Parque Nacional Madidi - 1 - The jungle calls

After exhaustive consultation with relevant authorities, I decided to head off for 3 days at Serere Ecolodge near Parque Nacional Madidi.



Just 40 minutes by prop plane from La Paz, you land at Rurrenabaque, or at least we would have if the dirt strip hadn't been deemed unsuitable for operations on the day of our arrival. So we were diverted to nearby Reyes landig strip, a 45 minute bus ride out from Rurre.




From Rurre, I was taken by boat - being the only guest at the lodge for those days - down the rio Beni for 3 hours to the landing.




As a first taste of what was to come, we saw a host of birds, most too far away for me to be able to take good pictures of.




My personal guide would be Don Rodolfo, always smiling, always at hand with a story or an anecdote about the park or animals he'd encountered. The man saw EVERYTHING! Absolutely amazing, the details, animals and plants he'd picked out without the aid of his binoculars.





The river is relatively turbulent in parts, largely fast-flowing and occasionally downright dangerous due to submerged trees and what I can only assume were rocks.


And then this happened:
Why is everyone so excited?
...is it a tree trunk?
...a cow?
...oh, would you look at that: ¡un tigre! or what we'd call a jaguar.





Swimming across the Beni in plain daylight, just 30 minutes out from Rurre!

Amazing sight, as he apprehensively watched us draw closer, crinkled his nose, put on an extra bit of speed and once near shore dashed as fast as he could across open ground for the safety of the trees!

... and we hadn't even gotten to the actual Lodge, deep in the jungle yet!