Lions & Tigers & Bears - Oh My!

So I just got off a 20 hour bus ride from Rurrenabarque to La Paz. Unfortunately I got very little sleep because there were people sitting in the aisles and someone´s hair kept brushing my leg- disgusting p.s. So yes, it was not good times.

We got into Rurrenabarque about a week ago. Rurrenabarque is pretty much the opposite of any city I ahave seen so far in Bolivia. It is super humid, and super green. Palm trees line the Beni river in a very picturesque manner, tarantulas hide in corners on the floor, beautiful birds sing songs t o ensure that you too are awake to witness the sunrise. The people are also super relaxed- the sit outside their stores on beach chairs sipping their coca cola. There are very few cars, instead everyone drives motorcycles- even the taxis are motorcycles. They were pretty super awesome :) Since it is the entrance to Madidi National Park, it is very tourist oriented and as a result there was a French bakery that had delicious pastries, and an Israeli restaurant that had delicious falafel. Apart from the 300% humidity and the 35 degree weather, it would be heaven.

We set out for the jungle on a motorized canoe-like thing with a canopy. It was very luxurious. I fell asleep which was not all that convenient because I kept leaning to one side and sort of half falling out of the boat. After about three hours we arrived at our destination, a tiny bit of preserved land outside the main Madid Park called Sererre after the local bird, Sererre. We were in a group with two girls from Sweden (I think)- they spoke perfect English which was very impressive. Our lodge for the four days was a cabin with screen walls, embedded in a thick part of the jungle to give you some privacy. The cabin had its own bathroom as well as four beds and mosquito nets for all of them. I learned that while I think canopies are rather pretty and regal looking, they are actually stifling- however when there is a spider the size of your palm on the wall beside you, you quickly learn to get over your desire for oxygen.

The main house with the dining hall was spectacularly beautiful. Its walls were also entirely screen. Along the one wall were a whole bunch of banana stalks that have bananas in various states of ripeness- they were so good! I don´t understand why bananas in Canada can´t be this good. The upstairs was my favourite place to be, especially in the hot afternoon where you could be standing perfectly still and dripping sweat. It was quite nasty. But anyways, the upstairs floor had four hammocks, several couches, a couple of pillows on the floor to lounge on, a padded canoe to lie in and take a bit of a siesta, and then a whole bunch of curly branches everywhere to add to the decor. It was neat, because the animals really aren´t afraid of anyone at the lodge. Several macaws (look like parrots) come right up to the steps and eat the bananas and several monkeys are always hanging about.

Our first afternoon, our guide Rodolfo (who spoke only Spanish, which I can now understand :D:D:D:D), took us on a hike to lake something or other. There were so many mosquitoes! It was ridiculous. However, we luckily bought 28% DEET bug spray, and so they pretty much left us alone. I´m not sure I´m going to be able to go back to regular bug spray- this just worked so well. It was a bit worrisome though because it sort of caused a peculiar burning sensation when you put it on your forehead or your neck.

If you don´t want to read about cool animals and plants feel free to skip the following paragraphs...

While on our walk we saw these huge ants. If they bite you, you get a fever for 8 hours. There were other cool looking ant things that carry these pieces of leaves that are several times larger than their own body size. It was quite impressive. There was also this tree that has ants in the centre- it´s called the diablo tree. However, the bark can be used to make a tea that is supposedly very good for your digestion. Another tree that I don´t know the name of is so toxic that they would use the sap in darts to cause unconsciousness. If it is mixed with another type of sap it is instantly fatal, and if the tree falls into a river, within in an hour, the river goes black and all the fish die. The anaconda and the caiman can survive by getting out and searching for more comfortable surroundings. What else? We saw a ton of monkeys that I think are called Quati monkeys. They were quite cute, and very loud! One of them nearly got eaten by an anaconda- it was pretty funny. It sort of screeched and then scurried very angrily up its branch. Rodolfo then spent about 20 minutes prodding the water in an attempt to cause the anaconda to move. I stayed a safe distance away, given that I had no desire to be victim to an anaconda attack. Do you know they kill their prey in less than a second? Craziness! However, they are really slow on the ground, which is quite reassuring, so as long as you don´t fall in the lake, you have a fighting chance for survival.

The following days was pretty much more of the same. Generally we got up at around 5:30 and had breakfast at six. Breakfast was delicious- fruit salad with granola and honey and yogurt, followed by eggs and bread, with fresh squeezed orange juice and deliciously strong coffee. After breakfast,and a whole lot of complaining from our fellow companions- " the food wasn´t sufficient, they should have left the fruit plain, the coffee isn´t very good, etc" I was ready to kill some of them. Anyways, after all of this we would normally go on a 4-5 hour hike. The idea was to avoid the heat- it didn´t really work.

