Advertisement
Published: April 14th 2007
Edit Blog Post
Beni River
Ah, this is the life.... Sitting in a long boat and powering gently up the Beni River, it was hard to believe that our 3 day trip into the jungle was about to begin. After our hasty arrival and departure in Rurrenabaque, we were suddenly surrounded by nothing but the greenest of trees and sound of the water lapping against the boat. It was bliss. Riding along so close to the water was a relaxing way to travel and we soon made friends with our travel companions, Regula and Mathias from Switzerland. We had been surprised to find so few other people booked onto our jungle tour but the idea of it being just the four of us was perfect. As we chatted, the boat zoomed lazily up the river, weaving between strong currents and meandering from one bank to the other in the process.
Part way into the trip, we pulled up at the Madid National Park Ranger´s station to pay our entrance fee of 80 Bs each and were very grateful to Mario, one of the locals from our tour agency, who scaled the incredibly slippery banks to hand over our cash. Back on board the boat, I was concerned when a
Stormy Waters
Yesterday's rains changed the normally calm waters into a flurry of eddies and swirls. huge bug landed on Mario's back but when I warned him about it, he thought it would be fun to flick the creature at me instead! I took it all in good spirits but I don't mind saying I almost jumped out of the boat in shock!
After 2 hours of relaxing sailing, we arrived at our jungle camp which is affectionately known as Camp Toucan. The storms from the previous day had also wiped out the way up into the camp from the shore and we all looked at each other nervously as we considered exactly how we might make it off the boat without either sinking knee-deep in mud or sliding straight into the river with all our stuff. Once again Mario saved the day by gathering a stack of big bamboo rods and forming a makeshift set of steps. It was tricky getting out of the boat but we all made it without any disasters.
The camp itself is just fantastic. We are in a dorm-like cabin with plenty of room for the four of us to spread out. Each bed has silk mosquito nets attached so not even the tiniest of ants could crawl
Thrill Seekers
It looks like we´re on a speedboat but it was actually quite a gentle ride, hoenst! inside, which made me feel instantly at ease. Walking around the camp, you could really feel that you were right in the heart of the rainforest and a million miles away from civilisation. The only noise came from the butterflies as thier wings fluttered and the macaws resting in the tall palm trees above us.
It was about 4pm when we arrived and the weather had remained clear and sunny all the way along the river. We met up with the rest of the Inca Land Tours crew including Esmerelda, our cook, and Angel who would be our guide. After a good helping of biscuits, popcorn and fruit juice, we readied ourselves for the first of our jungle incursions - a night safari.
Night comes quickly in the Amazon and being so far away from any source of light pollution, the skies really are the most intense void of darkness punctuated by more stars than I´ve ever seen in my life. Our camp has no electricity so we really got to appreciate what it´s like to live in these remotes parts. We tucked into a tasty dinner of spaghetti bolognaise and Esmerelda even made me a veggie sauce,
Sweet Valley High
The lanscape along the river was fantastic with mountains and cliffs all along the way. bless her. Then it was time to go for our night safari.
As we began our walk, Angel advised us all to tuck our trousers into our socks as this part of the jungle is home to a whole host of giant and menacing ants. With torches in hand, we set off deep into the undergrowth to see if we could trsck down any of the jungle's nocturnal residents. Every so often, we would stumble across the tracks of an animal and with Angel's keen ear, we would follow silently and then stop, torches off, in total darkness for up to 8 minutes at a time. It was the most total blackness either of us has ever known - you honestly coudn´t see your hand before your face - and at one point, an animal rustled right past us but we never found out what it was!
Alas, we didn´t actually get to see any big wildlife up close but it was thrilling just to be in the midst of such a wild, untamed environment. We saw loads of scary looking ants including giant leaf-cutter ants carrying their cargo along the forest floor. We also saw more species
Madidi National Park
Not even Mario (in blue) was brave enough to try the steps up to the park entrance. of spider than I knew existed, some of which were as large as my hand! thankfully, we didn´t walk into any evil webs and all of us made it back to camp alive and unscathed.
It was only 9pm when we got back to base but the intense darkness triggered the sleep instincts in all of us and we were soon all tucked up in bed and dozing away with the sounds of the jungle buzzing all around us. I think it's actually noisier at night in the forest than it is in the day! So, how´s that for a truly awesome first day out in the depths of the Bolivian Amazon? They´ll make intrepid explorers out of us yet!!
Advertisement
Tot: 0.291s; Tpl: 0.012s; cc: 17; qc: 79; dbt: 0.1973s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.2mb
Linda
non-member comment
Explorers!
I had pictured the pair of you in the same pose as the introdution page - but with massive green jungly leaves all around and possibly holding nets or something. Not that you'd want to damage the lovely butterfly.