The first day of my five-day trip to the jungle started with, well, getting to the jungle. We left Rurrenabaque in a small boat on Río Beni. In typical rainforest fashion, the boat was made out of a single hollowed-out tree.
On board were a handful of local people who we'd be dropping off at tiny communities along the river, staff for Serere lodge, my guide - and Rosa María Ruiz, the lady who owns the lodge and the land surrounding it. She featured prominently in the National Geographic article about Madidi national park; apparently she has been concerned about rain forest conservation for years. Consequently, all profits from tourist travel to Serere go to conservation efforts - the main reason why I chose this company over the other tourist agencies.
After two hours on the river, we disembarked at a small village where Rosa María wanted to drop off a few school supplies. The villagers welcomed everyone, including me the tourist, very warmly. During their chat with Rosa María, it turned out that, while they all agree that education is the most important thing, they struggle with a lack of materials. For example, for their 32 pupils, they only have 10 notebooks. Rosa María agreed to help, and also tried to get the professors to engage in adult literacy - it seems that many of the adults in remote villages don't know how to read or write.
A short while after, we arrived at Serere. The main house is set about one kilometer back from the river, so we put on our much-needed rubber boots and walked. The first 100 meters were incredibly muddy, so the guide and staff took their machetes, felled a couple of trees and built an improvised causeway:
At the lodge, I discovered that there was no electricity at all - five days without being able to charge my camera...! The lodge itself was very nice. There was a main house with dining and relaxation areas, and then individual huts set at a little distance in the jungle for sleeping. Neither the lodge nor the huts had any solid walls; instead there were only mosquito nets to allow for a jungle view (and a breeze). The view from the shower was quite spectacular :-)
In the main house, we had a free snack bar, open day and night - consisting of delicious locally grown bananas:
In the afternoon we went canoeing on San Fernando lake which is right next to the main house. Rosa María and two baby spider monkeys who had been held as pets by a family in Rurrenabaque and are now being reintroduced into the jungle came with us:
We saw a lot of birds - kingfishers, herons, sereres - as well as some more monkeys and this tiny poisonous frog:
In the glow of sunset, the lake and the jungle really looked amazing:
After dinner, we returned for another boat trip on the lake. This time, equipped with flashlights, we were looking for caimans - their eyes appear bright red when reflecting light at night. We saw lots of small ones a well as one big one, probably the mother. Fabulous!
On board were a handful of local people who we'd be dropping off at tiny communities along the river, staff for Serere lodge, my guide - and Rosa María Ruiz, the lady who owns the lodge and the land surrounding it. She featured prominently in the National Geographic article about Madidi national park; apparently she has been concerned about rain forest conservation for years. Consequently, all profits from tourist travel to Serere go to conservation efforts - the main reason why I chose this company over the other tourist agencies.
After two hours on the river, we disembarked at a small village where Rosa María wanted to drop off a few school supplies. The villagers welcomed everyone, including me the tourist, very warmly. During their chat with Rosa María, it turned out that, while they all agree that education is the most important thing, they struggle with a lack of materials. For example, for their 32 pupils, they only have 10 notebooks. Rosa María agreed to help, and also tried to get the professors to engage in adult literacy - it seems that many of the adults in remote villages don't know how to read or write.
A short while after, we arrived at Serere. The main house is set about one kilometer back from the river, so we put on our much-needed rubber boots and walked. The first 100 meters were incredibly muddy, so the guide and staff took their machetes, felled a couple of trees and built an improvised causeway:
At the lodge, I discovered that there was no electricity at all - five days without being able to charge my camera...! The lodge itself was very nice. There was a main house with dining and relaxation areas, and then individual huts set at a little distance in the jungle for sleeping. Neither the lodge nor the huts had any solid walls; instead there were only mosquito nets to allow for a jungle view (and a breeze). The view from the shower was quite spectacular :-)
In the main house, we had a free snack bar, open day and night - consisting of delicious locally grown bananas:
In the afternoon we went canoeing on San Fernando lake which is right next to the main house. Rosa María and two baby spider monkeys who had been held as pets by a family in Rurrenabaque and are now being reintroduced into the jungle came with us:
We saw a lot of birds - kingfishers, herons, sereres - as well as some more monkeys and this tiny poisonous frog:
In the glow of sunset, the lake and the jungle really looked amazing:
After dinner, we returned for another boat trip on the lake. This time, equipped with flashlights, we were looking for caimans - their eyes appear bright red when reflecting light at night. We saw lots of small ones a well as one big one, probably the mother. Fabulous!
