We'd been talking about a trip to the Amazon jungle for a while - however it took some time to work out which country to enter from given that the jungle is absolutely huuuge and covers eight countries in South America! So we decided to head in from Bolivia, the main reason being that it was the cheapest and well, funds are starting to run low after much of the past 5 months spent in crazily expensive Brazil and Argentina. As flashpackers though, we opted for a nicer and much quicker route to get down to the jungle from La Paz, on a tiny plane seating only 15 people, taking a speedy 35 mins. The alternative was a 1950's bus, winding and bumping along unsealed roads for 20 hours, the jungle is only 200kms from La Paz, so it puts into perspective just how excruciating this trip would have been.
Scared!!
The flight from La Paz to Rurrenabaque was so bizarre - we took off and within a few minutes we were flying through snow capped mountains, in fact the mountains were higher than the plane! It was like a scene from James Bond. Ten minutes later we commenced our descent into the tropical jungle. To go from an altitude of almost 4000m and cold dry weather to a humid jungle at sea level all within half an hour was quite crazy.
We booked onto a 3 day/2 night trip to the Madidi jungle in the Amazon, renowned for more species of birds than any other park in the world. We went deep into the jungle and took a 6 hour boat ride up the murky piranha infested waters to our jungle camp. There were only 4 of us on the trip and we were lucky to join up with 2 lovely kiwis.
We spent the days trekking in the jungle where we came across many different species of monkeys flying through the trees, wild pigs in big groups storming through the undergrowth - these animals are quite frightening and the stench they emit is indescribable. We also spotted many birds flying above, though unfortunately we didn't manage to spot a toucan.
The insects were incredible - we spotted a tarantula and in the evening thousands of flying insects came out in full force to join us for a game of cards. The game was over almost before it started as we all rushed off to out tents before a full invasion!
Elevated camping accommodation in the middle of the jungle - surprisingly comfortable!
With our Kiwi pals - attempting to catch Piranhas for dinner but with little success!
Tom joined in with the locals and braved the taste of a giant queen working ant - bit its bum off and chomped away. Apparently it had a milky cinnamon taste. The Amazon got its own back though and upon arriving back in La Paz a few days later, Tom was covered in sand fly bites around his ankles and found a little 4 legged friend half buried in his belly...nice!!
Just in case you're wondering, Tom hasn't put on masses amount of weight - this chunky hand belongs to our Bolivian guide!
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