Following my three day pampas tour I took a days rest in the town of Rurrenabaque then headed into the jungle for two days on another tour. This time it was in Madidi National Park and was only myself and a Bolivian family of four.
The whole experience was much more intense and 'real' than the touristy pampas tour. Following a three hour boat trip into the Amazon Rain forest we hiked twenty minutes to our basic camp. A few huts for sleeping, an eating hut, bare-chested machete-wielding guides and the jungle noises were the only things to greet us upon arrival.
In the two days we did three hikes, all of which were very interesting and also exhausting because of the heat and humidity. One hike was during the night and as the Bolivians forgot their flashlights it was only me and our guide of seventeen years, so that was cool.
On our first hike we seen parrots, toucans, black eagles, termite mounds and trees over three hundred years old. Our guide showed us plants that smell and taste of garlic and can be used as insect repellent. He fed us living termites that tasted like mint and led us quietly though the jungle to watch wild pigs drinking at the river. Using a branch he lured a tarantula as big as my hand out of its hold and had it play with the wiggling stick as a kitten would with a ball of string.
In the night, the two of us walked in silence for an hour through the scrub, me secretly praying not to see any wildcats, and found wild chickens sleeping, marsupials climbing and bats flying. Then some baby tarantulas and other bizarre-looking spiders.
And on our final day the whole group went for a long morning walk before the heat picked up and our guide taught us about the poison and the medicinal plants of the forest. He showed us gum trees used to make car tyres, trees that cure malaria, rheumatism and tuberculosis. He pointed out scrubs no higher than my waist and told us they were fifteen years old, but competition is so fierce for sunlight in the rain forest they just have to bide their time, wait for a bigger tree to fall or a space to occur and then race to the top of the canopy.
We were also shown leaves which you can rub on insect bites for relief (essential) and others that provide natural anesthetics and antibiotics. He told us of friends who had deep machete wounds, but never had to travel to a doctor because all the medicine they needed was right there in the jungle. And he also told us his father had written a six hundred page book of all the useful properties of the plants and insects of the jungle with photos and information on how to find and prepare each medicine. The book just sits in their home for their own use.
The whole experience was much more intense and 'real' than the touristy pampas tour. Following a three hour boat trip into the Amazon Rain forest we hiked twenty minutes to our basic camp. A few huts for sleeping, an eating hut, bare-chested machete-wielding guides and the jungle noises were the only things to greet us upon arrival.
In the two days we did three hikes, all of which were very interesting and also exhausting because of the heat and humidity. One hike was during the night and as the Bolivians forgot their flashlights it was only me and our guide of seventeen years, so that was cool.On our first hike we seen parrots, toucans, black eagles, termite mounds and trees over three hundred years old. Our guide showed us plants that smell and taste of garlic and can be used as insect repellent. He fed us living termites that tasted like mint and led us quietly though the jungle to watch wild pigs drinking at the river. Using a branch he lured a tarantula as big as my hand out of its hold and had it play with the wiggling stick as a kitten would with a ball of string.
In the night, the two of us walked in silence for an hour through the scrub, me secretly praying not to see any wildcats, and found wild chickens sleeping, marsupials climbing and bats flying. Then some baby tarantulas and other bizarre-looking spiders.And on our final day the whole group went for a long morning walk before the heat picked up and our guide taught us about the poison and the medicinal plants of the forest. He showed us gum trees used to make car tyres, trees that cure malaria, rheumatism and tuberculosis. He pointed out scrubs no higher than my waist and told us they were fifteen years old, but competition is so fierce for sunlight in the rain forest they just have to bide their time, wait for a bigger tree to fall or a space to occur and then race to the top of the canopy.
We were also shown leaves which you can rub on insect bites for relief (essential) and others that provide natural anesthetics and antibiotics. He told us of friends who had deep machete wounds, but never had to travel to a doctor because all the medicine they needed was right there in the jungle. And he also told us his father had written a six hundred page book of all the useful properties of the plants and insects of the jungle with photos and information on how to find and prepare each medicine. The book just sits in their home for their own use. 
Photos (from top): Cabaña, my home for the two days; Crazy spiders; Our guide stands next to a three hundred year old tree; A butterfly bigger than my hand; Heading up the river and into the jungle.
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