Rurrenabaque

Rurrenabaque (or simply Rurre) is a small town (population 15.000) in the Beni Department on the banks of the Río Beni in the Bolivian Amazon Basin. Trips to the jungle in the nearby Madidi National Park and pampas are the main attraction.

Get in

To get to San Buenaventura across the Río Beni take one of the water taxis at Calle Santa Cruz for 1 Boliviano.

By bus

There are daily buses to and from La Paz. The journey takes 18 hours, 80Bs. There are generally more people on the bus than seats and there isn't much space to put your legs. One of the tour operator is named Turbus Total the adress is Virgen del Carmen 1372 (phone 22600445). To get there take a Minibus (1.5 Bs)to Villa Fatima (from San Francisco Church approx. 30 mins). The office is in an corner of this street and not at the Bus Terminal of Villa Fatima! You can break the trip in Coroico, which is only 3 hours from La Paz although this is about half an hour off the main road. On a part of the road from La Paz to Coroico a new road has been opened at the end of 2006, and the old 'death road' is now only for bikers. The new road only avoids a part of the 'death road' or Yungas Road. From Coroico (Yolosita) to Caranavi is another two to three hours on the death road, with the roadside canyon just a few hundred feet deep instead of a few hundred metres.

There are also daily buses to Riberalta and Guayará-Mirim. Inquire about departure times at the bus terminal; they vary wildly. During the rainy season, this road is virtually impassable, and trips may take up to six days. When the road's in good condition, Rurrenabaque-Riberalta should take about 12 hours, and Guayará another two.

There are two offices on Avaroa offering jeep services to nearby towns and even La Paz (US$25 and only 12 hours). Also you can see all the information about bus travel in [1] a travel guide is very useful for travel in Bolivia.

By plane

A tarmac strip outside town is the main airport. In case it's flooded companies use the landing strip at Reyes, about 45 mins. away. There are daily connections to La Paz, but cancellations are common, especially in the rainy season.

• TAM, Santa Cruz s/n, has around two flights weekly to La Paz for Bs465. TAM likes the mastercard and Visa logos painted on their office, but only accepts cash or travellers checks (July 2009 they report to accept credit cards). As of May 2016 TAM are flying to Rurrenabaque.

• Amaszonas[2], Santa Cruz s/n, tel/fax (3)8922472, is slightly pricier with Bs525, but has several flights daily. Visa and mastercard are accepted, that is, if their reader works.

Their website doesn't seem to work correctly (April 2012), you can book an fully booked flight. Better to go to the office or a travel agency. Don't forget to reconfirm your flight on the day before, and also on the day you fly. It is possible to pay using a credit card with no extra charge.

If you're going east or north from Rurrenabaque there's a flight with TAM from Reyes to the cities of San Borja, Trinidad, Riberalta and Guayará-Mirim (on the border with Brazil).

See & Do

• Butterfly Pool Mirador, [3]. entrance Bs. 30.-
• The Dirreción Municipal de Turismo, Avaroa y Vaca Diez, might be open in the high season.
• Climb up to La Cruz, the cross southeast of town for a rewarding view of Rurre and Río Beni.
• Balneario El Ambiabo. For Bs20 you can cool down in the swimmingpool.
• Zipline / Canopy tour, [4]. For 20 USD You can speed through the canopy on a steel cable. Longest run is 620 meters.
• El Chocolatal Golf Eco-Resort. [5]Half day activities for about 20USD. Jungle horse back riding, 9 hole golf course, disc golf. A paradise only 15 minutes outside of town.

Zipline in Rurre

• Jacj Cuisi, [6]. Volunteer at this serene CIWY wildlife refuge that backs onto Parque Madidi. Spend a week immersed in the jungle doing construction projects, gardening, and general maintenance, or devote a month to work directly with one of the pumas this center cares for. Just cross the Beni to San Buenaventura, take a 25km taxi trip (20BS) to this unique, rewarding jungle adventure.

Events, festivities: The 2nd of February: Fiesta de Rurre - Anniversary of Rurrenabaque - The day of La Virgen de Candelaria.

Tours

There are about 20 tour companies offering jungle and pampas trips, the main attractions around Rurre. The Price to take the tour depends on the tour you are taking. The prices of Pampas and Jungle tours varies. Very common is the price 900bs for the 3 days. This does NOT include the 125 bs you must pay to enter the park Madidi and 150 bs to enter pampas area. Everyone flies or buses to get to Rurrenabaqua followed by a 4 hr. Jeep ride then into a motorized boat for 2 - 3 hrs. All washrooms (toilets, sinks and showers) go right into the ground. Mashaquipe's Eco-lodges' effluent passes through 4 tanks so it has a degree of tratement. Electricity to get water to the kitchen and washroom is from a diesel generator, and so are the lights and power sockets for charging batteries. The only thing different about the eco-friendly trips are you don't feed the monkeys and you don't touch a alligator. The monkeys survived the lack of food when the Pampas area was destroyed by fire by getting fed by the locals and tourists so they are quite used to people.

