Monkey heaven!

Or something like it...
We just got back this morning from Chalalan Eco-Lodge. We spent the last four days hiking around the jungle, seeing the most bizarre trees and plants, canoeing around at night searching for black caimans and snakes, and searching the tree tops for monkeys.
The lodge is located far up the Beni and Tuichi rivers in Madidi National Park and is run by a local indigenous community. Rather than get pushed off their land by the government, this community worked to create sustainable tourism in the area. With their help, Madidi National Park was also created in 2000. All the staff and guides are from the village of San Jose de Uchupiamonas and 100 percent of the profits go to the community too.
We were met at our hostal early in the morning by our guide, Sandro. He was one of the original guides from when the lodge was created, so we felt lucky to have a guide with so much experience and knowledge taking us around. We went down to the river bank of the Beni river where we loaded onto our long, motorised boat for the five hour trip up stream. As the boat struggled against the current, we sat back and watched the shoreline for animals and birds. We saw several capybaras (a large rodent) feeding on the shore, and even saw one swimming across river. The boat finally pulled up onto a clay beach, and sleepy from napping, we hiked the two kilometers through the jungle to the lodge. Not long after we started walking, our guide was pulling our arm, saying 'look, look' and pointing up into the trees. We saw a toucan and some capuchin monkeys within our first ten minutes!

After dropping our bags in the cleanest cabins we've seen this whole trip, we had a late lunch in the dinning hall, where we had dinner forks and salad forks, and plates were always given to you from your right, but taken away on the left (etiquette we are not used to). We were given the afternoon to rest and unpack and before dinner we met Sandro for an introductory walk through the jungle and a canoe ride (in style). As we were being paddled around the lake, on the shores we saw tiny yellow squirrel monkeys jumping from bush to bush as they fed on fruit.
Our Evening Program that night was a night hike, searching for tarantulas (we saw a baby one) and other night creatures. I found myself searching the forest floor and path for spiders and snakes and 24hour ants, not wanting to step on anything. Especially after all the warning from Sandro about the dangers in the jungle.

The second day we woke to the distance howls of red howler monkeys, sounds like a dinosaur way off in the jungle. We hiked with Sandro all day, for only about 8 kilometers, but we walked at a slow pace and stopped frequently to peer through the trees for wildlife. Often, we would see Sandro pause and raise his finger to his lips to make the loud call of the black spider monkey. Once they responded, but unfortunately they did not come to defend their territory, like we were told they might. We would stalk through the forest after our guide desperately trying to see the animals he knew were there, but by the end of the day we saw two different groups of red howler monkeys peering down at us from way, way up in the trees. That night we went on a night canoe ride and saw a few black caimans and two different kinds of boas before heading to bed.

Sadly it rained hard for most of the next day, so we played one giant game of gin-rummy. (It was the most expensive rainy day card game we've ever played). We finally went tramping around the wet jungle in borrowed rubber boots, and saw a few more red howler monkeys (who looked very wet).

We woke very early this morning and went for a canoe ride to watch the fog rise from the forest. Heard some more monkeys and watched many birds eating breakfast before heading back for our own. The trip back to Rurre took on two hours and we are here awaiting a flight.

We learned so many amazing things on our trip, like about a vine's poisonous sap that the villagers used to use to kill fish in the river, and about snakes who wait alongside a long-rooted palm at night for the next mouse to come eat the tree's seeds. The jungle was so diverse and interesting, it was hard to keep up with Sandro some times (even with his slow pace) because there was so much to look at.

If you ever get the chance... go see the jungle!

Two more videos too!

The road out of Trinidad last week. You can see the makeshift homes people have made when the flood displaced them back in January.


Ants!

Wet Feet and Pomplemousse Juice

Lately we've been feasting on fresh-off-the-tree Grapefruit, taking long walks at sunset through the Jungle, and lazing in hammocks mostly... well when you put it like that it actually sounds alright. Actually we were stuck in a small town that had an abundance of Grapefruit trees, and not much else. Last week we left Trinidad on a bus that we were told would take 10 hours. We waited around at the bus "station" for about two hours before our "bus" (truck) pulled up late. They packed it full of every one's luggage, including two Motorcycles, then we all piled on wherever there was room. The truck took us to a river crossing where everyone and everything was put onto a boat, and we set off on our 4 hour (actually 5) trip.

