a sheer drop down to the river!!

We eventually arrived in Rurrenabaque at 10:30pm. We checked into the hotel and prepared for our four days of jungle living. We would be spending two nights in a camp in the jungle and a third night at a camp the "Pampas" region. Both of which are in the Amazon basin. We left town at 9am and boarded speed boats for the three hour trip up river to the camp.

Boarding the boats

Our bedroom in the jungle!!

The first thing to say about the jungle is if you are not keen on bugs then avoid at all cost. The place is teeming with them so you have to watch everything you touch to make sure it is not about to bite you!! After arriving at the campsite and having a great lunch we went for an afternoon walk. It was fascinating looking at all the plants and trees many of which are used for modern medicine. We even got to play Tarzan as our guide made a great rope swing from some vines. We arrived back in camp at 5pm and after dinner tucked ourselves into the mossie nets for the night.

One of the many butterflies

After a pretty good nights sleep we all set off for mornings jungle walk. It was hard work in the heat and the terrain was tough at times hacking our way through the undergrowth. We did get to see some "Howler" monkeys which make the most incredible sound, similar to a jet engine I thought. The afternoon was free to relax so some of us went for a dip in the local river:

I think we were cleaner before going in!!

In the evening we went for a night walk along the river bank in search of caiman (small crocodiles) and other jungle beasties. We were not disappointed as it was not long before the guide was pulling out the creatures from the river banks:

Caiman

Toads

The next morning we left the campsite to travel to the "Pampas". This is still in the Amazon basin but contains more grassland rather than the dense jungle. The journey was pretty harsh with a three hour jeep ride and a two hour boat ride. The worst bit about this area though is the mosquitoes - millions of them. We all had to cover up and the air was thick with insect repellent. We arrived at the campsite by lunchtime and after a quick bite to eat we all headed out in boats to explore:

Pedro the crocodile in the camp!!

Relaxing at the camp

I thought the wildlife here was much better than the jungle. We saw Chuchillo monkeys, parrots, mackaws, turtles, crocodiles and even pink dolphins!! The dolphins are native to the area and have a pink colour to their skin, really amazing to see. There was even time for some evening fishing, our guide caught piranha and yours truly caught a catfish:

We spent the morning of our final day on the river again before heading back to Rurrenabaque for the night. In the morning we took a one hour flight back to La Paz, much better than more torture on the bus. The jungle was a fantastic experience with the most amazing wildlife - highly recommended (if you don't mind the insects!).

I am in La Paz at the moment, over the next week we head south to the towns of Potosi and Uyuni - where we will be visiting silver mines and deserts!! My next report will be in about a weeks time when we cross the border into Chile. Happy Christmas and stay tuned for more adventure..................