I think I shall just list all the other cool animals we saw because I think describing each day would be rather tedious:
- howler monkeys: they sound like motors. The first time I heard them I had no idea what they were, but they certainly do not howl.
- carnivorous ants: prey mostly on dead animals and humans, however they can also devour drunk/high humans. Note to all people who plan to visit the jungle- don´t drink.
- Electric blue butterflies
- tree with bark that generates heat and can be used to treat arthritis
- a ton of caiman- they can get up to 7 metres long! At that point they are quite dangerous to humans. At one point, we rowed over one that was buried in the sand, upsetting it and causing it to scuttle away very quickly. It rocked the boat quite a bit, and my heart actually stopped for a second. It was just so unexpected, not to mention I had no desire to end up in the water.
- gallaretas, cool birds that have red wings with yellow undersides
- oropendolo´s- black and yellow birds that are quite pretty
- brown birds that I named dodo birds due to their seeming lack of intelligence- we scared one of them and first it flew into a leaf, and then it tried to land on this tiny twig (it´s a fairly large bird, bigger than a seagull) which of course did not work, causing it to plummet several feet. hilarious!
- capivaras: they are the coolest thing ever- the world´s largest rodent. They look like overgrown guinea pigs. They can get up to 100 kilograms and they travel in groups. The first thing both Emily and I thought of were the huge rat things in the Princess Bride- apparently they really do exist! :D
-a ton of butterflies!
- rubber trees
- cocoa trees
- wild pigs: we saw them around this watering hole in the middle of the jungle. A couple of days earlier I had read an article about several guys being attacked by wild pigs to the point of being torn into unrecognizable bits. One of them managed to climb a tree to get away from them, but he didn´t get high enough so they bit off his buttocks. As you can imagine, I was a bit apprehensive a.k.a. terrified when they arrived, especially as our guide had left us alone for a couple of minutes.

We also went pirana fishing which was really cool. you take chunks of beef, and hook them onto the end of your line. You then toss the line into the river, wait about half a second, and then yank back very abruptly. If you waited any longer than that, the pirana would have taken the meat and left you with nothing more than a slight bit of fat to show its previous existence. I caught three!! It was good fun- their teeth are quite impressive.

Ooh, we also went on a night walk and saw a giant anteater. They´re huge. We were also looking for other animals. At one point we had stopped, and were being very quiet so as not to scare off the animals, and I farted super loudly. I was mortified! I think I scared off the animals because we didn´t see much else that night other than a nesting owl like bird with vibrant purple eyes.

After the jungle tour, we also decided to go on a Pampas tour. The Pampas are the grasslands of the jungle. Millions of years ago when South Africa broke off from Africa it ran into another continental plate, causing the uplift of the Andes. The Andes then blocked off the flow of the amazon which used to drain into the Pacific ocean. However, the blockage caused this huge lake in the middle of the amazon to form. Eventually the lake overran and forged its way through the Andes and into the Atlantic ocean.

The Pampas were also pretty awesome. It was pretty much a boat tour, so it was much cooler. Plus the animals are much more friendly, so capivara, herons, egrets, caiman, pink river dolphins!!! just sort of chill on the banks of the river. Good for picture taking!! We ended up swimming with the dolphins which was pretty cool. The floor of the river was hella muddy though and I kept thinking "leech". Not to mention the Caiman swimming about 10m from the dolphins, and the pirana. However, the dolphins totally rule the river, and nothing dares to cross them, so it was quite safe. Super warm too. Oh, do not pee in the water, ever!!! Apparently the penis fish really does exist and it follows the stream of warm water into very uncomfortable locations! Who knew grey´s has some medical merit to it, lol?

We want pirana fishing again, and this time there were sardines out in full force, and since I am so pro (jokes) I managed to perfect my technique to the point where I could get 9 sardines into the boat with one piece of beef. It was the sardine massacre of 2009!!! Marcel, our guide, caught actual edible piranas so we had them fried for dinner. They are extremely bony, but quite tasty.

We also went looking for anaconda and were lucky enough to find one. It was a baby anaconda, only about 15 cm diameter and about 1.5m long. We also looked for fake cobra, which can apparently bite you 4-5 times in a minute. Luckily they just give you a bad fever. I was happy to discover they wouldn´t kill me. However, we didn´t get to see any.

Alright, I think I shall end here. Point was that the jungle is absolutely incredible!!! And I love the cold! Oh, who would have guessed that ragweed thrives in the pampas?I was not pleased. I didn´t realize what it was for about 2 hours, at which point I had been climbing through fields of it. It made for a rather uncomfortable night. So yes, tonight we are off to Salta, Argentina. Only a 25 hour bus ride!

Oh and is Tess of the D´ubervilles meant to be a satire? I found it hilarious, but I wasn´t sure whether I was supposed to be taking it seriously or not.

Lots of love,
Toni