This was all hunky dory, because travelling in Bolivia (also Ecuador and Peru for that matter), never fast, seldom comfortable, but is always interesting. You just have to go with the flow most of the time, and you get there eventually in one piece. We understood that the boat was taking us to a bus which would continue on from there, this is because the road has been washed out in the recent flooding that has taken place in Bolivia. Normally it is just a short ferry across a wide river, but for us it was 4 hours alongside the washed out road. We were basically boating in the "ditch", between the road and the cow pastures. There was water everywhere around us. They say it will take another month or so before the waters subside enough, and that this has been some of the worst flooding in 10 years.

So the boat finally dropped us off on a piece of road that truly was in the middle of no where. There was no bus waiting for us. Lots of confusion ensued, people talked very fast in Spanish. Basically, the boat driver was in the black, he was paid to take them this far, and didn't have enough gas to go any farther, or he wouldn't be able to get back. We waited on the road for a few hours, before a group of us finally decided to take off for a nearby town that was two hours walk away. We set off around 5:30, and soon discovered the reason why no bus was at the boat. The road was very washed out, numerous times. There was no way anything but a big 4x4 was getting down the road. We spent the next 4 hours walking along the muddy road, wading thigh deep and barefoot through mucky water. We were a group of six at that point, down from the 28 plus kids on the boat, and luckily Sarah and I had flashlights, as it got dark very quickly. There were times when I was strolling along, looking up at the billions stars, listening to the billions of strange insects in the forest, feeling the muck squish between my toes, thinking how stupid and crazy this is. Definitely not on the list of things I wanted, or even thought I might be doing here, but whatever, s'all cool.

We made it to Fatima around 9 or 10, and strung our hammocks up between some Grapefruit trees in the school yard, and tried to sleep despite the mosquito's jabbing us awake. The next day we called for some sort of transportation, and was told that something was coming at around 11 to 'rescue' us. We waited until around 2, before finding out that the truck couldn't make it all the way, so we all set off walking again, and after an hour or so of more wading through muck and road we made it to the truck. It only took an hour of work to get the truck unstuck, before we set off. We pulled into San Ignacio de Moxos just after 5, still at least 4 hours from San Borja, our original destination. There was still much confusion; the company that we bought our tickets from was closed for the day, the company that picked us up near Fatima wanted money, we were tired... eventually it was worked out, and after a night in San Ignacio we left, 7 of us now, packed into a station wagon bound for San Borja.

Woo!

So we weren't actually going to San Borja, just to a small Biological Reserve named El Porvenir nearby, so the taxi dropped us off on the road near it. We didn't really know what to expect, but our guide book talked about small guided trips to jungle forest and savanna. We walked the 200m down the driveway an arrived at what looked like a farm. We dropped our bags and looked around for anyone, finding Walter the caretaker. We got ourselves a room, strung up our hammocks and just chilled out from our adventure. The place was a Biological Reserve Station, that acts as headquarters for the Reserve area, a station for Biologist who was doing fieldwork in the area and a tourist facility. Unfortunately the whole place was fairly run down, and hasn't been run properly for awhile now. There was a Bolivian there at the time finishing up her PhD field work, so she filled us in on some of the details. The actual reserve has been in a transition period between administration, and unfortunately, due to money, or bureaucratics, nothing has happened.

We organized a overnight hike to a jungle camp, and Natanil was our Guide. He lived in the nearby village, and acted as a guide when there were tourists. Leaving from the camp mid morning, we walked through Savanna for a few hours before arriving at a small pond. The savanna was sectioned off by long barbed wire gates, to prevent the cows in the area from entering Reserve land. Unfortunately the gates have been left open, and the whole walk was basically through a cow pasture. There were lots and lots of different birds, we even saw an ostrich run off when we approached on the path. It started to rain part way through the day, and within seconds we were completely soaked. This was the type of rain that makes rain jackets useless. A short river crossing in a canoe, and we arrived at our campsite. Unfortunately (again) Walter has had some land cleared back in the woods for agriculture, and there is some confusion as to whether or not it is in the Reserve Boundaries. Apparently we stopped there in a makeshift hut for the day due to the rain. So our little jungle excursion turned into little more than a walk through a cow field, and camping in a banana plantation. Although it was nice to get out and away from hostals and restaurants for a bit, we were a bit disappointed.

