Bikepacking Cusco to Santiago

Three days in the Pampas are coming to an end.

Day one started with a long car drive to our camp. This would usually have been a 3h boat journey along the river, but it is dry season here at the moment. Not just any dry season but the driest dry season in at least 15 years - at least that's how long our guide has been living here. Most of the rivers have dried out and huge lagunas have become dry enough for large wildfires to develope the last months and burn huge areas of the land that should normally be underwater.
In the afternoon we still managed a little boat tour on the remaining river but had to get out of the boat at several occasions to push it over a sandbank. Scarry when you have just been watching hundreds of Caimans (some multiple meters long) gliding in and out of the water and you feel the piranhas swimming around your feet 🏴‍☠️🐊🐟

While the dry conditions make it easier to spot wildlife, as all the animals try to find some comfort and food in the last remaining trickles of water, they are mainly worrying and show once again what devastating effects climate change is having on our ecosystems.

The evening of day one was spent playing a round of soccer against visitors from other surrounding camps and was topped up by another boat trip in the dark, looking for the reflection of Caiman eyes in and around the river (there were some real 3m monsters to be spotted) and admiring the milkyway.

Day two started with a 2h walk through the dried out pampas trying to spot an Anaconda. But due to the conditions there was none to be seen. Instead more and different monkeys, Capybaras , birds and Caimans could be spotted.
By midday the temperatures had risen to a soaring 43 degrees and so there wasn't much else to do than lying in a hammock and dream about the more temperate climate of La Paz.
Later in the afternoon our Guide took us back on the river for a round of Piranha fishing (allegedly for our dinner). While Matt managed to fish a couple of red bellied Piranhas (too small for dinner though), all I could get on the hook were some cute little sardines, which were directly released back to the water.🐠

On the last day none of us made it to the planned sunrise boat ride, as the extremely hot nighttime temperatures were taking a toll on our sleep. It never really cooled down below 28 degrees outside, and what felt like 35 degrees in the huts 🌡🥵
Instead we made one last final tour on the river later that morning and then called it a day and waited for our transport back to Rurrenabaque.
And who wolkd have expected it...after months of no rain in the region it started pouring cats and dogs on our way back to town! So much so that motorcycle drivers got stranded on the road and ended up having to hitchhike to ther homes.
It felt good to see all this water though, eventhough it probably won't last for long.

The whole trip left me with mixed feelings. Whike I would not have wanted to miss out on such a unique and beautiful experience, being able to see such an abundance of animals - Caimans, different monkeys, lots of birds, Capybaras, Piranhas and more - I am also very thankful to be able to go back to the cooler climate of the Altiplano tonight, after 3 days of the thermometer not ever dropping under 30 degrees at night. And I am keeping my fingers crossed for some more rain in the pampas soon! It is dearly needed.

Now off to an other 14 hour Andes bus ride ✌️

🦇 Number of bats in our room: 2
🧛‍♀️ Number of vampire transformations: 0
🐊 Number of Caimans spotted: ♾️
❓️Most chill anymal in the Jungle: CapybaraRead more