BAJÍOS BENIANOS
We left Rurrenabaque and headed to Reyes, a small town located to the north. Erin had a friend who lived there so we spent two nights mainly asking around which roads were passable to get to Trinidad. Everyone encouraged us to turn around, and go back to Yucumo, then head to Trinidad. However, we were set on not back-tracking and there were three roads on the map the lead to Santa Ana. We asked about the alternative three routs and either people didn't know about their conditions, or their responses were discouraging. We were right at the end of the wet season and we were attempting to cross a swamp land. We continued heading north from Reyes towards Santa Rosa. We asked people along the way and got a variety of answers, the majority of "your crazy, it's not passable". We finally came to a place called Casa Blanca which is where the third and final road to Santa Ana broke away from the primary road. A group of men, hanging around under a shade tree, all agreed our proposed route was not recommended, however, our only other alternative route (going north up to Brasil and then turns back down to Santa Ana) would take and extra 1,000k and have stretches as bad as our first alternative. We were looking at a 150k stretch across cattle country and we were thinking at worse it could take 4 days. One man said he thought a motorcycle could get through, so we glanced at each other, nodded and started heading down our "road".
We knew there wouldn't be any towns, but we had plenty of food and obviously water was not going to be a problem. I could write pages and pages of details covering the next 150k and what turned out to be 7 days, but I'll spare a few. The road started out as what most of us might call and all terrain trail for recreational vehicles. There were lots of barbed wire gate crossings, large herds of bewildered cattle free ranging in vast grassy wetlands, patches of thick tropical forest, and expansive mud holes. It was clear by the end of day two that we had considerably underestimated our time to reach Santa Ana. For several days, the path was the obvious route to travel with little to no alternative. We encountered no shortage of wildlife, spotting dear, alligators, capybara, monkeys, wild pigs, anacondas, varieties of water birds, and as many mosquitoes as one can imagine. We crossed precarious bridges over alligator filled creeks, navigated our way through and around flooded areas of up to 100 meters long, at times pulling the bags off so we could shoulder the bikes and carry the panniers across the swamp and muck…over…and over…again.
Along the way, we also encountered a handful of ranchers and their families. These incredibly tough and resilient people, living in many cases days away by horse from any civilization, were some of the nicest people we have ever met. As we passed by their compounds, we would stop to ask about route information and to refill our water supply. They would immediately invite us into their space, offering cold fresh squeezed grapefruit juice, a meal rich in local protein, and fried yucca and rice, along with a place to bath, visit and rest. These people didn't receive a lot of visitors, so they were eager to hear our story and share anything and everything they had to offer. We never turn down a meal or an opportunity to learn more about the history of an area, a way of life so different from the way we live ours. We often passed on the offer to spend the night for the sake of advancement and we likely would not have starved without our gifts of meals, but we would have missed out on some of the best beef jerky on the planet, as well as been lost in the middle of a swamp, if it weren't for these incredible people.
After 6 days of a stretch that we thought would take us 3, we finally encountered the San Juan Ranch where the road was finally supposed to improve for the final 50k into Santa Ana. To our surprise as well as his, the ranch owner 'Mako' Rodriguez was the brother in law of a friend of Erin's in Santa Cruz. Mako took us in, offered us a hot shower, a warm meal, and a bed. The next day he gave us the tour of his cattle farm, milk operation, cheese operation, and insisted that we spend a few nights at his and his family's house in Santa Ana. We were happy to take him up on his offer. After a tasty breakfast we made the 50k into town where we spent the next 5 days with Mako, his wife Bolivia, and kids Maria Jose, and Mandy. Our journey through the countryside of the department of Beni was an experience that we will never forget. The amazing giving nature of these people really made an impact on our lives.
