Welcome to the jungle!

"Don't worry, the Caimans don't tend to go for humans, unless you are unlucky and step on one".

Our guide’s words didn't exactly fill me with confidence. Unfortunately, with our boat firmly grounded there was no option other than to get off the boat and push. It was the very end of the dry season (apparently there had been no rain for some four months) and the Yucuma river was, according to our guide, as low as it has ever been. Still, as our guide explained, the bonus was that this forces the wildlife on either side of the river bank closer to the boats.

Our trip to the Pampas area of Bolivia had begun earlier that day with a flight from La Paz to Rurrembaque, a small town of around 15,000 inhabitants some 400kms north of La Paz. Our flight was scheduled to leave at 6.15am but was delayed for a couple of hours due to forest fires in the Rurrembaque area (apparently this is not uncommon as the farmers in this part of Bolivia often scorch their land to make it more fertile and later to allow their cattle to graze on it).

Our aeroplane was a sight to behold - 19 passengers squeezed in like battery hens and just about the smallest cockpit I had ever seen! As the pilots fired the engines up (in itself a considerable effort!) I half expected the propellers to stay still and the plane to rotate.   Still, the scenery was amazing – shortly after having taken off have you are flying over (at some points level with) snow-capped mountain peaks before descending into the jungle. Incredible to think the flight is over within 40 minutes!

We landed at Rurrembaque (on a tarmac runway, not grass, as Lonely Planet had led us to believe!) and walked a short distance to the airport - no customs or passport control here - the airport was about the size of an average house in the UK!

Our journey to the Pampas was in a Land Rover type vehicle, which thankfully had air conditioning which meant we could keep our windows closed on the dusty dirt track. The journey was great fun - three hours of bouncing (or being thrown) around - when we got to our destination it felt like we had both had full body massages!

Characolas ecolodge, where we would stay for the next two nights, lies on the banks of the Yucuma river. It has only been in existence for around 15 years and was developed and is now run by indigenous Bolivians from the Pampas area.

Our first afternoon and the morning of the next day were spent out on the boat. It is just about the best time of year to see the wildlife as it is near enough the end of the dry-season and, with it being early-spring, a lot of the migratory birds had arrived.

To get so close to so much wildlife was an unforgettable experience, especially with such a knowledgeable guide who had grown up in the area.

Some of the highlights were:

Great Egret

Yellow-spotted Amazon river turtle

Great Egret, Great-Blue Heron and Capybaras

Spectacled Caiman - best seen from within the boat and not in the river!

Capybara (world's largest rodent) and friend (tropical kingbird)

Great Jacamar

Jabiru (huge, tall bird) & Limpkin

Wood Stork

Coati

Black Howler Monkey

Black-collared hawk

Black-Hawk Eagle

Hoatzin

Bolivian Squirrel Monkey

Southern Screamers

Southern Lapwings

We also went for a night-walk on which we saw spectacled caimans (identifiable by their eyes which light up like cats-eyes when you shine a torch on them) and a variety of spiders and frogs, none of which you would want to find in your room at night!

On the subject of our rooms, they were pretty much what we expected and certainly no more than you would need in the heat – i.e. wooden (eco-friendly) huts with not much more than a bed, a good mosquito net and cold showers. With the heat (it was between 37 and 40 Celsius during the day and not much cooler at night) and humidity there was no way any sane human would want a warm shower. The humidity is quite something - no sooner have you had a cold shower and dried yourself are you covered in a layer of sweat - whatever time of day. It really is quite draining which fortunately means you sleep very well at night.

On the day of our departure we went for an early morning walk in the Pampas. We didn't manage to find anacondas (I'm sure dead ones don't count!) but we did see a colourful lesser anteater just wandering along the path minding its own business. Apparently we were quite lucky to see it as they are usually nocturnal feeders.

The following three days were spent at the Amazon tributary of Chalalan Ecolodge. This place has some rave reviews online and is highly recommended in the Lonely Planet – with good reason. We had an excellent time there.

The journey to the lodge began with what was meant to be a 5-hour boat journey. It started innocuously enough – the river was calm, wide and deep (so hopefully no need to get out and push – how wrong I was!) as we entered the Madidi National Park.



Large-Billed Tern



We picked up a second river which would take us to the lodge.  The river suddenly became much shallower and at times the flow – against which we were heading – was extremely powerful. It soon became clear what the two “extras” were on-board to do.

Those of you who have ever experienced the Thunder River ride at Chessington World of Adventures will know what I am talking about.

It was pure adrenalin pumping excitement of the highest order and a real pleasure to sit back and enjoy the ride.  Suddenly however, the boat grounded over a particularly fast moving and shallow stretch.  Knowing something was wrong, the two guys at the front quickly dropped their sticks and jumped into the water, clinging desperately to the front of the boat and trying to keep it facing forwards (and not sideways to the fast-flowing river).  The guides knew something was wrong and jumped in too, fighting  to keep the boat facing forwards.

