Soft yellow rays of early morning light filtered onto the floor of our hostel bedroom in La Paz, Bolivia. As the sun rose above the sprawling city we moved to the balcony attached to our room soaking in its warmth and deeply breathing the cool, thin air. It was Memorial Day in the United States and thoughts of home, of friends, and of family filled my mind despite our flight to the Rurrenabaque and the Bolivian Amazon departing in mere hours. El Alto Airport sits on a high plain above the expanse of La Paz. Desiring the most efficient means of travel, after breakfast, we walked to a street near Plaza España and caught a taxi to the airport.
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| The mirrored waters of the pampas |
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| Bienvenidos to Rurrenabaque |
Navigating the many hills of La Paz by car is both fascinating and terrifying. Our driver took an indirect route respite the flat fare so the less than 10 mile journey took almost an hour. We had given ourselves ample buffer but were still glad to find El Alto International Airport only slightly larger than the airport in Grand Junction, Colorado. As it were in less than 10 minutes we checked our bags, went through security, and walked to the gate.
We took a 40 minute flight instead of an 18 to 24 hour bus ride to get from La Paz to Rurrenabaque. At the airport we walked out onto the tarmac to board our plane, a newer, small Boeing jet complete with a Rolls Royce engine. The pilot scarcely climbed in altitude after leaving La Paz before descending towards to low elevation jungle. Thick, low lying clouds blanketed the space above the expansive rainforest. Only when the plane was gently bouncing down the tarmac did we realize we had arrived in the Bolivian Amazon.
To step off the plane was to be transported onto another planet, completely different than the mountain scape surrounding La Paz. Thick, warm air enveloped us and felt so dense it was like we were swimming in a sea of oxygen. Above us, wisps of clouds snaked around tall tree tops and dark green vegetation clung to steep jungle slopes.
Our tour agency had sent a car to drive us from the airport into town making us feel much fancier than we actually are. The driver dropped us off in the heart of Rurrenabaque's small downtown, one block from the Río Beni. We found a hostel overlooking the swift chocolate colored river and settled into our accommodations.
While the city lay closed for siesta we walked along the river and bought juicy tangerines from the back a car. Our stroll took us by the city's main square with its beautiful landscaping, veranda, and many places to sit and enjoy the warm, slow days. The street were lined with shops selling everything from backpacks to bicycles and tour offices catering to English speakers and Israelis. Motor bikes, loaded down with entire families zipped down the dirt streets avoiding each other and pedestrians. We visited the office of Bala Tours and paid for our six day, five night jungle and pampas tour excited to depart the following morning.
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| Bienvenidos to Rurrenabaque and the Río Beni! |
Early the next morning, we met our guide, Fernando, at the tour office and walked several short blocks to the river. From the start we could tell Fernando was a jovial man, joking with shop keepers on our way to the river bank. Along the shore a boat awaited to take us upriver to the jungle ecolodge. The 40 ft long shallow bottomed canoe was made from a single tall tree. We sat in lawn chairs in the middle of the boat and a single Yamaha motor perched on the back controlled by our pilot, Juan Carlos, powered and steered us upriver. To our surprise, we were the only people in our tour group, even though we had not paid for a private tour.
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| National Park Madidi: a treasure for always |
We stopped briefly at the office of Parque Nacional Madidi, named for a species of ant found in the jungle, and paid our admission to the park before commencing a 3 hour journey upriver. The swift currents of the chocolate colored Río Beni form eddies and whirlpools in the wide river while half-sunken trees and rocks create standing waves. Along the river tall trees capped with pink flowers called Flor de Mayo, stood out from the sea of green. Walls of sandstone and conglomerate showed where the river had cut away once tall hills and along the sandy shores grew bamboo with feathered tufts like oversized Pampa grass. Birds fished and sunned their bodies along the shoreline while Fernando shared their scientific names over the roar of the motor.
