Kantuta flower (national flower of Bolivia)

I was lucky enough to get out on a few treks during my stay at the Mashaquipe Lodge, generally when there were small groups of one or two people. So when Darwin (one of the guides) was heading out on an overnight trek with a Belgian guy called Ralf, I got to go with them. Our walk started off with us finding a kantuta flower (the national flower of Bolivia) and pretending to be toucans, and then 5 minutes later Darwin spotted a tick on Ralf’s neck from about 2 metres away. Ralf wasn’t convinced at first because the tick was around some other small moles on his neck. I had a look and couldn’t tell the difference so when Ralf eventually let Darwin remove the tick he showed it to us and we couldn’t believe our eyes (but Ralf was obviously grateful).

Darwin the toucan

During the walk deeper into the forest Darwin explained how many of the plants and trees could be used as medicines. We tried the root of a plant that was a natural anaesthetic and made my mouth and tongue go tingly then numb but I declined to eat minty termites from a tree. We also saw a large group of chanchos (wild pigs) that were so close that we had to be ready to climb up onto a large fallen tree trunk if they got too close. As they raced past us, destroying everything in their path, you could see the hair on their backs all spiked up. The reason we were also to view them so closely is because Darwin could literally smell the chanchos as we got nearer to them, so we could walk quietly and keep ourselves hidden. Growing up and working in the forest must give you an acute sense of sight and smell because it never ceased to amaze me how the Mashaquipe guides could spot even the tiniest insects and animals from a great distance.

Macaws at the macaw look out

After stopping for lunch and a quick siesta in a hammock at one of the forest shelters, we went up to the macaw look out (and saw Capuchin monkeys on the way) before eventually reached our camp for the night.

Darwin cooking dinner

Darwin knocked out a delicious dinner and the three of us dined by candle light, with my job being to translate Darwin’s crazy stories and jokes for Ralf and to translate Ralf’s stories for Darwin. When it was finally time to sleep, I drifted off to the sounds of the forest (unlike last time when everyone was snoring).

Candle lit dinner for three in the forest

The next morning we were up early to build a raft to float back to camp on. Unlike last time when the boat came to take our bags back, this time Darwin built a raft to accommodate us and our rucksacks. To me this was luxury rafting as Darwin steered us all the way back and even build a little platform for me to sit on.

Darwin finishing off the luxury raft

I joked with Reynaldo when we got back that Darwin’s raft was more luxury that the one he had built on my last rafting trip and him and Elly joked that Darwin’s mum practically gave birth to him on a raft, so this was his area of expertise!

Floating back to the lodge on the raft

Floating back on the raft in the early hours of the morning was completely serene and beautiful, with the sun coming up and the birds and insects creating a blissful soundtrack. There is something special about Madidi National Park because every time I returned from walking in the forest I was full of energy and inspiration!

Me, Lauren and Norm also got to go on a night walk with Darwin and Ralf to look for jaguars. Of course, we didn’t see any but we did see (and hear) plenty of frogs, toads and night birds, and Darwin did a great job of building up the suspense with his jaguar stories (he’s been lucky enough to see them on three occasions). We saw a little shelter where a French woman spent almost every night for a month waiting to spot jaguars (though I still don’t know if she was successful). Given that we were only there for a couple of hours, it’s not surprising we didn’t see anything. That said, we got to cross the river at night and enjoy the beautiful clear and starry sky from the boat and it felt like a real privilege to sit in the dark in the middle of the forest, listening to the sounds and looking at the stars. Amazing!

Walking on the beach

My other excursion (which turned into a bit of an adventure) was with Reynaldo and Austrian guy called Mattias. They were going on an overnight trip to stay with a local family for the night so I got to join them as I was keen to visit a local family during my stay. Don Alejandro took us down the river by boat to start our trek. He kindly offered to piggyback us from the boat to shore (Bolivians are such gentlemen sometimes) but I was keen to get my feet into the river. Our trek took us over the beach and across another stream. As always, when there is walking and water involved, I managed to step in the wrong place and get my feet wet. This time I got distracted for a second by the amazing scenery and didn’t follow exactly in Reynaldo’s footsteps and ended up stepping in some sinking mud, almost losing one of my shoes. Imagine the shame at my uselessness when Reynaldo tried to help me clean up my muddy shoes in the river.

We crossed the pebbly river in our bare feet – me and Mattius stumbling across on our delicate European feet, while Reynaldo quickly crossed the river and kindly came back to take our rucksacks for us (probably because he knew there was a great chance, of me at least, falling over in the rover with my rucksack on).

Unfortunately, when we arrived at the family’s home (and our camping spot for the night) it was obvious that no-one was around. Then we remembered it was Sunday, which meant everyone was at the market in Rurre to sell their produce and buy supplies. So after eating some wild bananas and sugar cane, and having a bit of a rest, we decided to head back to the Mashaquipe lodge for the night.

Waiting on the beach

As the walking route back to the lodge was too dangerous for me and Mattius to attempt so Reynaldo gave us strict instructions to remain on the beach while he headed off to get the boat. In true Bolivian style we had no idea how long we might have to wait for the boat but we had no concerns at all.

View from the beach as the sun went down

Turns out we had to wait quite some time but once again I had the privilege to enjoy one of the most scenic and magical places on earth as the sun went down. The sky and light were beautiful as the sun went down, and once dark, we were treated to an amazing clear sky that was full of stars. As when I was in the Australian outback, it made me want to learn more about the night sky and the stars so I knew what I was looking at.

Beautiful night sky

Just before I had to make a toilet stop on the beach, Reynaldo turned up with the boat. Turns out the route back to the lodge was as bad as Reynaldo had told us because it took him hours and he lost his machete on the way (which I felt really bad about because each guide has their own machete and it’s vital to their job). To top it all off, he then had to piggy back us into the boat (with our rucksacks strapped to our backs) through thigh high mud and steer us back to the lodge in the pitch black dark. Of course, for me and Mattius it was an amazing ride down the river at night under an amazing starry sky but it must have been a nightmare for Reynaldo to navigate. When we got back to the lodge everyone in the kitchen looked at us with horror and asked what had happened, as they were all worried about us and thought something terrible had happened and that we’d had to be rescued! I didn’t realise this at first and casually told them that the family wasn’t there so we had to come back. Despite the drama it was a great adventure!

One of the boats carrying the balsa trunks for raft building

As I stayed for almost a month, I got to experience the forest in various weather. Another time I got to go to the macaw look out with a Belgian couple and a french lady during stormy weather. As we went up the river by boat you could see the rain and fork lightning, and as we walked through the forest you could feel the power of the rain and weather. We also had one day where it rained and rained all day, which strangely enough came after a ritual/party to ask Pachamama for more rain on behalf of the local farmers. After some time, and after continually asking how people could tell what the weather was going to be like, I could start to read the signs for rain or when it was going to be very hot. I loved the feeling of being this close to nature and starting to understand the patterns of the forest, even if only a little bit.