The best time to visit is in the dry (and high) season when most wildlife is attracted to the river for water, the walking trails are less muddy and there are fewer mosquitoes.

Choosing who to go with is not easy as most offers sounds more or less the same, and much is up to the guide, cooker and boat driver that happens to work during your tour. A piece of good advice is to choose one of the community based options such as Mashaquipe, San Miguel del Bala, Berraco del Madidi[7], Chalalán, San Louis Grande[8], and Mapajo, all in the rain forest. As you stay in one of these community based Eco-Lodges you are sure to do true eco-tourism and at the same time help the indigenous people to survive economically and culturally, and to protect the natural resources where they live.

Jungle Tours

It's possible to stay between one and 30 days in the jungle. Mostly tours have lodging facilities along the Beni and Tuichi Rivers, but you can also go for a trekking and camp in the jungle. Good guides can tell you about the properties of the different plants and trees and let you taste some of the fruits. To spot wildlife you have to be lucky, most of the animals prefer to stay hidden in the dense forest. A night walk to reveal the nocturnal life is the best chance to see some. Tour prices usually don't include park entrance (Bs200) and a fee to stay in a community (Bs50). For a perfect combination of culture and nature stay in one of the community based Eco-Lodges, such as Mashaquipe, San Louis Grande (Mosetén), Berraco del Madidi (Quechua-Tacanas), San Miguel del Bala (Tacanas), Chalalán (Quechua-Tacanas) or Mapajo (Tsiman-Mosetén). La Magdalena Ecolodge`is another option to take contact with nature in a private ranch with a comfortable hostal in the middle of jungle, see: butterflymadidi.com. Tucan Ecolodge is another option to take contact with nature in a tours in the Tuichi Rivers. Since a few years there is a governmental minimum price for jungle tours of Bs1200. Especially in the off season it still is possible to settle on a lower price nevertheless, especially for groups of four or more.

If you're interested in seeing conservation work first hand, check out Serere Sanctuary, a private reserve operated by Madidi Travel. The team behind it was instrumental in establishing Madidi National Park in the 1990s. They’re now using Serere as a strategic point for establishing legally protected zones to the north to save the rainforest from the same fate faced by Madidi 20 years ago. Madidi Travel opened the 4000 hectare park in 2003, to allow visitors to appreciate the restored biodiversity, while generating income for their conservation work to continue. Before the reserve was opened an extensive rehabilitation project was carried out involving; reforestation and the recovering of lakes from invasion plants, the creation of infrastructure to support sustainable tourism, agroforestry, and reintroduction of rescued animals. Now the group works with the neighboring indigenous community to ensure the continued protection of Serere, and community lands, from on-going threats such as logging and hunting. As a result of their conservation efforts, abundant fauna can be found in Serere, including endangered species such as jaguars, black caimans, anacondas, and many varieties of birds. Touristic operations at Serere are maintained at a small scale, there are eight lodges which house an average of 15 – 20 tourists, and guides handle a maximum of six tourists to minimize thier impact. Madidi Travel also accepts volunteers for short or long term stays, to assist within a variety of aspects of their operations, or specific projects.

If you are interested in learning jungle survival skills then Quiquibey Tours (San Louis Grande)[9] is a good option offering extended (up to 21 day) jungle survival courses and/or cultural immersion. These extended immersion journeys are a very unique experience. There are also volunteer opportunities to assist within a variety of aspects of their operations, or specific projects.

Pampas Tours

For watching wildlife opt for a pampas tour. Among animals you might see are six different species of Crocodilian (more species than any other region in the world is home to), including the giant black caiman. There are turtles, all three species of anaconda, pink dolphins, capybaras, monkeys, giant ant-eaters, porcupines, toucans, blue and yellow macaws, and even jaguars. A number of native guides in the Pampas region are known for their snake-wrangling skills, and will catch poisonous snakes barehanded while on an excursion. Bird watchers are attracted equally to the Pampas and the Jungle, whereas entomologists tend to prefer the jungle tours, which offer a better selection of insect life, most notably butterflies.