We spent the rest of the day drying out and went for a little fishing trip to hopefully catch some dinner. With some meat on a hook and string in hand we tossed our lines in. We caught many a snag, some overhanging branches, and toyed with the small sardines and piranha's that would nibble furiously at the meat when we dangled it near the surface. After an hour, and only managing to catch a spiky catfish and another small catfish, we called it a day. Walking back the next day we could see the effect that only a few hours of heavy rain had on the area. What was bone dry a day before was now a few inches deep, and we made it back to the station with very soggy feet (again). The coolest part for me was an eagle we saw in a tree near the path. Natanil spotted it aways away, and the branch it was on overhung the trail. I assumed that as we approached it would take off, but we walked right under it, only a few meters away, and it just looked at us sidelong.

We left El Porvenir yesterday, later than anticipated, since the once a day camionetta was delayed due to rain the night before. Luckily we managed to connect with another movilidad to Rurrenabaque without waiting, and discovered to our horror a new "Worst Road Ever" for us. The last one was in northern Peru, near Chachapoyas (we talk about it here), but this one definitely surpassed it. The "3 hour" (6) trip dropped us off here last night around 1am, so we found the first open hostal and fell into a bed. For some reason a crew of all-night construction workers were building a building across the street, so we dozed off to the pleasant sounds of cement mixing, and hammers a knocking.

I may sound bitter and upset in most of this post, but actually I'm doing alright. My back is kinda sore from the hammock sleeps and bumpy roads, I'm tired from not much sleep the past week, or rather restless sleep, and it's hot and humid... but hey I could be working behind a desk or something else just as horrible (hehehehe).

Oh yeah and tomorrow we leave to be pampered at a Jungle Eco-Lodge, called Chalalan. Pictures to come later!

Floating down the river...

Tired of buses taking us around the country, we decided to try and catch a cargo boat down the Rio Ichilo to the small city of Trinidad in the Jungle. We spent three days waiting around in Puerto Villaroel with a prospective boat, and every day seemed like the captain, Jesus ('Heyzeus'), said mañana (tomorrow). Finally, the boat's crew finished filling the tanks with petrol, our cargo, and we were told that we'd be leaving that night, only to find out that we were only sleeping on the boat that night, and not actually departing until the next morning. So, we enjoyed one last fish dinner (our fourth night in a row) and boarded the boat with another couple from France, Sandra and Nicholas. We strung up our newly bought hammocks in the main dinning cabin and settled down for the night.

The boat had three levels; the first housed the motor the bathroom (which went directly into the river) and storage, the second level was the dinning cabin, small kitchen, captain's cabin and another cabin and the top was the steering room another small cabin and the rest was roof (great for stargazing or suntanning). The boat was tied to a large, flat tanker, which was directed down the river, and while the sun was up, the crew had to regularly hose down the tanker's deck to keep it cool.

At five o'clock the first morning we could hear the crew up and about, getting the boat ready to leave. We head the motor start, and die. One of the crew came in to get help from Colin and Nicholas to pull the rope to start the motor. Still no luck. So the small motor boat was sent back the the port to get a new battery.

Eventually we were off down the river, but with the motor rumbling and the sun rising, we weren't able to sleep much more. Breakfast was deep fried eggs and dough and after eating we all found quiet spots, out of the way, to read and watch the shore line. The heat of the day was somewhat lessened by the breeze we got sitting on the deck, the only shade we were able to find was on the bottom storage deck, where we re-strung our hammocks in the breeze.

There was not a lot of wildlife to be seen on the trip, the river was wide and murky. However, there were lots of herons and shore birds, and we saw some parrots fly overhead too. The most exciting was the occasional spotting of a pink river dolphin swimming by. That night we tied up on shore again, the river being too narrow to safely navigate with a giant gasoline filled tanker in the dark.

