Counting mosi bites by torchlight
Trip Start
Jan 10, 2005
1
9
12
Trip End
May 21, 2005
Rurrenabaque,
Bolivia
Wednesday, March 30, 2005
The Chalalan Lodge is 5 hours by river boat from the nearest town and in the heart of Parque Nacional Madidi in Northwest Bolivia. A stay there is a fairly winning "eco" arrangement for all concerned. The lodge is owned by local tribespeople who used to hack down the forest trees but now they look on with mystified glee as toursits pay them hundreds of dollars for a room in a treehouse and then stay up all night waiting to watch otters have a shit. The tribe run the lodge and provide rainforest guides while the money raised goes to provide medicine and school books in the local community. Logging has stopped and wildlife is returning to the forest in force. In fact, at times, there´s too much wildlife for my liking (jungle frog staring up at us from inside our toilet!) but other than the intense humidity and swarms of insects we had an unforgettable experience including jungle gems like:
Dan to guide, "Why are you making that noise of a baby Caiman (Alligator type thing) in distress?" "Because then the mother (12ft/big teeth) will think we are a threat and come over to us." Dan, "great."
In bed in dark (no electricty) Seema to Dan "Is that large bat in our room for the night or is it just having a rest?"
Guide to both of us, "Don't leave clothes outside overnight
01. Our plane!
. Forest insects are attracted to the sweat in clothes and lay eggs on them which hatch worms that live UNDER YOUR SKIN!!!"The noises coming from outside our cabin at night sounded like someone had recorded rainforest noises and then pressed a Play button as soon as we got into bed. We had howling monkey's, insects that (ironically) sounded like chain saws and birds singing backwards. We haven't been able to capture much on camera because either the animal was 50m up a tree, gone as soon as I was about to press the button or frankly because the rucksack the camera was in was stuck to my back with sweat (euck).
On my happy customer questionnaire I told them that the animals were pretty good and stuff but they really needed air-con, a pool and a mini-bar. I was told that most tourists liked to immerse themselves in nature while at the lodge. I mean I'm all up for seeing poison earred dwarf frogs at 6am in 90% humidity but I really need a hot shower when I get back (my clothes haved evolved into a separate lifeform able to perform most domestic chores). Still we whiled away the evenings counting each others bites and playing the is it a bird or insect game (hard to tell because they are about the same size).
Check out the photos to get a feel.
We are off to Rio now (always wanted to say that) so catch up with you from Brasil!
Ciao
Ps - hope Gran and her knees are recovering well!