We arrived at the Tacuarales Ecolodge for lunch, a delicious spread including fried yuca and fresh banana covered in chocolate syrup. Satiated, we napped in hammocks on the porch of our palm frond thatched bungalow. As the only guests at the ecolodge we spent the day feeling spoiled. Outside our bungalow papaya and banana trees stood tall and heavy with ripening fruit while tropical flowers grew on manicured shrubs. It felt like a paradise lost, hidden from reality by the dense surrounding jungle.
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| The view from our bungalow |
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| Siesta time |
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| A termite nest on the side of a vine covered tree |
The ambient air was thick and warm, different from the mountains and deserts of our previous months. Following our siesta we traveled further upriver for our first jungle walk. I loved traipsing through the dense rainforest listening to the sounds of the thick, dark foliage. We heard and saw glimpses of squirrel monkeys leaping above us from branch to branch and frond to frond in the tall canopy. A toucan cried out from a nearby treetop while beautiful blue butterflies and colorful flowers surrounded us on the forest floor. On a large leaf we spotted a terrifying ant with jowls designed to inflict pain. Termites built nests on tree trunks larger than a mans head connected to the ground with narrow tunnels of mud.
Our walk ended as we mounted a boardwalk built by the Bolivian Tourism Bureau. I watched leaf cutter ants march along the railing as we moved down the elevated planks towards a tall wooden platform. We climbed to the top and found ourselves camouflaged amongst the lush canopy looking out onto a huecoed sandstone wall, home to luminescent red green winged macaws. From the platform we watched the birds fly in synchronized pairs and sit closely together in their elevated stone caves. It brought me joy to watch their bright colors flash under the cloudy sky wishing I had wings to fly and join them.
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| The sign at the macaw mirador |
We walked the trail from the Río Beni to the Tacuarales Lodge in fading light. Vines hung from the tall trees, kissing our shoulders as we passed underneath them. Dinner was a feast of meat, rice and vegetables. With full stomachs we retreated to our bungalow and lay under our mosquito net watching a two inch long golden cockroach climb up and down the fine mesh.
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| Inside our jungle accomodations |
The steady hum of jungle insects filled the night air with soothing white noise as birds occasionally cried out into the darkness. Giant glowing fireflies lay scattered across the soft ground outside our bungalow, flashing their brilliant bottoms before hiding in the darkness. Exhausted, we feel asleep quickly to the gentle hum of the jungle.
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| Hilda presenting my birthday breakfast |
My 29th birthday began to the sound of rain falling gently on broad leaves jungle. Cody smiled at me under the fine mesh of our mosquito net and presented me with my first of many gifts and surprises, a pair of handmade lápiz lazuli, wood and silver earrings from Mendoza, Argentina. I thought it was impossible to feel more loved.
At breakfast we were greeted with smiling faces and a beautiful spread of fruit cut into the shapes of animals including termites made from papaya and a turtle made from papaya, bananas, and half a lime. Smashed yuca and charque (salted sun dried meat), scrambled eggs and cheese bread completed our elaborate breakfast spread.
As we ate in the comedor a tapir wandered from the forest begging for scraps. Fernando introduced her as Gabriella and after breakfast I went to meet her. Dark-brown with short coarse hair, Gabriella stood with the statue of a large hog. She held her sturdy body on three-toed hooves and explored her surrounding using her long dexterous snout. I scratched the side of her broad cheek and jaw and laughed as she licked my face with her coarse tongue.
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| Hola Gabriela! |
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| So very nice to meet you |
Shortly after breakfast we left on foot for a three and a half hour jungle walk followed closely by Gabriella. The rain had subsided and while we saw few animals except our friendly and lumbering tapir, I relished in the flora, learning the names and medicinal uses of many jungle plants. We saw dozens of species of trees, amazed by their varied bark, as some were prickly, some smooth, some ridged, and some bumpy. Many trees hung with thick twisting vines, some of which were slowly strangling an unwilling victim. I took pictures of flowers and fungi, leaves and trees, feeling like a child filled with the wonder of a new environment.