Our second day aboard the boat, we cooked a 'Canadian' breakfast of pancakes and hash browns for everyone aboard. It turned out OK, and all the food was eaten, but Colin made sure he wasn't scheduled to cook fish for lunch. While chatting with the captain, he was offered a chance to drive the boat and barge. Of coarse he accepted and after the captain made sure he was dressed appropriately, I was called up for the photo shoot.

Several rivers joined onto the Ichilo, and the flooding from months prior was evident in the sunken forest, and floating trees. We stopped at one point to exchange gasoline for a huge load of bananas with a small community along the shore, and there, the crew moved the large gas tanker from the side of the boat to the front. That night we star gazed from the roof of the boat and saw the most amazing southern sky yet (and a few shooting stars!). The boat did not stop, but continued on its way down river. Amazingly we slept through the noise of the motor all night.

Our last day on the boat. We were scheduled to arrive at Puerto Barador around 5pm. We played games and read the rest of the day. For lunch we were served fish-head soup. As I ate I kept telling myself I was eating beef-noodle soup, until I looked across the table at another bowl and the part fish head staring back at me. Ugh. Ate some Oreos after lunch to get the fishy taste out of my mouth.

Later in the day we arrived at a spot along shore (but what looked only to us like submerged trees on the shore), as the large boat tied up to a nearby tree we loaded into a small motor boat with all our stuff. The captain drove us through flooded land to Puerto Barador. Along he way there were several flooded buildings, and collapsed huts. The town was still in a state of reconstruction and the river waters still have a long way to drop before the town is back to normal. We thanked our captain and caught the first combi into the city of Trinidad.

The road to Trinidad showed us the destruction of the flooding, more than we had seen upstream. Hundreds of families forced to move from their homes to right beside the road where they had built temporary huts made from branches and tarps. The fields below the road were flooded the entire way, farming was waiting for the waters to disapear. Kids swam in what was once a soccer field. Cows and horses crowded along the side of the road eating the only grass that wasn't below water. The entire area was underwater for 3 months, and now all they can do is wait as the water slowly recedes.

We are resting here for a few days, watching the motorbikes and scooters zip around the main plaza in circles, we assume as a form of air conditioning. The humidity makes us want to hide in the shade and eat ice cream all day. But I'm sure we will move along soon. We are hoping to get into Reserva Biosferica del Beni next to see some animals and go canoeing in the jungle.

Welcome to the Jungle!

We planned to go to Torotoro National Park, but that would have meant us waiting around for a few more days for the twice-a-week bus, so we decided to head down out of the mountains to the small river port town of Puerto Villarroel to wait.

Waiting for what? Well, we are hoping to take a three day trip down river to the city of Trinidad on a cargo barge. There really is nothing to do in the village except wait, and so we are. We talked to the captain, and every day he says 'mañana!' (tomorrow), and today there were finally men in coveralls filling the barge with gas (our cargo). So maybe we will actually leave tomorrow!

The village has finally dried up after being underwater for 2 months due to a very rainy season. The locals are fixing up the town, re-painting, welding, re-wiring. There is evidence of the flood everywhere, mud and sticks, damage to buildings, and the riverbank that has been washed away. It's good that we can spend our money here while we wait, to help towards the re-construction.

Today, to spend the time, we came by combi-taxi into the next town (that has Internet). The taxi, from the outside, looks like any other around here, white, ford escort-ish station wagon, but inside!!! Woah! After a few minutes Colin noticed the steering wheel was turned to the right (as we drove along a very straight road), and then noticed that this vehicle happens to be from England (or somewhere where they drive on the left side...), and all the dashboard dials are on the opposite side! So our driver is looking over to his right to check speed as we sped along (actually, that is doubtful, he was going very fast, maybe he was checking the gas levels). To top it off, before we left, he dropped his daughter (or niece) in the back trunk with all our bags for the trip! Wonder if we will have to drive back with the same guy...

So, we are spending today, once again drinking as much water and freshly squeezed OJ as we can. And trying not to move. It is very hot and humid here. No photos yet. Keep checking!

Salar de Uyuni

Decided to bite the bullet and sign up with a tour for a day trip on the Salar de Uyuni, a massive salt flat which is the main attraction down here. We had hoped to rent bikes and do a super cool do-it-yourself kinda thing but it wasn't possible. At this time of year parts of the Salar are innundated with water, so 4WD is the only real way to get around.