One of the unique experiences to be had in the Pampas region is swimming with pink river dolphins. The dolphins are very sociable, and will often approach the sound of a motorboat, eager to interact with the people. Because the water is darkly stained and impenetrable by sight, many people experience anxiety when touched by the dolphins, because they can't be seen underwater. For most, however, it is a thrilling experience. The dolphins greatly enjoy interacting with humans, and will each behave according to its own unique personality. Some are very gentle, and others enjoy the reactions they elicit by gently nipping a toe, or forcefully splashing the water directly behind a person.

The dolphins did not interact with anyone. When you got into the water the dolphins would continue to surface to get air then go back underwater for up to 10 mins. The closer you got to the dolphins the further they'd swim. Occasionally you would get bumped by one if you were off by yourself and very still but this is not interaction. Do not expect the dolphins to do anything different they just continue to look for food and if too many tour stop in the same area, the dolphins leave.

the pampas tours have become very popular and touristic during the high season and have the potential to cause damage to the wild life in the small river Rio Yacuma. The tours are usually done by motor boats that can cause fatal injuries to pink river dolphins. Competent and ethical guides will know which sections of the river be extra careful in. Also, you should make sure that your guide is not showing you pre-trapped animals kept in inhumane living conditions, or letting anybody wearing sunscreen or repellent touch the animals. {I spoke with many people at the sunsets every tour goes to the football field/volleyball court/bar to watch the sunset, and nothing even close to pre-trapped animals was possible. Everyone did the exact same thing go up and down the river seeing different animals. The Anaconda walks for the most part were failures, meaning only one group saw an anaconda and it was about 50 cm longs, all the other animals were seen from the boat on the river}

Only the river and riverbanks have wildlife, quite often we saw cows and horses because their grazing fields are only 50 meters from the bank. Don't think you are going into the jungle, you are going down a river with about 20 meters of brush on both sides. There are 1000s of alligators, 100s of capybara and all sorts of birds and other animals but you will not be in the jungle.

Tour operators

• Berraco del Madidi[10] Multi-day Tour Operator in the heart of The Madidi National Park. Calle Comercio esq. Vaca Diez (Rurrenabaque)

• Indigena Tours[11], Avaroa y Aniceto. Phone: 3892- 2091 (Rurrenabaque). Sagarnaga No 380 of. 3 near illampu Street, phone 22110749 (La Paz). high quality, good service.

• Jaguar Tours Avaroa street. Phone: 71122080, The new option for the people that like exclusive trips, amazing lodge with private cabin, the best service and comfort (hot shower, buffet food vegetarian and normal) in pampas tours

• Madidi Travel, [12]. Madidi Travel is a high quality, flexible and ecologically responsible operator. Madidi Travel offers tours to Serere Sanctuary, a stunning private reserve located two hours by boat from Rurrenabaque. The schedule of activities is decided with the group upon arrival in order to best serve each individual’s interest, if necessary, providing different guides for separate activities. Activities include - Hikes, canoeing, fishing, bird watching, jewellery making classes, and local cooking classes. The guides who are all local people are very friendly and knowledgeable. Cabins are comfortable, including their own private bathroom and have been designed so that you can observe the jungle from your bed. The minimum tour is 3 days, and prices start from $70 USD per day. All profits from Madidi Travel’s tours go towards supporting its conservations work in the Madidi Mosaic. Madidi travel also has a volunteer program, accepting volunteers for short or long term stays. Madidi Travel has offices in La Paz and Rurrenabaque.

• Quiquibey Tours (San Louis Grande) - Community Eco-Tourism, [13] offers deep immersion with extended adventures up to 21 days deep into the jungle (2 DAYS by boat from Rurrenabaque). Fully inclusive departing and returning La Paz airport with no more to pay, your itinerary is personalised to suit your interests and pace with individual community members sharing their skills and knowledge. You can focus on jungle survival experiences, animal trekking, and/or cultural immersion experiencing the Mosetén culture, spiritual beliefs, language, and jungle survival skills. This is a genuine experience which can be either back-to-basics including camping in the jungle or in cabanas in the village.

• Max Jungle Agency - [www.maxjungle.com] offers unique expeditions deep into the jungle in famous Madidi National Park which focus on jungle trekking and survival experiences. Standard tours are from 3-5 days and are completely back-to-basics, you make your own camp, catch your own food, wash or swim in rivers or lakes and carry all your own belongings. You will get to visit pristine parts of the jungle by the river TUICHI and learn survival secrets from authentic Indian guides. No chairs, no tables, no beds !