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| White fungi growing on a fallen log |
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| The trees are so big! |
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| Cody in the jungle |
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| Pretty pink fungi |
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| So many amazing trees |
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| More incredible fungi |
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| Wild spikey bark |
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| Our jungle companion, Gabriella the tapir |
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| Fernando leading the way |
Halfway through our hike, Fernando stopped us abruptly and told us to be quiet. He had me reverse my bright red rain coat before stealthily creeping forward. A low rumble and the sound of cracking and crashing beckoned us forward. To our luck we had ventured upon a herd of wild jungle pigs and were instantly surrounded by more than 200 members. Smelling like their domesticated cousins, their odor and sounds made them easy to track through the underbrush. From a distance we watched the skittish creatures trample through the dense jungle. It was exciting to stalk them and be treated to a look of their beady eyes and brown bristled hair.
As the noon hour approached we mosied back to the lodge passing a tall tree called Ajo Ajo, with cambium that smells and tastes exactly like garlic. We were greeted at the comedor with glasses of fresh tropical fruit juice. As we drank the sweet nectar a tiny yellow squirrel monkey stole a banana from a pile of fallen fruit. Looking at us with large black eyes, the monkey stuffed the entire fruit into its tiny face.
The rain returned with a fury in the early afternoon. Our post lunch siesta became a longer nap as large drops turned the soft soil into mud. Cody woke me at 5 pm to join him for a cup of tea on our porch. Relaxed and alone we talked about our future and read aloud from a book. To my surprise Cody gave me another gift, a pendant to match my new earrings of a silver tree set in fine grained wood and dark blue stone.
As darkness fell we entered the comedor to find a jungle throne for my seat at the dinner table. Palm fronds and flowers crested above my chair and lay scattered around my plate. I felt like a princess. After dinner the real surprises began. Hilda, the cook, and the other employees of the lodge presented me with a double layer cake filled with manjar and topped with cherries and peaches. The cake had been baked in a wood fired oven and looked amazing. Written beautifully in chocolate above glowing candles in the shape of 29 was "Felicitaciones Seline". Miguel, the caretaker, crowned my head with a wreath of flowers and I wanted to cry. Following two birthday songs, one in Spanish and one in English, I blew out the candles and thanked everyone profusely for their love and kindness as they each blessed me with a hug and kiss on my cheeks. The cake was then shared with laughter and smiles.
After eating more than our share of birthday cake, Cody and I sat with Fernando talking of life. As we prepared to leave for the evening Fernando had us wait as he left and returned with my final gift of the evening, a necklace he had made that afternoon as I slept. A pendant made from a slice of a motacú seed displaying six symmetrical holes was surrounded by polished seeds called "lágrimas de María" on macraméd brown thread. I thanked him for the gift feeling overwhelmed by the entirety of the day. It was my most memorable birthday in recent years and the day could not have been more perfect.
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| My jungle throne |
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| Cake for everyone and a crown for me |
Our final day in the jungle was as eye opening and beautiful as the previous two. We awoke to warm air after a chilly night grateful to see the storm had passed. Gabriella was waiting outside our porch for her morning chin scratch. Following breakfast we departed by boat, downriver to a indigenous community of 10 families located near the shore of the Río Beni. A long muddy walk led us to the village hidden in a small clearing and surrounded by jungle. A lonely blue and yellow macaw watched us from a treetop as we balanced on slippery logs. Since our first view of the red green winged macaws we had seen many flying in pairs over the canopy, belting their loud caws. Almost always in pairs as macaws mate for life, to see one alone typically means their partner has died.
The village was small and condensed. Simple thatched roof structures stood with walls made of wide hand planned boards or weathered tarps from the USAID. We were greeted by several inhabitants and a small squirrel monkey on a leash. Fernando talked with the locals and told them we wished to learn about the Takana culture, one of the many indigenous Bolivian Amazonian ethnicities, and the way people live in the jungle.