We left town around 11am with seven of us packed into a Toyota 4 Runner, plus the driver and another staff. The first stop was the small town of Colchani, which used to be a large salt refining town. Nowadays, due to the low price of salt the factory is closed down, and all that is left is a few manual refineries, and some artesans that sell salty trinkets for the tourists.

About 5 minutes out of Colchani we arrived at the salt flats. Workers have shoveled the salt into piles so the water will drain and evaporate out of them. With the water surrounding them, they reflect perfectly and look like floating diamond things from outer space. It's pretty eerie.

The next stop was the salt hotel, which is out on the salt flats, and constructed mostly of salt, with grass and wooden roofs. You can stay in the hotel during the dry season here for about $30 a night!

Whisked away to the next sight, we drove for about an hour or more accross the open flats. The salt flats are so espansive, white, and never-ending you feel like you aren't moving at all most of the time. Snowcapped mountains float on the horizon, black dots from other cars float by in the distance... it's all very strange.

About 10 minutes before we arrived at our lunch spot, Isla del Pescadores, trouble struck! A tire blew out and we had to stop to change it. It was all very exciting and I'm glad it happened cause it allowed us a chance to get out on the very middle of the flats and check it out. The salt forms in blocky crystals and cracks in octagonal shapes along the ground. It reminded me of being on a glacier, or a frozen lake, but everything was salty instead of cold. The tire was fixed and without further adoo, we took off for the island.

La Isla del Pescadores is not really an island in the traditional sense, since it's surrounded by salt instead of water. The whole area was under water hundreds of thousands of years ago (it dried up and left a salty mess), so the islands rocks are completely covered in old coral. Amongst the rough rocks sprout hundreds of cactii, some older than 1200 years. We hiked up to the top with the rest of the tourists to check out the alien view. Gigantic cactii, corally rock, salt from horizon to horizon, floating mountains... it was hard to believe we were actually on earth and not in some Dr. Suess story.

We climbed down, ate a great lunch then piled back into the truck an headed back to Uyuni. Last night we took an overnight bus to Cochabamba where we're gonna have a nap later today, and head into Parque National Torotoro for even more fun!




At the edge of the Salar, another group forging out into the great white unknown...




Driving no where fast on the Salar...




The panorama of the Salt Flats when our tire blew out...

The City of Stranges

So we went to La Paz! It's a pretty fun city, for a city. From the very moment we got there it seemed as if everyone was really busy doing something. We walked from the Cemetery where the bus dropped us off, to an area that had a few hostals. The streets were so packed, no chance of walking on the sidewalks because everyone was selling something on them. It was Sunday so we just guessed that it must of been market day, but woke up the next morning and nothing had changed... it's insanely busy everyday for no good reason we could see.

This was the first actual place where we were denied a bed at the first hostal we checked out. Not only that it happened at the next four places we went. Busy place. We lucked out and waited half an hour for a room at Hostal Cactus (heh).

The main reason we were in La Paz was to increase the number of days on our VISA because Bolivia only gives Canadians 30 days at the border (I thought everybody l oved us??), and we were looking to spend about 45 here. So most of the time we spent at the Immigration offices sorting things out. As is customary in SA, nothing works smoothly, or even roughly. We spent the good part of an hour finding the proper building, then waiting in line, then going and getting photo copies, and then some more waiting, then get a signature, then wait some more, then pay lots of money, then they tell us our passports need to stay overnight... we can "pick them up tomorrow at 5:30". Arrrg... so we killed another day in La Paz meandering.

The city is similar to lots of other places we've been, in that they follow the same format. For some reason, things are sold in clumps. There will be one whole street full of stalls or stores that sell only bananas. Another street will sell shoes. No one knows why everyone goes to the same place to sell the same thing, it's just the way it works. The most interesting place where they sell the same thing is the area called the witches market, and it just happened to be where our hostal was. There you can buy lots of strange herbs and elixirs to heal and cure, idols and charms to ward off evil, but probably the weirdest, and most striking are the petrified baby alpacas. Stall after stall, five or ten of them all sit in a bucket, shriveled little heads poking out at you as you walk by. Supposedly they are for burying beneath a new house or business for good luck, however the dead ones are only for the poorer folk; if you can afford it you are supposed to bury a real live one. Eeek!

