18 bites below one knee

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  Amboro National Park, Bolivia
Thursday, July 24, 2008

We found a guide after a day of waiting, walking around this small town looking for information and a trustworthy guide to take us into this national park. We didnt know at the time how important our guide would be. Of course the expectations I have of national park are shaped by yosemite and the redwood forest. The bolivian national park is a little different. The morning started at 730 when we were suppose to meet our guide outside the tour office. We were there but our guide was not. We had spent time finding the best company, and were convinced we had chosen right. After 20 minutes our guide showed up but then left with another guy to buy the food for the trip. After a while more they returned and we were introduced to carlos, who looked like he had just rolled out of bed. So we loaded up and took off, only to drive to his house and get out to wait some more while he packed for the trip. There were pigs and chickens in the yard.  Not exactly well prepared. At this point we were wondering if we had made a mistake. carlos did return ready and also decided to bring his brother in law along to help.  Then we drove back to town to buy bread from the bakery. Yeah, it was a bit of a slow start. But we did leave and drove to the park, most of which was on a dirt/rock road, crossing about 5 rivers in the 4*4 which was completely essential. We were figuring out by this time that we were really headed for the wilderness. The guides had brought the tents, food and clean water for us to drink (our guides drank from the multiple rivers running through the park). We stayed for four days and three nights. Hiking into three different camping spots. It is a true jungle with the canopy of trees I have read about and a huge variety of plants and animals, although we saw mostly insects. I did spot one monkey, and there were a lot up there but the canopy is so high it is very difficult to see. Evidence of the jaguar, tapir, and armadillo were there but we were not lucky enough to see them. One of the days we walked 6 hours with our packs. I am not in great shape right now and I was exhausted. Our guide turned out to be great, he lead the way with a big bulge of coca in his cheek and explained about a lot of different things. Of course all in spanish, and the accent in this part of the country is different, and through the coca it was a bit difficult, but between the two of us, we learned quite a bit. Besides walking, and sweating (it is humid and warm in the forest), we would swim in the many large natural pools and slide down the rocks into the water. The waterfalls were beautiful, although in the rainy season I am sure are much more glorious. There are huge vines hanging from trees, which at one point we did swing on, more difficult and scary than it looks on tarzan. Our guide was our chef and lunch was always a major production. The food was quite professional, although by the fourth morning I was ready to have something other than sardines and bread for breakfast. The downside to the trip was the bugs. Compared to other seasons, this time was the best in regards to the bugs, but they were still there. And while I managed to avoid getting bit by the huge fire ants, I could not escape the small black flies that draw blood to just under the skin and leave a red welt. I have 18 below the knee on my left leg. And my arms arent much better. They itch slash burn and were the only thing keeping me up at night other than the really hard ground (pads for under the sleeping bags were not included). They appeared to like the insect repellent I used. The last night we were woken up at 2 in the morning by rain. This was a bit of bad luck as the person that prepared the tents did not include stakes for the rainflys. I actually had not even brought a rain coat. You would think the word rainforest would be a hint but I have not seen a hint of rain since arriving. 25km from town we are in a completely different zone and it is pouring. We wake up again at four and it is still coming down hard. The sides of the tent are wet and there are drops coming from the top. We started packing the important things into plastic bags, preparing for the worst. Luckily it was a 5 person tent and just the two of us gave us room to stay in the middle and mostly dry. Unluckily all of my clothes were outside hanging up to dry from the day before (river trekking and swimming). Our guides didnt even have a rainfly and they were soaked. We woke up to them cursing their brother for not packing well. It was really funny. We managed to hike back to the ranger station that day, through a soaking wet jungle, in our already wet clothes. At this point we were really happy to go back to civilization. We waited through the afternoon for the road to dry a little, only to find out later that we could not leave because a tractor had come and moved a large log across the road blocking our path. Random. So after waiting 3 hours for the road to dry, we couldnt go. Brainstorming, we came up with walking out of the park. 18 km through mud and crossing multiple rivers(not what we wanted at all). The guide said maybe tomorrow a tractor woudl come and move the log. And by the way there was no more food. When we walked down to see the situation, I noticed there was a rock holding the log in place, and there was a bit of a down grade. With 10 of us, our group plus another. we managed to push the log 8 feet, enough for us to get around it. We were quite proud of ourselves. The road back was muddy for the first part and we fishtailed all over, it was quite exciting. We were really happy to get back to a shower and a real bed. I realized I am more of a city girl than I like to admit. I am still itching like crazy but it was worth it.

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