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| Graciela removing the hulls from pounded rice with more rice drying in the background |
A woman, Graciela, showed us where they grow rice next to the village and how they dry it in the sun on tarps before pounding off the husks with a large wooden mortar and pestle. We watched Graciela use the wind to sift away the broken hulls before trying our the process ourselves. It only took a minute of pounding to appreciate the mechanized world and ease it adds to our daily life.
A boy strung a tall wooden bow and with a long notched wooden arrow, commonly used to hunt fish in the rivers, shot a papaya placed on the ground. Cody tried repeatedly to match his prowess, but after nearly a dozen tries could only get close to the intended mark. With additional instruction he finally succeeded, striking the soft orange flesh of the ripe papaya and the it was my turn. I grazed the papaya on my second shot and hit it dead on on my fourth. After shooting arrows and pounding rice we watched Graciela swiftly and deftly construct an egg basket from a single piece of palm frond while a man from the village made a woven fan with similar deftness.
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| How to make a fan in under 5 minutes |
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| Riding back on the Rio Beni after our visit to the indigenous community |
It is a hard and different life of subsistence these communities lead in the jungle. Our hosts told us 23 communities exist in the Lajas Conservation Area within Madidi National Park all of which are only accessible by boat. Our visit while short and exploitative in feeling was just one of many ways these communities continue to survive in the wild reaches of the jungle. Their income sources come from tourist visits such as our own and selling produce in Rurrenabaque. Otherwise their entire existence comes from living off what the land provides, fishing the rivers, hunting tapir and wild pigs in the forest, and gathering from and cultivating the land.
After a final night falling asleep to jungle sounds we awoke before the sun rose to take our canoe back to Rurrenabaque. The sun rose above the horizon as we enjoyed a tranquil and beautiful ride downriver. It was impossible not to smile as the sun kissed the the sharp misty green mountains and illuminated the dark green fronds and leaves rising from the riverbanks. Our stop in Rurrenabaque was brief as we waited for a driver to take us to the second half of our Amazonian tour, into the marshy reaches of the Pampas.
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| The misty mountains of Rurrenabaque |
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| Welcome to the Pampas of the Yacuma |
The car ride from Rurrenabaque to Santa Rosa was mostly uneventful. As we cruised down a dusty dirt road the landscape changed quickly from the lush green mountains of Rurrenabaque to a sprawling swampland strewn with cattle, carrion eaters and farms. Having spotted a sloth hanging from a roadside tree, our driver stopped abruptly. I watched in delight as the sloth slowly climbed down a tree branch. With every long reach he hooked his talon like claws on the slender bow, his squished face relaxed in idle concentration.
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| The sign greeting us at the Caracoles Ecolodge |
Our drive ended at the Río Yacuma where a canoe smaller than those we used on the Río Beni awaited us. We were whisked a short ways downriver to our new home for the next three days, the Caracoles Ecolodge. Our thatched roofed bungalow was more spacious than the last with screened windows spanning the length of two walls. The windows were shaded with white lace curtains reminiscent of a classic movie.
We spent the afternoon on a photo safari down the Río Yacuma. It felt impossible to absorb the beautiful birds perched in trees, river turtles sunning themselves on floating logs, howler monkeys lurking from towering tree tops and caymans exposing their beady eyes, long snouts and scales tails inches above the water surface. Pink dolphins delicately cruised by our canoe in the slow moving, tannin rich river water. As sunset neared we pulled the boat along a dirt causeway and walked a short ways down the narrow path enjoying the croaking of frogs, chirping insects and calls of birds. In the distance a cayman cannibalized another and we tried to spy anacondas lurking in the tall grass. We stayed until the sun set below the horizon excited to have two more days to explore the river.
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| The incredible mirrored water of the Rio Yacuma |
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| Sunset on the causeway |
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| Our bungalow in the pampas |
For the second day in a row we awoke before the sun rose. Fernando guided our canoe back to the causeway for sunrise. While the notoriously elusive anaconda was not to be seen, dozens of capybaras, a giant aquatic guinea pigs, were using the causeway to cross from one side of the marshland to the other. Their brown hairy bodies waddled as they walked reminding me of furry hippopotamuses. As the sun crept above the horizon howler monkeys led a raucous chorus in distant trees. Dozens of bird species flew over the swampland swooping and sweeping over the water. A bird with a bright red face that used agile wings to a swoop over the water, creating a small V of ripples as it skimmed the glassy surface with its lower beak.
