Amazon Basin - Bolivia - page 623

the route, leaving when full from the bus terminal. Buses (B$25, 2½ hours) are cheaper
but slower - they depart in the morning.
All flotas between Guayaramerín and Cobija (B$120, 12 to 16 hours), and the hor-
rendously uncomfortable route via Rurenabaque (B$110, 17 to 40 hours) to La Paz
(B$180, 35 to 60 hours), stop at Riberalta. Several flotas also go to Trinidad (B$200, 17 to
30 hours) daily, though the road may be closed during the wet season - it's easier to fly.
Getting Around
Moto-taxis (day/night B$3.50/5) will take you anywhere. With a driver's license from
home, you can rent motorcycles (per hour/day B$15/80) from taxistas (taxi drivers) at the
corner of Nicolás Suárez and Gabriel René Moreno.
Riberalta to Cobija
The much-improved road between Riberalta and Cobija connects the once-isolated Pando
department with the rest of the country. Unfortunately, better access means more logging
and the region has now been opened up to indiscriminate exploitation of its natural re-
sources with large tracts of virgin rainforest being cleared at a frightening rate.
The journey requires two major balsa crossings, the first at Peña Amarilla, two hours
outside Riberalta crossing the Río Beni. On the western bank, you can find stands selling
empanadas and other snacks.
The most interesting crossing on the trip, however, traverses the Río Madre de Dios.
From the eastern port, the 45-minute crossing begins with a 500m cruise along a backwa-
ter tributary onto the great river itself. Along the way listen for the intriguing jungle chor-
us that characterizes this part of the country.
The crossing of the Río Orthon, at Puerto Rico, is by bridge. From Puerto Rico to
Cobija, development has been particularly rampant. The scene is one of charred giants, a
forest of stumps and smouldering bush; when something is burning, the sun looks like an
egg yolk through the dense smoke.