Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
adjacent
Club Nautico
, a curiously dated, lido-esque pool ringed by thatched shades and a
bar, where you can also take a dip (Bs20).
Tumi Chucua
20km south of town, towards the Cobija road junction • A taxi should cost Bs150 return
A taxi-ride south of town lies the lush, sinuous lake of
Tumi Chucua
, its centre filled by
an oblong forested island and its shore lined with large, if increasingly dilapidated, timber
houses once home to controversial US evangelist group the Summer Institute of Linguistics.
There's a small jetty from which you can dive in, though the turbid waters are supposedly
home to an anaconda; if you don't fancy swimming you may be able to rent canoes from the
locals. Sadly, if typically, the area around the jetty is littered with rubbish, and the moulder-
ing public toilets are best avoided completely.
Esmeralda Parque Ecológico
Roughly 20km along the road east to Guayaramerin • Bs25 • 7283 1099 (call for hours)
For a more salubrious jungle excursion, head to the manicured lawns of this Swiss-owned
retreat, where tennis and volleyball courts, a huge swimming pool and a boating lake keep
Riberalteñas busy at weekends. There's also a restaurant and bar with a pleasant terrace. It's
deliberately un-signposted, however, amid a labyrinth of forking tracks deep in the rainforest,
so the only way to get here is with a taxi driver who knows the way (Bs120 return). There is
also
accommodation
available.
ARRIVAL AND DEPARTURE: RIBERALTA
By plane
Theairportisabout1kmsouthoftown(Bs3onamotorbiketaxi).Aerocon,atPlaza
Principal ( 03 8523899); Amaszonas, at Chuquisaca and Sucre ( 03 8523933); and TAM
(no office; 03 8522646) all operate from here. Maddeningly and hugely time consumingly,
most flights are routed via Trinidad, with a change of plane and a long wait in the airport; for
Cobija at least then, you're as well taking a bus and saving some money. Another alternative
is one of the daily
avionetas
(light aircraft) that leave when they are full, which fly direct to
Guayaramerín as well as Cobija; enquire at the airport.
Destinations
Note that most of these flights also include a lengthy stopover at Trinidad air-
port on top of the actual journey times given. Cobija (1 daily; 2hr 40min); Guayaramerín (2
daily; 15-20min); La Paz (4 daily; 2hr 15min); Santa Cruz (2-3 daily; 2hr 10min); Trinidad
(3 daily; 1hr).
By bus
Buses arrive at, and depart from, the pot-holed terminal at the eastern edge of town
(Bs3 on a motorbike taxi).
Destinations
Cobija (2 daily; 12hr); Guayaramerín (6 daily; 2hr 30min); La Paz (2 daily;
30hr); Trinidad (1 daily; 28hr).