The atmosphere quickly changed to one of mild panic. The boat had become lodged sideways against two large pieces of driftwood and was perilously positioned rocking from side to side.  None of the guides or crew seemed to know what to do. It actually seemed to be safer in the water than in the boat and some of us jumped of trying to stablise the boat’s position, which meant that it was raised slightly higher out of the water. Water was seeping into the boat and things were beginning to get wet. Fortunately, we just managed to dis-lodge the boat from the trees and point it up-river. We stopped as soon as we could to catch our breath and remove the water from the boat.  A real adventure moment but definitely quite scary too – it could easily have been a lot worst. To top it all off, the first rain in over 4 months appeared quite suddenly and fell, very heavily (almost sideways) for around an hour. The wind had also picked up quite dramatically so we were forced to stay put for a good hour until it was safe to continue upriver.

So, our 5-hour journey ended up being more like 7/8 hours and we were quite relieved to actually get to the lodge before dark! The lodge itself did not disappoint.

Chalalan's accolades are well merited; one of the few truly community-run eco-lodges in this rare swath of the Amazon, Chalalan makes the most of its local flavour. Started in the 1990's by the neighbouring community of San Jose De Uchupiamonas, Chalalan is built by locals, with local materials, uses local guides, and proceeds have already funded a school and medical clinic. It's a beautiful spot and one of the few places where you can actually stay in Madidi National Park, near relatively untouched rainforest.  Following an article about the lodge in National Geographic, a number of celebrities have recently stayed there including Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie, Harrison Ford and Calista Flockheart (AKA Ally McBeal) and most recently, Leonardo Di Caprio (who hired the whole lodge for himself for two weeks and stayed for three days).  If it is good enough for him and his 4 bodyguards (I’m not joking – he also arrived by helicopter!), personal doctor, physio and chef, it’s good enough for Sarah and I!

We had a little paradisiacal cabana with a requisite hammock out front.  Fortunately the cabanas are very well constructed and keep most creepy crawlies outside (that said, a Dutch couple who travelled with us were particularly unlucky and found an Amazon Boa snuggled up in their room (we heard the scream from a long way away!), a cockroach and a huge frog in the toilet).  Our guide quickly removed the Boa with a minimum of fuss, while the rest of us (who had come along to witness the spectacle) kept a safe distance.

Having taken longer than expected to arrive at Chalalan, we didn’t really have time to do anything in the afternoon. I was invited, along with the Dutch guy, to join the locals in a game of footie which was highly entertaining in the sweltering heat and humidity. This was definitely not included in the itinerary! The pitch, which was tiny and clearly designed for nippy little Bolivianos with closer control and a better first touch than me, consisted of a dusty playing surface about the size of a tennis court with tiny goals built from the wood of cactus plants. The locals were amazed at my ability – ability that is to not only miss the goal by some margin when shooting  but in doing so, also managing to lose the ball in the jungle! “El grande Gringo” I became known as, which I’m pretty sure was not meant to be taken as a compliment.

 Having taken a post-game cold shower and eventually managed to cool down a little, we tucked into our first supper, which was excellent. The highlight was the main course – catfish caught in the local lake which was cooked in jungle leaves in a huge wood burning stove. The sauce accompanying it was not as harmless as it looked, as I found out to my cost after having covered my fish and vegetables in it! Some people never learn!

Having eaten, we returned to our cabanas to cover ourselves in insect repellent ahead of our night-walk in the jungle, which we had somewhat reluctantly agreed to do (Sarah and I are not exactly what you would call insect-enthusiasts, especially when the insects are 4-5 times the size of what we are used to in the UK!).  The Dutch girl was still pretty shaken up by what they found in their cabana and, even more so when, as we set off she felt a huge spider crawling up her trousers.  It was not exactly what you would call a relaxing walk! Even our guide had put on some heavy duty Doc Marten boots into which he had tucked his trousers! Below are some of things we saw.

Golden Silk Spider

Brown Spider

Smoky Jungle Frog

The next day we set off early doors for a jungle walk – much easier to stomach when you can actually see the insects, cobwebs etc! Below are some of the highlights.

Black Tarantula

Poison Dart Frog

The afternoon involved a relaxing boat trip on Chalalan’s own lake – relaxing that is, until I found a large spider in the boat.  This was no ordinary spider though – as our guide casually tossed him off the boat, it proceeded to walk on the water at great pace! Even a fox would be impressed with that cunning little trick!

That evening I was treated to a surprise for my 32^nd birthday (which was even more of a surprise as I had completely lost track of time and had no idea that it was actually my birthday!). I was presented with an interesting and colourful looking cake which looked like it had been made for Mr Blobby, but was absolutely delicious.  The evening ended with some local music, dancing and general frivolity – a great end to a fabulous break in the jungle.