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nada es seguro: volunteering with an indigenous community in the Bolivian Amazon

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South America » Bolivia » Beni Department » Madidi
June 27th 2008
Published: July 11th 2008
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We spent most of our time in La Paz trying to find a responsible tour operator to go to the Bolivian Amazon basin with. La Paz is full of travel agencies and tour companies, and the more we read, the more disillusioned we became. Visiting the Amazon rainforest has been a childhood dream for me. I see it as a totally sacred place: home to the greatest biodiversity of flora and fauna in the world, a... Read Full Entry



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Dahna McConnachie and Jonathan Edwards
Jono Dahna
Jono Dahna
We both still have ever-itchy feet and woke up in a cold sweat one morning with the realisation that if we did not take advantage of the under 30 (ish) work visa that Canada offers to Australian residents, we would never get to. So here we are over 17 months later, taking the long way home via South America. No need to rush... Post Script: We are now 4, not 2, and we are no longer under 30! We still have ever-itchy feet but also a mortgage to contend with so for the most part our travels from now on will probably be a little shorter in duration... but they will continue!... full info
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Picking some grapefruitPicking some grapefruit
Picking some grapefruit
a house in the communitya house in the community
a house in the community
fishing and weavingfishing and weaving
fishing and weaving
two staple activities in the San Miguel community life
making sugar cane juice in the communitymaking sugar cane juice in the community
making sugar cane juice in the community
the sugar canethe sugar cane
the sugar cane
grown in the community
and the best bitand the best bit
and the best bit
with a twist of fresh lime juice... yummmmm
Very cool mushroom eating gardening antsVery cool mushroom eating gardening ants
Very cool mushroom eating gardening ants
These ants are all carrying bits of a certain type of leaf that they take back to their nest. Not to build their nest with, but to build a compost pile which grows a specific type of fungus that the ants eat. The fungus ONLY grows in thesde ant made compost piles, which are only made from a specifoc few types of leaf! amazing. This line of green went for about ten or fifteen meters, but we later saw others that stretched even further.
battling the mouldbattling the mould
battling the mould
most of our work involved sanding the mould off the cabins, which are all made the traditional way out of local bamboo, timber and palm.
looking across the river from San Miguel del balalooking across the river from San Miguel del bala
looking across the river from San Miguel del bala
There is another indigenous community living in that forest too.
butterflies and papayabutterflies and papaya
butterflies and papaya
This is the last photo I have of my necklace that my friend madeThis is the last photo I have of my necklace that my friend made
This is the last photo I have of my necklace that my friend made
before a rat ate it. Actually it could have been any creature. But very strange. I heard noises in the night and thought it distinctly sounded like my necklace being dragged across the floor. Then, mostly because I wanted to get to sleep, I though, nah... why would anything want my necklace. Just a bunch of dried up old Eucalypt nuts, when there is so much fruit and food in the forest just outside. Well, what did I know. Apparently the creature had a taste for the exotic.
a cool planta cool plant
a cool plant
another cool plantanother cool plant
another cool plant
spiky tree rootsspiky tree roots
spiky tree roots
The name for this tree (which I did not get down) translates into the devil and sait tree. Apparently various parts of the tree provide different medicines (the bark, the sap and the leaves, I think), which is part of the trees saintly reputation. But it is also a favourite habitat of a tiny ant with a nasty sting, as I discovered first hand by leaning on one. They used to tie people to this tree as a form of punishment (hence the devil), but then the ants were said to suck out the evil from the person (hence the Saint)
The ladder treeThe ladder tree
The ladder tree
The name for this tree translates to ladder tree because it was easy to climb. I think there is fruit at the top, but I am not sure. And for some reason Jono and I did not try to climb it. Strange.
prettypretty
pretty
note the ants? I did not get so close to these ones
full moon on the river Benifull moon on the river Beni
full moon on the river Beni
Jono looking like an ultrasound fetusJono looking like an ultrasound fetus
Jono looking like an ultrasound fetus
in his mosquito net
our showerour shower
our shower
great views made up for the fact that it was cold.
me doing something in the kitchenme doing something in the kitchen
me doing something in the kitchen
Even though helping in the kitchen was not one of our official roles, I always tried to help out with the dishes, as the cooks, I think worked harder than anyone else, from 6:30 in the morning through to 7:30pm. the food they produced though was absolutely AMAZING (especially what the tourists ate).
As I have mentioned before, I can be immatureAs I have mentioned before, I can be immature
As I have mentioned before, I can be immature
and I could not let this one pass



12th July 2008

lolo & fifi
non-member comment

Lyers!
Hey amigos! Did you say that you saw pinks dolphins? We want to see the photo with dahna and the pink dolphin.... See you Cusco amigos...great choro trek in your company and very nice libanese dinner.
12th July 2008

Jono Dahna
Dahna McConnachie and Jonathan Edwards

haha
shhhh... that is still to come! (I have not got around to writing up the Pampas tour yet... I should write less I guess, then it would not take so long... :)
26th July 2008

Clare (OE)
non-member comment

Wow, what a great thing to do Dahna, realise your childhood dream and volunteer at the same time! your butterfly with the blue wings is probably a Morpho - very famous amazonian butterfly. Lucky you. Kinda like seeing a Cairns birdwing (the green one) in Cairns, or the Ulysses (blue one on the pawpaw boxes). XXXClare btw, why is the date stamp on your blog so far ahead??
26th July 2008

Jono Dahna
Dahna McConnachie and Jonathan Edwards

oooopsadaisy
the date stamp is so far ahead because I am in holiday head space and date challenged! Thanks for pointing that out to me! haha. It is fixed now.
14th September 2009

Dan
non-member comment

Good info.
Good blog, we are currently looking into spending some time in the Amazon Jungle and have been deciding between San Miguel and a couple of other eco/ethno lodges. Thanks for the account of your trip and the tips. It has helped make up our mind. Plus after a few years out of country Queensland it would be nice to experience that layed back style of life again.
11th September 2012

Jono Dahna
Dahna McConnachie and Jonathan Edwards

a very belated reply
Hello -- a very belated reply, but thanks for your compliment on our travel blog. I hope that you had a great trip too!

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