Green mountains slowly change to flatter forest land as we travel in a small wooden motorboat upstream of Beni river. We're going for a 3-day excursion from Rurrenabaque to the jungle in the Madidi national park. By 'we' I refer to our group: a German girl called Laura, three people from Israel and me.After two hours on the boat and a ten-minute walk we arrive at the camp: an area cleared of undergrowth, with some trees left to give shadow, basic wooden huts for sleeping and a bigger kitchen building. We introduce ourselves to our guide Juda, a 31-year-old biologist and a son of a Bolivian shaman.
We have lunch and then start our first walk in the surrounding jungle. There is a lot of vegetation, but it's not impenetrable. After ten minutes I wouldn't find my way back and I'm wondering if our guide knows every square meter of the forest. I guess for some Bolivian people the forests near my childhood home would look all the same, whereas there I can find my way out easily. Juda, the guide, cuts a palm leaf and skillfully plaits a carry bag for the water bottle of Asaf, an Israeli guy. He also finds a special tree, grates some of its bark with his machete and lets us taste natural antimalarial medicine, quinine. The first animals we see - and hear and smell - are wild pigs, dozens of them, running away fast when they notice us.
On the second day, after a good sleep at the jungle camp and a good breakfast prepared by the cook, we go for our second walk in the forest. Juda shows us 'arbol de leche', the "milk tree", and makes a small cut on its trunk. The white liquid that leaks from the cut is a remedy for bites of poisonous spiders and snakes. Otherwise you might die in an hour after a bite, but drinking 200 ml of this "milk" gives you 3-4 days time to get to the doctor. We ask if Juda has ever needed this medicine, and he shows small scars on his thumb: a cobra has once bitten him when he was doing research in the Peruvian jungle. Another tree that Juda shows us that day has roots containing clear jelly that can be used like aloe vera. We apply it on our numerous mosquito bites. Absolutely the coolest thing we do during that walk is swinging on a liana!
After lunch and a rest we leave for our second walk of the day, with a plan to stay in the forest until dark. The only animals we manage to spot are spiders and a nocturnal monkey up in a tree, only its eyes glowing in the beam of the flashlight.
That night, like the previous one, we go to the beach by the river. This time I have my bikini and towel with me. I trust Juda's word that it is safe to go into the water and enjoy my swim in the moonlight.
On the third day we only have time for one walk. Somewhere in the forest Juda picks up a small coconut, cuts it in half and takes out a thick, white catepillar. "You eat these?" somebody asks. "Yes." I take the live little creature in my hand and after confirming that I won't die I take a bite. Creamy, brownish liquid, like thick hot chocolate, bursts out. It has a mild taste of a nut. The next one I put in my mouth as a whole. Back at the camp an Israeli girl asks Juda: "How can you eat catepillars?" I guess it is not kosher for the Jews. Convincingly, almost annoyed the guide replies: "That food is natural. Everything that the people of the jungle eat is 100 percent natural. How can you eat at McDonald's?"
During our walks in the jungle Juda also shows us different kinds of ants: small ones that you can mix with water for an energy drink, fire ants whose bite causes you 24 hours of burning pain and ants that you can use for sewing cuts on your skin. On one of the walks Juda cuts a branch of a tree and we drink the water leaking inside of it.
And finally, on the last walk it happens: Juda notices something on the ground and runs after it - a cobra! He waves to us to get closer and we start taking photos of the yellow, 2-meter-long snake that has slithered to a tree.
(A few more photos can be found on my Facebook profile.)
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