In Tribute to Mom and Dad and the rest of Family..."Pampas (Day1)"

I´m so thankful for the fortunate life that I´ve had thus far and that I will inevitably continue to have.  And I truly want to pay thanks to Mom and Dad.  All of the traveling in the US growing up, the countless outdoor excursions, and endless search for wildlife has been so influential in my life.  Thank you!  And to the rest of the family, you all play an equal part in this too...the Sturdevant´s...outdoor lovers!  This trip into the Amazon basin has been so thrilling and moving, and I couldn´t help but get nostalgic on my trip.  I just kept having flashbacks to Drummond Island, where the family is always watching the animals.  From early breakfast seeing the birds and fresh water otters to the post dinner sunset boat rides and infamous Ford-pickup-deer & bear-watching-round-ups!  The following was experienced with all of you in mind and makes me thankful for each and everyone one you! My experience and perspective wouldn´t have been the same without your direct influence on my life over the years...

(Day 1)
-flew into Rurrenabaque out of La Paz, Bolivia one day before.
-roamed the town, hiked to the top of the mountain with the white cross, booked my excursion
-awoke 7:30 on 3/13/2012, double checked my day pack...Deet, Sunscreen, Rain Pancho...check!
-Arrive at Cafe de la Jungla...best bowl of granola I´ve ever had, vat (3 cups) of green tea, banana smoothie, milk, jungle honey and got it all for 20 Bolivianos...(3$)
-8:30 arrive at Mogli tours...I was solo, so they added me to another tour group...Indigena
-I met Choco the guide, three Chileans, 4 Germans, and June from Japan (aka "Japanese" haha)
-The group of 9 and our guide set out on the three hour 4x4 ride to Santa Rosa, the entrance to Pampas
-1 hour into the bumpy and muddy ride we come to a sliding halt...3 toed sloth!
-20 minutes later a pack of Capibaras
-Along the route we saw countless Egrets and Herons
-We passed the pueblo Reyes, and had lunch in Santa Rosa at 12:30, just after paying the 150 Boliviano entrance fee to the Pampas del Yacuma national park (Santa Rosa-Beni)
-Soup, ground meat, and veggies
-20 minute ride from town to the boat
-spent 10 minutes loading the boat and paying high prices for Snickers (10 Bolivianos)
-2 pm we began our boat ride into the jungle on the Yacuma river...a three hour journey during the wet season in a 50ft long narrow boat, maybe 5 feet wide, with a small hand-driven outboard motor on the back...4 rows of two seats folded down (made of metal frame with rubber/plastic twine as the seat and back rest)
-The river and entire area is flooded do to the rainy season...7 meters higher than the dry season!  The Yacuma is like a snake, doing countless switchbacks and u-turns...but the floods allowed Choco to guide through the river like "cutting dollar bill sign$"
-I spotted the first animal on the boat ride two minutes in (thanks fam!) the trip...Galapagos turtle...much larger than the normal fresh water turtles that were sunbathing everywhere...it had stripes under its neck and chin...really large actually, maybe a 18 inches in diameter
-The leisurely boat ride was filled with wildlife, mostly turtles, frogs, and so so many birds lots of herons and egrets...the greater rhea  emu (huge), the Southern Screamer (massive too), Neotropic Comerant and other black cormerant (of course...these things are everywhere, blah!), Pinnated Bittern, Stripe-backed Bittern, Fasciated Tiger-Heron, Rufescent Tiger-Heron, Cocoi Heron, Great Egret, Snowy Egret, Little Blue Heron, White-faced Ibis, Green Ibis, Roseate Spoonbill (look this one up, so beautiful!), Black Vulture, Turkey Vulture, Osprey, Black-collared Hawk, Harris's Hawk, Black Hawk-Eagle, two types of Toucans, Blue and Yellow Macaws...and a ton of other birds!
-got to the cabin which was sitting on stilts maybe one meter above the flood waters...the circular hammock room overlooked the river and was the launch off point for the rope swing...it also happened to act as the shade for the local crocodiles that lounged around the place.
-our host had a mess of cookies and a heep of popcorn waiting for us with a bit of fresh jungle lemonade...que rico!
- Now we had just enough time to test the rope swing...the current of the river was swift and at this point in time, we weren´t really aware of all the crocodiles lurking about...not to mention the pink dolphins and piranha sharing the current!
-we dried off, and took a 2 minute boat ride up the river to a small place that overlooked the soggy grasslands...a perfect setting for a cerveza and a sunset!
-As soon as the sun dipped blow the jungle horizon...a cloud of ferocious mosquitos came out...vicious little buggers that let you know if you missed a spot of deet...thy were biting though my clothes!
-we came back to the cabin where a feast was awaiting us...fat and happy!
-we sat down for a swing in the hammock...followed by a sudden urge to grab the flashlights and head out onto the docks and spot animals lurking about...shocking!...dozens of sets of glowing orange eyes, hooting of howler monkeys, and swooping bats took the stage...up until the fireflies took over...a smashing display of illuminescents lit the sky...it was like fireworks!...and the two orange glowing planets on the horizon perfectly resembled the lurking crocodile eyes!  I stayed up for hours, periodically checking the floods for animals...it was an amazing first day!