A Gem in the Jungle May 15, 2009

From the high altitude of La Paz we took a flight on a 16-passenger Amazonia Airlines prop plane down some 14,000 feet to a grass runway in the jungle town of Rurrenabaque. Bolivia is nearly 2/3 temperate lowlands in the Amazon basin so we wanted to sample this part of the country. And since Evo Morales required us to get Yellow Fever vaccinations in  order to enter the country, we had what we needed to travel to the jungle.

We booked a stay at the Chalalan ecolodge, located in Maadidi National Park. We have to give kudos to the folks at Lonely Planet for helping us find this place. Their travel guides emphasize ecotourism, encouraging travelers to seek out companies that are owned by local communities. Chalalan (www.chalalan.com) was conceived of by elders in the remote Amazonian village of San Jose de Uchupiamonas.

Early on a misty, cool morning we boarded a 40′ long canoe for the 6-hour trip upriver to the lodge. We motored up the Beni River, then onto the smaller Tuichi River to the lodge. The guides sometimes had to use poles to lift us over the shallow spots.

We were treated to incredible guided hikes through primary forest where we spotted dozens of beautiful birds (our guide said that there are 967 species of birds in Maadidi park). The lodge is located on a pristine lake in the jungle, and our guide, Rigaberto, paddled us around in a dugout canoe to find 3 kinds of monkeys and Spotted Caimen.

Rigaberto and Allison in the dugout canoe

Prehistoric bird called the Huatson. Pronounced Whats-on.

We saw at least 50 birds on our early morning walk. Our guide would stop and listen, then move like a hunter to locate where the song was coming from. We were able to see what makes to classic sound of the jungle: the Musician Wren. We saw it. But no pictures.

There were many slower living things in the jungle that we could get pictures of, including the Walking Palm marching towards a bit more light in the shady jungle.

The brown "leg" is a new root that will actually move this palm tree in that direction!

This irridescent Scarab Beetle wouldn't hold still for the macro lens

Jungle Still Life

At night the staff played traditional music as we danced and partook in a coca leaf ceremony. It’s no wonder that National Geographic has featured Chalalan as one of its top picks for being immersed in the Amazon while making a valuable contribution to a traditional community.

The staff at Chalan bidding us "buen viaje". They are proud of their community-owned enterprise.

Tuckered out on the canoe ride back to town

We headed back down the river then out to the Pampas to see the vast, wet grasslands that cover so much of the Amazon basin. We passed small villages as we drove out a dusty road to another short boat ride leaving from a ferry crossing.

Ferry, loaded with horses, operated by guy pulling rope

In the trees, along the waterways we saw many birds and animals. The golden Squirrel Monkeys boldly boarded the boat and tried to take a grapefruit from one of the tourists. The guide quickly pulled the boat away from shore, the monkey screeched, jumped into the water and swam back to the overhanging trees.

We also saw a Capuchin monkey close enough to take a picture of. We did not get pictures of the producers of a classic jungle sound, that is the growl of the Howler. They can be heard early in the morning, then seen later lounging in the trees living up to their reputations as lazy monkeys.

This Capybara, the world’s largest rodent, dozed while we took it’s picture. And we almost got photos of the beautiful freshwater Pink River Dolphins.

We went swimming with the dolphins and waited for them to come check us out. It seems that they wanted to play. They grabbed our ankles like a dog nipping your arm when wanting to play. It was a little scary because you can’t see them in the muddy water and their teeth felt big! The guides threw out a rubber ball and waited. The dolphins pushed the ball around then took it in the snout and swam away with it. A moment later it popped up with a splash and a slap of a tail. They really are pink.

This beautiful sunset picture does not show how hot and steamy it is.

We head back up to altitude shooting through a gap in the Andes mountains and found ourselves looking up at Huani Postosi (19,974′). We learned that this mountain, although it is still snow covered, has now lost its ancient glacier due to global warming, which in turn has reduced the water supply for La Paz.

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