The first stage of the journey from Rurrenabaque to the pampas is quite an ordeal. First you have to drive for three hours in a jeep, which should probably be scrapped, in extreme heat along a dirt track with dust assaulting your face in great gusts every few moments - no good for asthmatics. I felt the grumpiness of the driver was necessary to complete the package. He wasn't a patch on the tour guide who met us at Santa Rosa though to accompa...

The first stage of the journey from Rurrenabaque to the pampas is quite an ordeal. First you have to drive for three hours in a jeep, which should probably be scrapped, in extreme heat along a dirt track with dust assaulting your face in great gusts every few moments - no good for asthmatics. I felt the grumpiness of the driver was necessary to complete the package. He wasn't a patch on the tour guide who met us at Santa Rosa though to accompa...

We were told to arrive at the bus station in La Paz a 10.30 on the 4th in order to get the 11am bus to Rurrenabaque, our base from which we would explore the jungle and pampas. Loading started at about 11.45, Bolivian luggage first, and the bus left at 12.45. Nothing unusual for Bolivia. For a 19 hour journey, what's another 2? Quite a lot, to us, potentially the difference between jungle or no jungle. Thanks to the usual speeding on the one c...