• San Miguel del Bala Community Eco-Tourism, [14]. Calle Comercio (between Vaca Diez and Santa Cruz) in Rurre. Tours in the rain forest with base in San Miguel del Bala Eco-lodge, reached only by boat, 40 minutes up stream from Rurrenabaque. The Eco-lodge is owned and operated by the indigenous community of San Miguel del Bala. Guides are native Tacanas. The lodge has a restaurant and 7 comfortable cabins each with 3 beds and private bathroom. Offers participating in the daily life of the Tacana community. It is possible to arrange a stint of time volunteering with these guys - it's pretty informal, and involves an arrangement fee of USD10 per day, a proportion of which goes to the family you are placed with. Good if you want to teach English to some lovely kids (or possibly some guides), but make sure you go when school's actually on, otherwise you won't have a lot to do!

• Bala Tours & Ecolodges, [15].Avenida Santa Cruz (between Calle comercio and Avaroa) in Rurrenabaque. Tours in the rain forest of the National Park Madidi, and in the Pampas of the Yacuma River. Where have the Tacuarales Eco-lodge, reached only by boat, 3 hours by boat up stream from Rurrenabaque. The Eco-lodges are owned and private, comfortable bedrooms , bathrooms with illuminations with Solars Panels. Guides native responsables and friendly of differents indigenus communities and speak english. Caracoles ecó-lodge in Pampas has a restaurant, comfortable bedrooms, privates debrooms, hamacs , showers and bathrooms , too illumination with solars panels. It is possible to arrange a trip with 2 people how minimum -Company what offer eco-turism in each trip.

Buy

A New ATM has just opened but like everywhere don´t count to much on the machine because it sometimes will run out of money. Prodem (commercio s/n) gives cash advances on Visa and Mastercard credit cards with 5% commision.

There are several places to change dollars or cash travellers checks. Moskkito also change euros and claim they have the best rates in town.

• ATM machine, Corner Comercio and Aniceto. Do NOT use this machine! It tells you there was an error in your transaction and that the transaction has been cancelled without giving you a receipt. Then it still takes the money out of your account! This occurred March 4 2013. Best take enough cash for your whole trip in Rurre. There is also an ATM at Banco Union, Comercio, not far from the Plaza. But it doesn't always work and often you can only withdraw 500Bs at a time.

Eat

• In the Mercado Municipal (Avaroa) there are severl comedors and jugerias for cheap food and fruitjuices.
• Restaurant Tacuara, Avaroa y Santa Cruz, has good deal dishes. The menu includes pizza, pasta, meat dishes and fastfood. It serves big portions of lasagna and it's also a good place for breakfast.
• Restaurant Camila's, Santa Cruz s/n, serves pastas, pizzas, Mexican food meat dishes and fastfood, mainly to foreigners.
• Restaurant La Cabaña, Santa Cruz s/n, has tasty meat and fish dishes with sunset views over the Río Beni.

• Sala de fiesta, Cl. Beni (San Buenaventura), for cheap lunches. It's popular with the locals, television and loud music is included in the price

Paititi on Vaca Diez, between Avaroa and Bolivar. Great food. Also wifi access.

• Butterfly Restaurant, Gourmet national and international food in the jungle, complete menu and bar, healthy and freshest ingredients, bilingual and friendly attention, now attending in the swimming pool Butterfly Mirador.
• Cafe Pirana, just up the road from Camila's, has good coffee, great fresh croissants that taste almost french, and a nice space for relaxing. Only open during the day.
• Restaurant Stephani and Juliano at Hotel Swimmingpool Ambaibo.

Fantastic Tunesian ! cook create French, Italian and Arab cuisine. Main courses round 50-70 Bol

• Juliano's, central Rurrabaque. Great restaurant with really friendly staff, and high quality food for good prices. You can get a discount ticket from Aerolineas Amazonas. Highly recommended steak.

Drink

• Junglebar Moskkito, In a new location on Calle vaca diez, with bar, food, three pool tables, two dart boards and a large cd collection. Happy hour from 7PM-9PM. But it's only happy hour for SOME drinks and still is average prices. is open every day from 3PM, 45" TV set connected to cable TV for all sports and others at request. Accepts credit cards, travelers' checks, US dollars, euros, pounds. Rather expensive.
• Butterfly Pub, calle Comercio. Five stars service and great deal like happy hour every night from 7PM-8PM, complete bar menu, bilingual and friendly attention.
• Restaurant Stephani and Juliano at Hotel Swimmingpool Ambaibo.

