Can´t believe that I actually ummed and ahhed about going to the Bolivian rain forest! In the end, another traveller in the hostel in La Paz recommended it so enthusiastically that I booked it straight after talking to her. Just as well because it was fantastic!
The small plane to Rurre
Rather than take the bus, which is very cheap but takes (at least) 20 hours and is considered the worst bus journey in Bolivia, I decided to spend some money on the 45 minute flight from La Paz to Rurrenabaque (Rurre).
The plane only had a row of seats down each side, maybe 18 passengers in total, and we could see through to the cockpit and the pilots and out through the front windscreen. The flight was a bit bumpy so I just kept telling myself that it was safer than the bus and it would be over in 45 minutes. The whole way I held onto my seat with one hand and onto the seat in front with the other. The view (through the scratched and dirty windows) was pretty spectacular. At first we passed over the snow-capped mountains close to La Paz, then up into the clouds before descending down into lush green rain forest. All within a 45 minute flight. The runway in Rurre was a strip of land in a green field surrounded by trees.
The runway in Rurre
Compared with La Paz and Copacabana, Rurre seemed like another country. In many ways it reminded me of Venezuela because it was so hot and humid. There weren´t really any cars and everyone was zooming around on motorbikes and scooters (without helmets, of course) and everyone was dressed for the hot weather in shorts, vests and flip-flops.
Madidi National Park
My tour to Madidi National Park started the next morning. I wasn´t really sure what to expect because in the office the day before they couldn´t really tell me much about the group I would be in. So that morning we all set off in a couple of boats, first to go and get our tickets for the National Park and then onto the Mashaquipe camp. The journey up the river was spectacular with lush rainforest on each side. Again it reminded me of the journey up the river to see Angel Falls.
The boats
The sugar cane press
On the way to the camp we stopped to visit a local family to see the sugar cane growing and try some sugar cane juice. I tried a piece of raw sugar cane and when I bit into it all the delicious sweet juice came out. Then we had to help process some of the sugar cane so that we could all drink the juice. The canes are put through a type of mill that is powered by a horse (or tourists) pushing a giant lever round in a circle. As the juice came out of the cane it was filtered through a cloth into a bucket. We were then given cups made of some kind of giant seed shell to scoop out a cup full and add a squeeze of lemon/lime before drinking it. It was one of the most delicious drinks I´ve ever tasted! I am still none the wiser about lemons and limes though – what is called a lemon here looks like a lime and vice versa.
Drinking fresh sugar cane juice - delicious!
Crossing the little river to the Zurita family to make and drink sugar cane juice
The Mashaquipe camp was lovely and we were invited to lounge in the hammocks for a while before having the first of many super delicious meals. It turned out I was in a spanish speaking group of 3 people plus the guide – Ana (from Canary Islands), Theepan (English) and Reinaldo (our Bolivian guide). This turned out to be great as I got to practice my spanish and learn loads of new words (that might only be useful in the rain forest or a zoo but nevermind). I was staying one extra day than Theepan and Ana so I was in another (spanish speaking) group with a guy from Switzerland and a guy from Australia the last day.
One of many yummy breakfasts cooked by Ellie
The 4 days of the tour were spent walking through different parts of the forest. We went to primary and secondary forest, flat forests and all sorts of parts of the forest. Reinaldo explained what the native plants were and how many of them could be used as natural medicines. There seemed to be a plant or tree bark to help every kind of health problem. We also saw the biggest trees in this part of the forest which are hundreds of years old and considered to be the spirits of the forest. The bottom part of the tree has folds which you can sleep in if you get lost in the forest. They say that if you sleep by the tree you can hear all sorts of sounds and voices, which is sometimes good and sometimes bad. The first day we saw butterflies, a pair of tortoises and chanchos (pigs).
Walking, walking, walking (and a little bit of resting)
The next day we set off with our packs, sleeping equipment and food to sleep out in the forest. We were accompanied by Wilson who cooked delicious food for us and kept us laughing with his jokes. We saw a few small monkeys, more chanchos and butterflies and more amazing plants and trees. At one point we had to cross a bridge that consisted of a log with a small branch on one side to steady ourselves. I managed the bridge but wasn´t quite so good at crossing the muddy areas without sticking my feet in the mud!
Camping in the forest
By lunchtime we arrived at our basic camp site. We slept in mosquito nets set up under some tarpaulin and there was also a tarpaulin tent for the kitchen/dining room and even a toilet (of the eco-style glastonbury type). After eating our delicious (and massive) packed lunches we had a little siesta before setting of to the macaw lookout point.
Macaw mirador
The mirador had an amazing view of the river and forest and we saw loads of macaws and parakeets flying below us. It was also the spot where an Israeli tourist died a few years ago when he fell off the edge of the mirador! We sat there for ages enjoying the spectacular view before heading back to camp for dinner and our night walk.
Ana, Theepan, me (L - R) at the macaw mirador
During the night walk we had to turn off our torches a lot of the time to have a better chance of seeing some animals. In the end we saw the crazy ants (hormigas casadores, I think) that carry leaves to make their nests and travel in long lines as far as the eye can see, lots of fire flies and a spider. I’m glad I wasn’t at the front when we discovered the spider because its web was as wide as the path. As a moth landed in the web we watched as it ran down, spun it in silk and then carried it back to the middle of the web to eat it later. It was like being in a David Attenborough program – completely fascinating to watch close up (even though I don´t like spiders). I had some romantic notion that I would fall asleep listening to the sounds of the forest that night but instead it was an orchestra of snoring!
On our last morning we got up at 5am (!!!) to go to see from below where the macaw parrots nest. The live in holes in the side of the steep banks of the forest. There were also lots of tarantula nests here but luckily we didn´t see any! I also found a macaw feather which got a bit grubby by the time I got it back to La Paz and posted it home.
Ready to go rafting
After a huge and yummy breakfast we had to walk to the river to build a raft to float back to the camp on. The raft was made from balsa wood tree trunks so it was super floaty and this is a traditional form of transport from this part of Bolivia. I thought we might only have to float half an hour or so to get back but it turned out to be a couple of hours and I had to steer most of the way while Ana and Theepan enjoyed the view and while Reinaldo had a siesta and occasionally told me to steer right or left a bit. Despite getting totally wet, we all arrived back in one piece.
Rafting down the Rio Tuichi
Of course, there was more yummy food consumed and on the last day I got to do arts and crafts in the morning and go for another walk in the afternoon. I made a necklace from seeds that I´m sure Australian customs will want to confiscate of fumigate. It was cool to make something from local materials with traditional techniques.
Going down the Rio Beni (or is this still the Rio Tuichi?) to Rurre
I was totally sad to leave Madidi Mational Park but enjoyed my last trip back down the river to Rurre and back to civilisation.
trying to travel light 