Rurrenabaque & The Amazon

In 1997 Bolivia created Madidi National Park. 10% of the known species of bird on Earth live within the Park.

We did a 3 day jungle tour with our guide, Ismail, who lived in Madidi for the past 13 years. His oldest sister was eaten by an Anaconda when she was 12. His brother shot and killed a Jaguar in their house when it came into the kitchen. Ismail knew his stuff. We learned a lot about the medicinal properties of some of the native plants. But spotting wildlife in the jungle was difficult because the forest is so dense and the animals are sensitive to noise and very skittish.

Leaf Cutter Ants hard at work.


Red and Green Macaws.



Building a Balsa wood raft.