Thursday 1 November 2007

Rurrenabaque Jungle

Rurrenabaque lies on the banks of the River Beni. About 3 hours up the river is the Madidi National Park, a huge area of the forest that the Bolivian government has protected against development. It was a very difficult place to be - very hot, very very humid and full of insects. Standing perfectly motionless would still induce a sweat of Niagra proportions. Nevertheless, we still saw a huge variety of exotic creatures.
We saw, more Cayman, Hummingbirds, Soldier Ants, Fire Ants, Leafcutter Ants ( see photo of one having an encoutner with a spider ), Wild Pigs, Spider Monkeys, Mice, Yellow Frogs, Red Maccaws, Green Maccaws, and more random insects than I can ( or want ) to remember. We also spotted a Tarantula´s nest, but we didn´t hang around to meet the resident.. The hightlights were probably tracking the grunts and snorts of the Wild Pigs through the jungle until we finally spotted them. Or walking along a track at nightime until we hit a large pond, and then realising that all the points of light reflecting back from the pond from our torches, were the eyes of submerged Cayman.....
We had a great time, but after a week, we were all very glad to get back upto to La Paz and cool down...

Here´s clip from the boat ride up the Beni...