Bolivia Part III: Guayaramerin and Riberalta

After our riotous time in La Paz, we took a flight out to northeastern Bolivia to the jungle towns of Guayaramerin and Riberalta where I served over a year of my mission. The flight was impressive both as we cruised through ice-capped mountain peaks of the Andes and later as we flew above huge winding rivers flowing north to the Amazon.

Guayaramerin is a remote town of about 40,000 people on the border with Brazil. The town exists because Bolivian goods are super cheap for Brazilians, who cross the river daily to shop and then return to Brazil.

Riberalta has about 80,000 people and is growing like crazy as people from the jungle villages pour into the town looking for work. Every year 1/3 of the cities population go out into the jungle for three months a year, collecting "brazilian" nuts that fall from massive trees. For the rest of the year the people work in factories cracking the nuts. If you every eat a brazilian nut, chances are it came from Riberalta!

Once in Guayaramerin, we immediately began walking the dirt streets of my old areas, looking for people I taught and for families I knew. We had pretty good success, and found several families and people I baptized as well as many other families I knew well.

We also had fun staying at a eco-resort, complete with private lagoon and mini-zoo with toucans, macaws, and various other jungle creatures. Jessica also got her first taste of the jungle bugs--  mosquitos so big that they bite through socks and pants! One afternoon we also took a boat ride across the Mamore river into Brazil. Unfortunately the Brazilian town of Guajara-mirim isn't very interesting so we only stayed about half an hour there. But at least Jess can say she'd been in Brazil!



the Andes!

winding Rio Mamore

the Melgarejo family who I baptized

typical road in my old mission area

typical house in my old area

crossing the river into Brazil

Jessica in Brazil!

Erik Montano, another person I baptized

Danny holding a Macaw that tried to eat anything it could get its beak on

More people I taught

Jessica's first encounter with a pet monkey

Member of the church in Riberalta who took us on his motorcyle to help find people I knew

The Melgar family

Jessica's very gracefull swing into the laguna

Danny's not so gracefull swing

Entire Melgarejo family at the eco-resort. Jessica felt very tall in Bolivia.