Only travelers with limitless time, iron backsides, and a complete inflexibility about their budgets travel to Rurrenabaque by bus. For those willing to brave a potentially dangerous, painfully bumpy road that may be closed during rainy season, the ride is only $8.20. However, it lasts 18-20 hours.

Rurre's tiny grass airport

Alternately, flights are relatively inexpensive and take 45 minutes to arrive from La Paz. We used Amaszonas, which offers the most flights (4 times daily during high season, 3 times daily during low season) and charges $124 round-trip. Amaszonas' website is not updated with the current schedule and doesn't really allow online booking despite the links, but will at least give planning ideas. TAM, the military airline, also flies to Rurre but you need to have a little time to play with in La Paz for booking, as there's no online list of schedules.

If you need to book in advance (our schedule was tight so we did), try contacting tour agencies. Some will book the tickets without charging a fee, even if you don't take a tour with them. We used America Eco-Tours. I tried to send the money in advance but the address they gave was bad, so they ended up meeting me at the airport instead with the tickets.

Once in Rurre, head to the tourist information center. Most of the tour agencies are located on the main street with the tourist office, but the 4 we visited were not, so the map was helpful. The lady in the tourist office speaks English and will give suggestions. There is also a bulletin board where people post opinions on agencies—although as I'll describe later, this can be more confusing than helpful.

Be aware you will need some grasp of Spanish. Very few tour agents speak English, and they mostly have a rehearsed spiel. If you have specific concerns about the tours in advance, know how to ask them!

Getting around

Rurrenabaque is a very small town. There is really no better option than wading through the swampy heat on foot. I spotted a few people on bikes and scooters, but they mostly looked like locals. I didn't notice any rental places, but a helpful staffer at San Miguel del Bala tells me "there is a Greek guy that rents scooters on Calle Avaroa between Avenida Arce and Calle Pando."

The airport is about 20 minutes out of town. Amaszonas and TAM both offer shuttle service, with Amaszonas' costing 5Bs. At the airport, there's a delay in getting to town as the drivers wait for staff that might need a ride. From the town side, the bus leaves exactly on time—so don't relax too much.

Getting to the jungle or ecolodges involves traversing the Rio Beni by motorized canoe, which is really pleasant. Transport is included in tour price. The pampas (wetlands) is in a different direction and is reached by a long jeep ride.

Riding to San Miguel del Bala with Juliano at the bow

<   previous      •      next   >