I arrived in La Paz at the main
bus station (to the north) at 7:30am after my 12 hour bus journey. Most of the
passengers jumped off at Oruro and so there were only a few of us left who
jumped off in La Paz.
Daniel seemed to need a little help when arriving, so I suggested we walk into town together and have breakfast (as I knew he would need to make his way to the cemetery district for his bus to Copacabana and I needed to sort my trip out for Rurrenabaque). After walking the 15 minutes to Sagarnaga Street we visited the café called 'Montanes' and had breakfast which was served by a lovely lady. The café was next to a hotel (also called ‘Montanes’) and so Daniel enquired about a room for later in the week when he returns from Copacabana. After breakfast another lady showed us a couple of double rooms at a price of 90 Bolivianos (no breakfast, but with Wi-Fi), which I thought was still a good price. Daniel said he would definitely book a room on his return from Copacabana, and I told the lady I may book the room for tonight if I could not organise my flight to Rurrenabaque today.
I later walked with Daniel as far as Santa Cruz road, to show him where to catch a taxi or a minibus to the cemetery district. Here we shook hands and parted company, we may well bump into each other at the weekend back in La Paz?
I headed back along Sagarnaga Street and visited 'Madidi Travel', but they were closed even though it was nearly 9:30am and they were supposed to open at 9am? I decided to visit 'Montanes' café again for another coffee and also to kill a little time. After 10am I visited 'Madidi Travel' again but they were still closed! I visited another tour company nearby and decided to book my flight to Rurrenabaque. I wanted to book a return flight (10% discount), but Amazonas did not publish dates further than two days ahead, so I just booked the one way ticket at a price of 470 Bolivianos for tomorrow at 7am. (No flights left for today?)
I then headed back to the hotel (Montanes) and booked a room for the night. After settling in I headed back out again and visited 'Dolphin Travels', who gave me a price of 900 Bolivianos for a 3 day jungle tour, and when I enquired about having my own room/cabin they gave me a price of 1000 Bolivianos which I thought was ok, although I got the impression I might not get much for my money? I left and decided to think about it and whilst walking around I discovered 'Madidi Travels' nearby (obviously the place I should have visited earlier!) I was initially shown a package for a 3 day jungle tour for the grand total of 2000 Bolivianos, and when I enquired about having my own room/cabin I was told it would be double! I nearly choked and walked out in disgust!
I decided to have an early lunch and visited the Cuban restaurant on Sagarnaga St, and had a delicious chicken meal. It was probably one of the nicest meals I have had in Bolivia!
After lunch I decided to visit one more tour agency, and ended up walking into Viacha Tours on Sagarnaga St. There was a friendly man inside who spoke very good English (I think he was Dutch). He showed me one package for a 3 day jungle tour at a cost of just over 500 Bolivanos which I thought was remarkably cheap, he called it the backpacker's choice! He also gave me information on Mashaquipe Tour agency, which I liked and I was keen on their 'Magic Tour' which consisted of 4 days and 3 nights which would include my own cabin, with two nights camping in the jungle. They also said they would waiver the 15% supplementary charge for a single person. I finally settled with this tour and we agreed a price of 1600 Bolivianos. They informed me that when I arrive in Rurrenbaque airport in the morning I would be greeted by one of the guides from Mashaquipe. (When I arrive in Rurrenbaque, I will look into booking my return flight to La Paz hopefully on the 2nd December in the evening.)
The hotel owner's father has agreed to take me to the airport at 5:30am (60 Bolivianos) and they have also allowed me to leave some of my gear at the hotel whilst I am away in the jungle for a few days which is great.
Daniel seemed to need a little help when arriving, so I suggested we walk into town together and have breakfast (as I knew he would need to make his way to the cemetery district for his bus to Copacabana and I needed to sort my trip out for Rurrenabaque). After walking the 15 minutes to Sagarnaga Street we visited the café called 'Montanes' and had breakfast which was served by a lovely lady. The café was next to a hotel (also called ‘Montanes’) and so Daniel enquired about a room for later in the week when he returns from Copacabana. After breakfast another lady showed us a couple of double rooms at a price of 90 Bolivianos (no breakfast, but with Wi-Fi), which I thought was still a good price. Daniel said he would definitely book a room on his return from Copacabana, and I told the lady I may book the room for tonight if I could not organise my flight to Rurrenabaque today.
I later walked with Daniel as far as Santa Cruz road, to show him where to catch a taxi or a minibus to the cemetery district. Here we shook hands and parted company, we may well bump into each other at the weekend back in La Paz?
I headed back along Sagarnaga Street and visited 'Madidi Travel', but they were closed even though it was nearly 9:30am and they were supposed to open at 9am? I decided to visit 'Montanes' café again for another coffee and also to kill a little time. After 10am I visited 'Madidi Travel' again but they were still closed! I visited another tour company nearby and decided to book my flight to Rurrenabaque. I wanted to book a return flight (10% discount), but Amazonas did not publish dates further than two days ahead, so I just booked the one way ticket at a price of 470 Bolivianos for tomorrow at 7am. (No flights left for today?)
I then headed back to the hotel (Montanes) and booked a room for the night. After settling in I headed back out again and visited 'Dolphin Travels', who gave me a price of 900 Bolivianos for a 3 day jungle tour, and when I enquired about having my own room/cabin they gave me a price of 1000 Bolivianos which I thought was ok, although I got the impression I might not get much for my money? I left and decided to think about it and whilst walking around I discovered 'Madidi Travels' nearby (obviously the place I should have visited earlier!) I was initially shown a package for a 3 day jungle tour for the grand total of 2000 Bolivianos, and when I enquired about having my own room/cabin I was told it would be double! I nearly choked and walked out in disgust!
I decided to have an early lunch and visited the Cuban restaurant on Sagarnaga St, and had a delicious chicken meal. It was probably one of the nicest meals I have had in Bolivia!
After lunch I decided to visit one more tour agency, and ended up walking into Viacha Tours on Sagarnaga St. There was a friendly man inside who spoke very good English (I think he was Dutch). He showed me one package for a 3 day jungle tour at a cost of just over 500 Bolivanos which I thought was remarkably cheap, he called it the backpacker's choice! He also gave me information on Mashaquipe Tour agency, which I liked and I was keen on their 'Magic Tour' which consisted of 4 days and 3 nights which would include my own cabin, with two nights camping in the jungle. They also said they would waiver the 15% supplementary charge for a single person. I finally settled with this tour and we agreed a price of 1600 Bolivianos. They informed me that when I arrive in Rurrenbaque airport in the morning I would be greeted by one of the guides from Mashaquipe. (When I arrive in Rurrenbaque, I will look into booking my return flight to La Paz hopefully on the 2nd December in the evening.)
The hotel owner's father has agreed to take me to the airport at 5:30am (60 Bolivianos) and they have also allowed me to leave some of my gear at the hotel whilst I am away in the jungle for a few days which is great.
Sagarnaga St in La Paz
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