Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Brief history
Rurrenabaque first came to prominence during the
rubber boom
in the late nineteenth cen-
tury, serving as the gateway to the Amazon region from the highlands. Until fairly recently,
the extraction and processing of
timber
from the surrounding rainforest was Rurrenabaque's
main industry,butthishasbeencurtailed somewhat bytheexhaustion ofvaluable timber spe-
cies and the establishment of Parque Nacional Madidi and other protected areas. The boom-
ing
ecotourism industry
has emerged as one of the few economic alternatives to this highly
destructive and largely illegal activity.
Plaza 2 de Febrero
Though an increasing number of modern brick and concrete structures are springing up, Rur-
renabaque's streets are still largely lined with traditional palm-thatched wooden houses. Offi-