Well we got our VISA extension, ate some wicked sandwiches, drank some delicious Bolivian wine from the south, and stocked up on Chocolate before leaving the city. Right now we are in Uyuni, a small touristy town in the southern desert.

After getting in around 7:30 on the overnight bus, we took it easy. Lots of people leave the same morning on 4WD tours of the Salt Flats and surrounding areas. We are hoping to rent some bikes and venture out on our own but as yet are unsuccessful. Near town is a train graveyard, where hundreds of old rusty train cars have been abandoned. It was pretty creepy walking out there along the tracks. The whole area out of town seems to have been used as a garbage dump, littered with broken glass and plastic bags, disheartening to say the least. A gusty breeze helped keep the intense heat off us as we explored the rusting cars. We found a quiet place amongst the debris to sit and laze away the day.

Lago Titicaca (who didn't laugh?)

So we are in Bolivia!
We left Puno, Peru, catching a small combi so we could stop off and see a fertility temple, but unfortunately we never saw the town, and no one announced it, so we drove right by. Oops. What may have been a 3 hour trip on one bus to Bolivia's border, turned out to be 4.5 hours. Five combi´s, 3 trici-taxis, 1 bus, 1 moto-taxi and one taxi later we arrived in Copacabana (after the Peruvian police went through my lugage, not Colin's, at the border). We tried to make this day of border crossing just as interesting as the last, nothing will compare though. We stayed for two nights in Bolivia's only beach town and spent a day hiking around some of the nearby rocky hills. Copacabana is way too cold at all times of the year to host anysort of beach life, but the meter wide pebbley shore is lined with many swan and draggon paddle boats and a few sailing and rowing boats too.

Our second night we hiked up to the religious monument which has 14 stations of the cross and an amazing lookout over Lago Titicaca (Bolivians apparently say that they have the titi and that Peru has the caca, since they share the lake. We agree. Heh.). We brought our books, a Toblerone chocolate bar (imported from Switzerland), and some Bolivian wine (only $2.50!). From the top we could see Isla del Sol where we were planning on hiking most of the way to the next day. Unfortunately, we woke up to thunderstorms the next morning, and decided to opt for the two hour boat ride over instead.

As we arrived on the island, we were bombarded with several children asking us if we wanted a hostal or room for the night, but we wanted to get away from the southern end of the island, away from the tourists, ha. We walked for about an hour and a half, through tiny communities and up and down the rocky hills. We eventually came to a small community called Challa, on a beach mid way on the eastern shore, and stayed at Hostal Qhumphuri run by Juan and Rita. We ate fish right from the lake, trucha that was artificially stocked in the lake by the Spanish to add more protein to the diets of the Indigenous people, and potatoes and vegies from the Island as well.

The next day we were rained in once again, but as the sun started to peak through the clouds, we hiked up to the northern end of the Island where there are some more Inca ruins. One of which is a maze, many passageways and doors leading nowwhere inparticular. We played there for a bit, scaring the sheep who were grazing as we would suddenly appear from around a corner. The hike back to the hostal followed a rocky trail up over the main ridge of the Island. We even found some 'dung beatles' working hard, and having alot of trouble rolling their dungballs over the rocky path. Ha. The next day we hiked the rest of the ridge trail to the south and sadly borded the first boat back to the mainland.

Actually we loved the Island so much, we decided to invest in some property there. It's the perfect place for a cottage of sorts, has a huge lake, sailing, fishing, lots of eucalyptus trees, morning walkup calls from the local donkey, and it's cheap! Our land is in a small cove (reminded us of a pirate's cove) on the north east side...everyone can visit!

Ok. April Fool's.
Harhar.

We came to LaPaz today, Bolivia's biggest city, and actually for once in our travelling careers, were denied rooms! Five times! Everything's booked. Tomorrow we try to extend our Visa's and explore this crazy place (there's a witches market where they sell dead baby alpaca's! The horrror!).