Lewis the Lion waits to board his plane to Rurrenabaque
Lewis the Lion was so excited. He couldn’t believe this was really happening. He was about to fulfil another one of his life-time dreams. He was about to fly off to the Bolivian side of the Amazon Rainforest! So he caught a taxi early one morning to La Paz International Airport and checked in to fly to another Bolivian town: Rurrenabaque which lies in the Bolivian Rainforest.
The first thing, Lewis the Lion and Helen had to do after they had checked in their luggage was to go and pay the airport tax. This seemed to happen in most places with public transport in Bolivia, including bus stations. It wasn’t much though at 15 Bolivianos.
Lewis has paid the airport tax on his flight ticket
After going through passport controls. Lewis the Lion waited patiently at the gate from which his aeroplane would depart. Like in most airports, he was expected to be waiting at the gate at least half an hour before the flight took off. However, the clock kept on ticking by and there was no sign of action at the departure gate. Lewis started to feel anxious. What if he missed his flight and it was really taking off somewhere else in the airport? Helen went to ask one of the airport attendants who reassured her that they were at the right departure gate and that the flight was just running a little behind schedule. Lewis the Lion hoped that that wouldn’t cause problems when they arrived in Rurrenabaque as he knew the tour group was waiting for them to start their day trip into the forest.
A little while later, flight attendants appeared at the departure gate and ushered the waiting passengers out onto the runway. My goodness – the aeroplane was the smallest passenger aeroplane that Lewis the Lion had ever seen! In fact, it was so small that there wasn’t even an air hostess or air steward to give out the safety instructions, just the pilot and co-pilot! The plane had a central aisle with a seat at either side with perhaps no more than 20 seats in all.
Lewis has never been on such a small passenger plane
It was so small that Lewis the Lion could see right into the cockpit as there wasn’t the usual partition that keeps the passengers away from the pilots.
- Lewis can see into the cockpit
As the engine of the plane revved up, being such a small plane it sounded decidedly noisy. One young Jewish girl leapt out of her seat in fear, ran to her friends at the back of the aisle reading from the Torah. The other passengers on the flight told her to sit down and buckle her seat-belt. The drama had only just begun!
- Lewis the Lion looks out of the airplane window
The plane then rose steadily up, rising above the beautiful city of La Paz. From the air, this city’s orange hue seemed to contrast with the blue of the sky. They were already on very high ground, after all, La Paz is the highest capital city in the world and they would be descending about 2,000 metres into the jungle.
- The plane soars over the city of La Paz
Before then though, the aeroplane started to fly right past La Paz’s dominating mountain range. At first, as Lewis the Lion looked out the window he thought how wonderful it looked with its snow-capped peaks…but then it started to come ever closer and he hoped they weren’t going to crash into it!
Lewis can see the famous La Paz mountain approaching
Lewis the Lion didn’t think he’d ever come so close to the top of a mountain before in an aeroplane!
- Lewis flies close to the Illimani mountain
However as the mountain range faded into the distance behind them, the weather suddenly started to change. The blue skies circling La Paz disintegrated into grey, heavy clouds. The light-weight aeroplane seemed to be tossed from side to side as it battled through the clouds. Yells went up from the passengers from the plane. Lewis the Lion’s stomach started to feel a bit queasy but he kind of remembered this sensation from a previous time on his travels. He remembered the sensation he had had when he had been dune-bashing in the jeep in Dubai or otherwise, it felt a bit like being on a high-speed roller-coaster, sweeping up then dropping quickly. He kept thinking to himself that the pilots must be used to this trip as they did it every day and that they would make sure that the plane landed safely.
- A rainy approach into the jungle
About 50 minutes later, Lewis the Lion got his first glimpse of the jungle landscape. He could see the dense green forest below him and it was no wonder that it was raining. After all, the rainforest climate means that it often rains heavily in the morning but then the heat of the sun dries it all up in the afternoon. Hence, it is generally a very hot and humid climate which plants and animals thrive in.
- Lewis lands on the tarmac
However, what surprised Lewis the Lion after the aeroplane had safely landed was that as the passengers walked down the steps onto the tarmac of the runway, there didn’t seem to be an airport terminal, with people checking your documents. How strange!
Lewis and the passengers simply walk directly on to the runway
It was if they had literally landed in the middle of nowhere!
- Lewis the Lion and Helen arrive in Rurrenabaque
The only thing that greeted the passengers was a small mini-bus which would transfer the passengers to the centre of the small town of Rurrenabaque (or Rurre for short) for a small cost (6 Bolivianos). Men were loading the luggage and rucksacks from the flight onto the top of the minibus and covering it with a big, grey, waterproof sheet.
- The minibus transfer takes the passengers into town
Even though they were in the middle of the jungle, Lewis the Lion was surprised to see all of the Catholic pictures and stickers of saints attached in the front of the mini-bus. Bolivia is a Catholic country after all and it appears that Catholicism reaches even into the jungle.
