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Published: March 11th 2008
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Plane on the grass runway
This was in Reyes, a town 45 minutes away where we landed. Guess the grass dries out faster here. Getting there is half the fun?
Well, that´s what they say right? For us, it was a wee bit stressful. You see, in order to visit the Amazon area of Bolivia, we needed to fly into a small town called Rurrenabaque. The runway there is grass...which, during the rainy season, is often too wet to land. There are also storms that prevent flying. So, you just don´t know if you´re going to make it there on the day you want to or not, and also you never know how long you might get stranded there. This makes travel planning a tad bit difficult.
BUT, we
really wanted to go to the jungle, so we decided to take our chances. After much debate and research we decided to do a 3 night trip with Chalalan Ecolodge inside Madidi National Park. This lodge is entirely run by a local village, San Jose de Uchipiamonas, and is Bolivia's leading example of sustainable ecotourism.
We arrived at the airport in El Alto (the city above La Paz) an hour ahead and were told that at the moment, no planes were flying, but to check back in an hour. An hour passed, we
Madidi National Park Sign
This was across the river in San Buenaventura were told to check back in another hour. Another hour passed...you get the idea. We were getting restless and wondering when we should switch to ¨Plan B¨ (or by now, we were likely up to ¨Plan M or N¨). But then all of a sudden, the guy behind the ticket counter motioned us over and away we went.
Most of the other tourists grew very wide-eyed and nervous looking when they saw the 20-seater, ¨small¨ plane, but compared to the Cessna 206 we usually fly in to Silver Salmon, this was big. We climbed aboard and enjoyed a smooth and scenic 40 minute flight over the mountains and into the jungle.
When the pilot announced our impending arrival, it was only then that we discovered that we weren´t landing in Rurrenabaque after all, but another grass landing strip in a town about an hour away. No worries, though, the airline had a bus ready and we scored an extra scenic (if bumpy) ride.
Our guide from Chalalan, Sergio, greeted us and the three other people on our tour at the airport and got us situated for our first night in Rurrenabaque. The heat was amazing! We had
left a chilly 41 degrees in La Paz, and were hit by a breathtaking 91 degrees in the jungle. We stayed at the Residential Oriental, a nice, clean hostal with a nice patio with several hammocks.
Up the River Without a Paddle
Next morning, we were on the river (El Rio Beni) by 8 am actually heading upstream in the nearly 45ft. motorized canoe. It was pretty relaxing, as we just sat back and enjoyed the sights of the jungle along the way. We saw a family of capybara´s, which are the world´s largest rodent, and lots of birds.
After 6 hours on the Beni River and then the Tuichi River, we arrived at the trail to Chalalan. It was an easy 25 minute walk through the jungle to the lodge, which is located on a small, but beautiful lake. Our room was in a cute little building with most screen walls and thatched roof. There were incredibly amazing mahogany wood floors in every building..even on the outside decks! We got settled in, had a huge lunch, went swimming in the lake and then off for our first hike. Sergio pointed out lots of medicinal plants and told
River Ferry
Everything comes across the river by boat us about the trees and animals (including a HUGE tarantula!) and how the indigenous peoples of the area used the jungle. We ended up on the opposite side of the lake where another canoe (this time with no motor) was waiting and Sergio paddled us back, stopping to watch capuchin and yellow spider monkeys in the trees along the lake´s edge.
That night we had an amazing dinner of fish cooked in banana leaves with about 10 sidedishes of beautiful veggies, rice, potatoes and a tasty picante sauce. Dessert was a rum soaked banana which even this banana hater loved! Afterwards, Sergio took us on a night hike to hear all the animals and insects in the jungle. There was a chance to see snakes, but we didn´t.
I think this jungle trip will warrent two entries, so I´ll stop here and continue with the second half soon. Gracias for reading.
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FABIOLA
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QUE BIEN
HOLAS SOY FABI, Y ME GUSTO MUCHO LAS FOTOS, ES INTERESANTE ME GUSTARIA IR POR ALLA ALGUNA VEZ, PERO QUE BIEN SE VEN EL LUGAR ES BONITO LOS ARBOLES, ANIMALES Y TODO SU AREA, SIGAN SUBIENDO MAS FOTOS ASI Y QUE MUESTRE A LOS COMUNARIOS Y DUEÑOS DEL LUGAR OK GRACIAS ADIOS