Fantastic Tunesian ! cook create French, Italian and Arab cuisine. Main courses round 50-70 Bol

• Monkey´s Bar, Avaroa s/n.. 12PM-Late.. This resterant/Bar was originaly called Pizzaria Italiana and is still listed in Lonley Planet as such. They serve great Pizzas as well as a wide selection of fish, meat, pasta, and vegetarian dishes. There is also pool tables, dart boards and satellite tv, showing all major sporting events and more. Bilingual staff with happy hour from 7-9PM every day

Sleep

• Ecolodge La Magdalena, [16]. Sleep in the jungle like in a good hotel, 25 minutes from Rurrenabaque, 10 rooms with shared bathroom, 1 suite with 2 bedrooms and private bathroom, moskito nets, potable water, electricity, hammocks, room service, comfortable and relaxing stay alongside wild animals, natural streams. infos in calle Abaroa s/n Butterfly Tours.

• Hostal Oriental, on the main plaza. Rates (Bs100 single, 150 double as at Apr 2012) includes a small breakfast (single slice of papaya, baby banana, tea, and they do not allow second helpings), rooms are moderately clean, showers not always hot,and there's a nice central area to relax on a hammock while you wait to see if your plane will ever actually leave town. Free wifi, not accessible in all rooms.

• Hostal Touristico Santa Ana, Avaroa s/n. Clean rooms, friendly service and some lofty courtyard. There is also a pleasant hammocking area. Bathrooms (some with hot showers) are shared. All for only Bs50 (Sep 2014) pppn. Wifi, breakfast, use of kitchen NOT included.

• Los Tucanes de Rurre Hotel, (591)-3-8922039, (email: [email protected]),[17]. Rooms with private bathroom and hot shower, and rooms with common bathroom. Hammocks, breakfast, garage. EDITED APR 2017 - price is 50Bs per person. Wifi, breakfast, use of kitchen IS included.

• Isla de Los Tucanes, (591)-3-8922127, (email: [email protected]),[18]. Is a tourist complex with bungalows that provide utmost in confort and privacy. Bugalows with 1,2,3 or 4 bedroom with terrace, cable TV and minibar. Bungalows are finely finished wih Amazon details, where your mind and body find peace.

Cope

There are a number of laundry services in Rurre, none of which are particularly recommended. (Lavanderia Number One has previously been recommended as being friendly, but they are known to have miscoloured their customers' clothes.)

There are around 10 establishments offering internet facilities in the town, all of which charge Bs8 for a fairly slow connection (chat clients and Skype can be used however).

Ask your tour guide before buying mosquito repellent, it does make a difference which kind you have.

Stay safe

Be aware of the guides - there have been many incidents of theft and physical abuse on the pampas and jungle tours. Some of them are professinoal thiefs and liars. Do not lend or give anyone money - there will be no way of getting it back. They usually invent a story about ill family members that need medication or something similar to make the Gringos feel guilty. Single girls beware of "nice" guides - they spend one night with you and find a way of sqeezing out the money.

Get out

There are three main ways to enter and exit Rurrenabaque. Buses travel south to La Paz from the bus terminal on a daily basis, usually leaving around 10AM. It is wise to purchase tickets at least a day in advance. The price is approximately $US10 and the journey to La Paz, stopping at Caranavi and Corico can take over a day depending on weather conditions. It is advisable to take food and water supplies, although meal stops do take place. The Bolivian buses have a reputation for being unsafe and the ones on this route are no exception. The vehicles are often poorly maintained and the drivers are often appalling, sometimes have been known to drink and drive. Because you are travelling from the altiplano to the Amazon Basin (or vice versa) the road is very bendy. It is also mostly single track with very steep drops, has a poor surface and can become impassable during wet conditions. Many crashes occur on the road, including vehicles tumbling over the cliff.

The more expensive ($US50-$US80) way to enter or exit Rurrenabaque is by flying. There are two airlines both of which have ticket offices in Rurrenabaque town center. The airlines are Amaszonas, which operates numerous daily flights, and TAM, who have one flight a day. TAM, run by the Bolivian military, operates slightly larger planes and are on the cheaper end of the scale, where as Amazonas tend to be slightly more expensive but more regular. The flight to La Paz takes between 25 minutes and 55 minutes. Amaszonas now have at least one big plane ie one with a lot more than 20 seats. This one takes 25 minutes where as the smaller Amaszonas planes take 40 minutes.

Both companies offer a shuttle bus between the airport and the town centre. Amaszonas bus costs 10Bs per journey. There are usually many moto-taxis that meet the flights and they charge a similar price for the trip as the airline buses.

The Rurre airport is very small but the runway is tarmac. You have to pay taxes 2 x 7Bs (one for the airport and one for the municipality) once you have your boarding pass ready to leave Rurre.

It is worth noting that various atmospheric conditions often lead to the delay of flights, including smoke from forest burning, low cloud cover and heavy rain. Services are more reliable out of the rainy season.

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