Lewis takes his first peek at jungle life
Looking through the windscreen of the minibus, Lewis the Lion felt a wave of excitment. He was really in the jungle and it was if he had landed into a different world. He just couldn’t believe how lucky he was! The minibus spluttered along muddy, dirt tracks, with banana trees and palm trees on either side. Lewis could see small thatched huts with chickens, pigs and children running around freely. It really felt like a different reality!
- Lewis hopes to see some toucans in the jungle
Before long though, the bus trundled along into the small town of Rurrenabaque. Lewis the Lion and Helen rushed along as fast as they could with their big rucksacks to the travel agent so that they could join the trip into the jungle. What a disappointment awaited them. Because of their delayed flight, the tour group had left without them! Lewis the Lion was really upset to start off with as the travel agent had promised them that the group would wait for them, before starting their trip. However, the travel agent was very apologetic and told Lewis the Lion and Helen that they would sort it out and make sure that they got their trip as planned on the next day. When Lewis the Lion thought about it, he realised that this was all part of the adventure of travel too and that sometimes things just didn’t go according to plan. Instead, he would have a relaxing day exploring the town of Rurrenabaque which would be fun in itself.
So Lewis the Lion and Helen checked in early to their hostel called Los Tucanes de Rurre (Toucans of Rurre). Lewis wondered how many exotic birds he might see on his jungle adventure the next day?
A little later on at lunch time, Lewis the Lion and Helen were directed to have a reasonably priced meal across the road at one of the local restaurants. The restaurants on the street weren’t like the restaurants that Lewis the Lion was used to back home. They all appeared to be people’s houses where the front room was open to the public to come and dine!
Lewis has lunch in an unusual restaurant
Lewis looks onto the street from the restaurant
It was as if the front wall of the house had just been missed out so that you could look onto the street from your table. There was also no menu as such. People just seemed to know that for a set price, you got a prepared starter, main course and a drink.
- The restaurant is a continuation of someone’s home
The cooking was also very much home cooking. In fact, Lewis the Lion loved the soup starter because it reminded him of the soup that Helen’s grandma used to make: deliciously warming and hearty! It was a broth containing vegetables, potatoes, pasta and a piece of meat on the bone. Along with the soup came another appetiser: a soft yam and some chemichurri sauce. Lewis the Lion had never had that before and it wasn’t bad at all!
- What a hearty soup!
The main course was a typical South American affair: meat served with rice, potatoes and salad. However, the meat was more Bolivian than South American as it was llama steak again!
Llama steak with rice and salad
The people running the family-style restaurant were very welcoming and friendly. Whilst Lewis the Lion was sat there enjoying his lunch, he was delighted to see some news on the television all the way from England. It was Queen Elizabeth’s 60th Anniversary celebrations and Lewis the Lion wondered how all his friends back in school in the UK were celebrating this special event?
How did you celebrate the Queen’s 60th Jubilee?
- Umbrellas up!
As Lewis the Lion left this friendly restaurant, he was again reminded of home in the UK. It was raining and people on the streets had their umbrellas up! However, it was now afternoon and there appeared to be no let up with the weather. There wasn’t the bright sun as Lewis had expected to see, instead just a heavy grey cloud blanketing the sky. As Lewis the Lion talked to the hotel receptionist, he told Lewis that this was very unusual weather in the jungle and it was the coldest that it’s ever been at 6 degrees. Lewis the Lion laughed his hearty laugh: that didn’t seem too cold for a lion who came from the UK!
Being British, Lewis the Lion did the British thing and wandered around the small town of Rurrenabaque, not letting the rainy weather upset his fun. Although he did hope that it would maybe clear up a bit the next day for his trip into the jungle.
He spotted many people riding motorbikes, sometimes with two, three or four people on at a time and often without helmets. Safety didn’t seem all that important here in the back of beyond!
- Lewis sees the heavily charged motorbikes whizz by
Lewis then also got excited when he saw some parrots on the street and heard unusual bird song from brightly coloured birds perched on electricity wires above his head. He hoped he would see more of this in the jungle.
- Lewis is delighted to see parrots in Rurre
- Lewis sees colourful parrots on the streets
Seeing as Lewis the Lion and Helen had some time to kill, Helen decided to get her hair trimmed in one of the local hairdresser’s.
Lewis at the hairdresser’s with Helen
What a big mistake! Even though Helen had a pleasant conversation with the hairdresser, he obviously hadn’t had much practice at cutting women’s hair and instead of a trim, cut about 4 inches off Helen’s long hair. Oh dear! It was so bad that she had to go to another hairdresser’s to try to tidy it up. Lewis the Lion, being a cheeky lion, laughed at Helen. What did she expect getting her hair cut in the middle of the jungle? What a silly girl! Helen tried to be positive and reminded herself that it was just hair, it would grow back and at least it would save her going to get her hair cut for quite a long time now! After all, this was all part of the adventure too, even when things went wrong.
To console herself, she and Lewis the Lion took a little stroll down to the River Beni which is where they would be leaving from the next day.
- Lewis wanders down to the river
They could see clouds coming down the green-covered mountain. Lewis the Lion thought it looked a bit like the setting of Jurassic Park and had butterflies in his tummy. He just couldn’t wait to get to the jungle the next day. What an adventure he was going to have!