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| Sunrise on the causeway |
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| Good morning pampas |
For a third time we returned to the causeway after breakfast. To my delight dozens of cayman lay sunning themselves along the banks of the muddy banks. Numerous lizards skittered back and forth across the warming dirt road including one that ran with his legs splayed out in large circles. Birds were active in the shallow water and a mother and her chicks hopped amongst the weedy vegetation in search of insects. We walked down the causeway until the heat became too stifling to bear, returning to our boat and the gentle breeze of the river.
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| Birds take flight in the morning light |
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| Cayman in the weeds |
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| Never smile at a crocodile, thankfully its a cayman |
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| Morning is a nice time for sunshine |
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| Flowers growing along the causeway |
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| Another incredible view from the causeway |
The afternoon and evening we filled with an indescribable 4.5 hour canoe ride upriver in search of squirrel monkeys. As we traveled, many pink river dolphins swam alongside us spouting and cresting their ruddy fins in the tranquil waters. Birds of all sizes and colors sat on branches above the water hiding from the midday sun. Fernando guided our canoe through narrow short cuts connecting the river's sinuous main channel. He would turn the canoe into the dense tangle of trees and bushes so abruptly we were always surprised to find a tunnel that passed through to the next segment of river.
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| Cody relaxings in the bow of our canoe |
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| Jungle chickens in a tree |
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| Beautiful day on the Rio Yacuma |
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| Howler monkeys in a tree |
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| Turtles floating on a log |
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| Living the good life |
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| Bird watching |
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| Weaving through small passages |
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| And tunnels of love |
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| and watching out for these guys |
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| Gazing into the amazing mirrored water |
For two hours we traveled upriver when Fernando abruptly steered us into a bush covered with white berries. Instantly the squirrel monkeys surrounded us, screeching and chirping in their high pitched voices less than a foot from our faces. We watched them eat and play amongst themselves, leaping from branch to branch as they tried to sate their curiosity of the strange visitors. Their playful exhibition made the short visit well worth it.
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| Squirrel monkeys |
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| Monkey see |
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| What cha looking at? |
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| Monkey do |
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| Tasty white berries |
As we cruised the mirrored river water we watched howler monkeys scramble in high tree branches. As the sun set Fernando steered us off the river channel into a vast marshy plains of the pampas. In the stillness of early evening we watched the orange globe drop behind a tall branching tree. For the final minutes of daylight it was as if a fireball had been placed in a wicker basket.
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| Evening light reflected on the river |
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| Sunset in the pampas |
Fernando drove us back to the lodge by moonlight, occasionally spotting the vegetated limits of the river with a flashlight while Cody used his headlamp to see the glowing eyes of caymans floating menacingly above the waters surface.
I awoke on our final morning in the pampas to the golden red light of sunrise streaming through the tall trees behind our hut. After breakfast we went a short ways upriver to where the ferry barge crosses the still water. Large enough for one car or several motorbikes the barge is pulled across with a rope stretched between the two banks. We passed under the rope and stopped the canoe near a large tree and the skeleton of a rooftop peaking above the murky river water. All around us pink river dolphins surfaced and splashed, showing off their ruddy fins.
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| The ferry |
We stripped to our swimming suits and donned life jackets. Cody entered the water first and paddled out towards and dolphins. Several splashed around him as I entered the refreshing water, swimming towards him while trying to capture his laughter and joy with our waterproof camera. The next hour passed quickly as we swam, played and communed with the river dolphins. They swam alone or in pairs sneaking up and rubbing against our bodies. We swam alongside them with our hands resting gently on their smooth skin. We tickled their sides as they rolled and splashed water in our faces. One rubbed its nose against Cody's foot like a nuzzling puppy while another swam circles around me taunting me to play along. The dolphins would surprise us, rising unexpectedly and misting our faces with water from their blowholes. The entire experience was surreal and magical. Only when we felt fatigued and chilled did we reenter the boat for a final cruise up the Río Yacuma while the sun dried and warmed our skin. We had laughed so much and felt a contentment rarely experienced.
