A two-week paddling down the Río Iténez (aka Guapore) from Remanso to Versalles, Bolivia.

Chess, Anyone?

June 4, 2006
Day 249
Remanso to Versalles Canoe Trip Day 16

The religious proceedings went on all last night again. It's tough to sleep with so much singing and fireworks, but the nights are long here, so I usually get enough sleep, even though I get woken up a… Read More »

Life In Versalles

June 3, 2006
Day 248
Remanso to Versalles Canoe Trip Day 15

Today was ridiculously hot again, so not much was happening around town. Boredom officially set in around midday. Craig and I talked about going to a lake nearby, but we decided to wait until tomorrow because we didn't want to miss… Read More »

Too Much Cumbia

June 2, 2006
Day 247
Remanso to Versalles Canoe Trip Day 14

The religious chanting went on all night, with people singing songs that sounded more like an ancient animalistic religion than Catholicism. Just in case anyone was sleeping, they shot off more loud fireworks every half hour or so. The madness didn't… Read More »

The Party Begins

June 1, 2006
Day 246
Remanso to Versalles Canoe Trip Day 13

Last night most of the town got sloppy drunk. People walked around the tent and shook the floorboards all night. On top of that, a very loud generator kicked in right next to Ricardo's house, making sleep impossible. The music stopped… Read More »

Versalles, Here We Come!

May 31, 2006
Day 245
Remanso to Versalles Canoe Trip Day 12

We got up a little later than normal today because we believed that we were rather close to Versalles. We had breakfast with the fishermen and met an American named Jim who was with them. He wasn't around last night because… Read More »

Mosquitoville

May 30, 2006
Day 244
Remanso to Versalles Canoe Trip Day 11

We got another early start today, unsure how far we'd have to go. We stopped briefly at a single house on the Bolivian side and ate lemons with the girl who was there. She told us that Puerto Federico was coming… Read More »

A Near Disaster

May 29, 2006
Day 243
Remanso to Versalles Canoe Trip Day 10

Starting before sunrise meant paddling in the cool night air, but it also spelled trouble almost right away today. We were navigating through the dark waters with no moonlight when suddenly a small island appeared in front of us. We tried… Read More »

The Bolivian Side

May 28, 2006
Day 242
Remanso to Versalles Canoe Trip Day 9

We got up really early today and were on the water an hour before sunrise. The river was much straighter with almost no islands or oxbows today. Besides the usual macaw migrations this morning, we were joined by… Read More »

Relaxing At The Estancia

May 27, 2006
Day 241
Remanso to Versalles Canoe Trip Day 8

It was another relaxing day in paradise. We had coconuts for breakfast, cleaned up our room a bit, and did some morning fishing. I caught two nice keepers and felt like I earned my keep by contributing.

Lunch once again consisted… Read More »

Sending Off The Cows

May 26, 2006
Day 240
Remanso to Versalles Canoe Trip Day 7

I had a fantastic sleep last night in a nice, comfortable bed. Craig, Gabriel, and I got invited to the kitchen for breakfast. It occurred to us that all of our meals would be free here. We ate our fried bread… Read More »