There are 2 ways to Rurrenabaque, outpost for entering Bolivian Amazon. One, take a 20 hour bus which sometimes get delayed by road slides and most riders said it was a complete nightmare and total mistake. Two, take a 45 minute mini propeller plane that sometimes malfunctions and crashes. In fact, one crashed a week before I took it.
This is, by far, the scariest risky flight I've ever took. There are only 2 companies flying to Rurrenabaque and they are often delayed or cancelled due to weather and other unknown reasons. People get stuck on both locations for days due to these conditions. Luckily, my 6am flight, which I woke up at 3am for, did not delay massively.
Hopping on this 15 person mini plane, there are no room to stand up straight so you basically just crouch and settle in the tiny seats. The front of our seat reads "In case of emergency, the copilot will hand air masks to everyone". I highly, HIGHLY doubt he would be handing it out. The propellers are extremely loud. No one could hear what the pilots said except "Vamos!" meaning let's go. The pilot would then immediately go full speed jetting into the sky.
The plane doesn't incline much, because we're already at 4000m altitude on land. It flies across La Paz and the Andes mountain range then starts descending down to the Amazon region, 300m altitude. The whole plane shakes and shivers like an old grandma about to shatter if a tiny rock hits it. The plane remain at maximum noise while my ears keep popping due to the massive pressure and altitude change.
The pilot descends and announced something that we guessed it was "we are landing." But the problem is, where is the landing strip??? Scanning the forests and mountains... suddenly I spotted a long strip of dirt road, it couldn't be...
We landed. All in one piece... walking on the dirt road towards what they call "the terminal". It's a two floor regular building with 2 small checkin counter, 2 tax stations and few benches for rest. This is as casual as an airport can be... Thank goodness I survived both flights there and back.
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| Hello mini plane of destiny. |
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| looking towards the lush lands... |
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| the "terminal" |
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| lovely landing takeoff strip, which gets muddy and unable to operate when it rains |
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| security checked waiting area |
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