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| A dolphin breaks the surface |
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| Cody waiting for a dolphin to join him |
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| A bird on the rivers shore |
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| Relaxing after swimming with dolphins before we head back to Rurrenabaque |
Fully satisfied we returned for a final lunch before the long car ride back to Rurrenabaque. Sickly heat awaited us as we stepped out of the air conditioned car. We returned to our room in Hostal Beni thankful it was cooler than the abrasive temperature and humidity outside. We spent the evening hours wandering Rurrenabaque and ate ice cream for dinner in an attempt to cool off.
We awoke at sunrise, well trained from our time in the jungle and pampas and lay in bed pondering our day. We had hoped to do a canopy zip line but had been unable to contact anyone at the business. With nothing to lose we tried their office a final time and found it open and guides available for the zip line tour.
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| Heading up the Rio Beni on our way to Villa Alercia |
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| Butterflies and flowers on our hike to the zip line |
At 9 am we met our guides, boarded a small canoe, donned flimsy life jackets and made our way upriver to Villa Alercia and the zip line. We disembarked the boat and entered the dark jungle. The heat was oppressive and sweat poured from our bodies. The humidity was suffocating but the guides were personable and gregarious identifying black and yellow golden orioles feasting on papaya and spotting a briefly visible small deer. We learned more medicinal uses for the jungle plants including a deworming mixture made from açai berries and the motacú trees. We tried the thin, avocado-like flesh of the fruit of the motacú tree and wandered uphill through thick foliage. Cody found a small brown frog in the trail and I enjoyed the many colorful butterflies flitting and flying around us.
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| A view of the jungle and sharp green mountains |
After 45 minutes we reached the staging area for the zip line and put on harnesses, helmets and gloves. After a short period of instruction we climbed the final narrow ridge to the launch platform. Nearly a mile long, the zip line was broken into eight sections connected by nine platforms perched in the tree tops up to 100 meters above the jungle floor. Each line was unique: some were long, some were short, some were fast, some were slow, and all were fun. We smiled and laughed as we looked down on the canopy and flew through the jungle on steel cables briefly forgetting the atrocious heat. As with most easy adventures it was over before we were ready.
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| Cody gets ready to zip through the canopy |
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| There he goes! |
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| Here he comes! |
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| Zip lines are fun! |
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| The Rurrenabaque Airport |
We returned to town and struggled with the heat. The temperature climbed above 90 degrees F and the humidity bathed our skin in sticky sweat. Waiting to leave for our flight we drank a pitcher of something called "Monkey Frozen" made of tequila, melon liquor, lime juice and sprite.
A little drunk we boarded the airport shuttle and both sadly and gladly said goodbye to Rurrenabaque. The airport, a small, simple two story building nestled in the jungle outside of town, was as hot as outside. Our plane touched down, and rather than the sleek Boeing jet we arrived in, a tiny, weathered propeller plane awaited us. From our seats we could look out the cockpit window as we rose over the jungle for a final time on our return to the high and mountainous La Paz.
Ecosystems like the extensive Amazon basin live and breathe with a unity forgotten by many whom dwell in a world of asphalt, concrete and steel. Without places like the Amazon there would be little oxygen, too much carbon dioxide and no human life. Time in places such as these further remind me why we must preserve and protect our wild and natural places. It is not only our obligations to our children's children but to the people who have for thousands of years and do to this day call the jungles and pampas home. As with so many other parts of this marvelous journey I am lucky. Lucky to have experienced a small part of this wild and special place, lucky to have shared these moments with my lover, and lucky to have a place on this beautiful planet.
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Heading back to La Paz after a once in a lifetime trip to the Bolivian Amazon
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