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| Our First View of the Jungle |
And we're off to see part of the jungle in Bolivia. Our first time out of the Cochabamba Valley for an explore as a family! Our rented Truffi complete with chauffeur, arrived to pick us up at 6 a.m. In the Truffi already were Javier, Techy, and their two children, Miguel and Annabelle, Edwin, Rosi (Techy's sister), and their two children Gustavo, and Jasmin, as well as, Sergio, a nephew, and Gladys, a niece. With the Chauffer, Ismael, there were 19 of us in the 12 passenger Truffi. Most of our things were secured on top of the vehicle where there was a rack for this purpose!
We first accended the mountains around the city to reach a height of 13,000 Ft. before dropping down into the jungle below. It is a very curvy windy road. Every time you need to pass, which is quite often, it is usually on a corner. A lot of crosses on the side of the road attest to the peril of the road! Thankfully, our driver was cautious where he needed to be and aggressive also where he needed to be!
Our first stop was Villa Tunari and the hostel where we stayed the first night. After an Almuerzo Completo lunch, I (Carla) stayed behind with Paula who was still recovering from a tummy bug and fever, to take a nap. The others went on to the "swimming hole" where they all had a grand time swimming, jumping, and bathing.
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| Clancy's Favorite Thing To Do! SWIM! |
Clancy LOVES to swim, so he was in his element here! He and Myles made a boat to bring to the Jungle with them. It proved to be seaworthy with one person!
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| Myles with his and Clancy´s boat! |
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| Jumping! |
Here they all are jumping off the wall. Emily is the white girl in the black swimsuit, Javier is to her left, Myles is to Javier's left with the black shirt, and I think it is Edwin on the right just beginning to jump. Techy is also on the wall along with Clancy!
After swimming the crew all went on a hike to see bats, and other jungle stuff. I wasn't there, but I was told they had a grand time! Rudi took the picture below of this ant. It is the size that it appears in the picture! BIG!
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| Una Hormiga Grande |
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| Ruth and Clara enjoying the jungle tour! |
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| Some of the Jungle Roads |
After our nap, Paula and I walked into town to get some snacks and see if we couldn't meet up with the rest of the gang. At one place we bought a huge bunch of small bananas, my favorite, when I asked what the price was the lady said, one boliviano (about 15cents), for the bunch. I thought she meant each... no it was 1B. for the whole bunch!
While we were snacking by the roadside on our delicious finds "our crowd" came by and we flagged them down just like the "real" truffis in Coch! From there we all went to see the monkeys.There were a whole passel of these tiny ones.
After dinner we all turned in early at the hostel. Unfortunately, a party was going on right next door, so the Gringos (us) did not sleep so well. The party lasted until 4 a.m. When Rudi mentioned it to Javier the next day he acted like he had barely heard anything!!
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| El Desayuno |
For breakfast we all had Banana Shakes and Bread. It was delicious.
After breakfast we headed off for a place called "Las Junglas". Rudi called it the "Knotts Berry Farm" of Bolivia!
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| Entrance to Las Junglas |
Inside are a series of bridges swinging in the trees, as well as a series of swings at varying levels. It definitely would not have met U.S. safety codes, but we all survived quite well!
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| Scarier then it appears! |
This place also had the healthiest, prettiest chickens I think I have ever seen. I got Rudi to take some pictures of them. This was my favorite rooster. I think all those jungle bugs make a good diet for them.
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| "Jungle Rooster" |
The series of hanging bridges brings you to the first swing. In the picture below everyone is waiting for the first person to take their turn on swing.
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| Clara, all ready to go! |
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| Miguel, having a grand time! |
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| Go, Clancy |
The second swing was a far as a lot of us got. Rudi is up on the platform that looked to be rotting pretty good! The scariest part was getting up on the platform and letting go! After that it was fun!
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| Rudi, overcoming his fear of heights! |
Myles is making it look easy in the picture below. I love this picture of him. Those huge leaves behind him are wild banana trees!
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| Myles, Jungle Boy! |
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| Ruth, Enjoys the Ride! |
Paula was too small to do any of the swings, so she rode with Emily on this zipline thing. We all commented that my Dad should put one of these in at Camp Dwight!
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| Happy Paula ! |
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| Emily and Paula |
After the first two swings and zipline, we all headed for the last two swings. Each higher than the other. Just the bravest took these on! Which would exclude me! Myles and Emily took in both and loved it!
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| Watching the third swing! |
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| Ruth and Gladys |
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| Emily, Jungle Girl! |
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| Platform for the LAST swing |
The last swing was about 60 Ft. high.
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| Watching the LAST swing! |
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| That speck in red is Emily. Very far up in the trees! |
And lastly, another swinging bridge contraption thingy! We all had a great time at Las Junglas, but now it was time to see more monkeys.
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| Emily and Clara |
Javier took us to another place near Villa Tunari where we hiked about a mile up a mountain to see monkeys. Not only did we see monkeys, we also got to see this amazing view of Villa Tunari and the jungle below. The picture below does not do justice to how amazingly beautiful it was.
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| Birdseye View of Villa Tunari, Bolivia |
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| Clancy´s new pal! |
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| Love this one of Javier and Annabelle |
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| Group pose with the Monkey |
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| Group pose without the Monkey!(and Rudi!) |
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| The Rudi Booher Family |
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| Javier, Techy, Miguel, and Annabelle |
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| Edwin, Rosi, Gustavo, Jasmin, and Sergio(Nephew) |
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| Hiking back down the trail! |
Stay tuned for our next adventure, as we head three hours deeper into the jungle where there is no running water, electricity, or bathrooms....eeeks... Cochabamba is starting to look like New York City!!
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| This trees roots are above the ground! |
