AMAZON - Jungle

Our guide was amazing. Only 25 years himself- Jhazmany- meaning light of the Jaguar, was a true man of the jungle. The machetti wielding, coca chewing, gumboot wearing power pack was taught his Tacana culture from his dad. He made ants bite us, then used the plant remedy to take away the sting, taught us how to make rope from the bark of trees, would take us fishing with his bow and arrow (which he whipped up from the jungle in a couple of hours) weave us drink bottle holders from palm leaves and showed us what plants will cure you, feed you, kill you and make you fall in love.

He also fished a particularly spider out of its home, told us 3 bites will kill a human and then put it on our faces. A quick cure for aracnophobia- this thing had claws too. It was unbelievable.

We were also weary of the elusive pumas and jaguars, and while we didn´t see any, we did stumble across a fretting chancho- like a wild pig, that had just been attacked by a jaguar, but our prescence had scared it off. Jhazmany knew this by the 2 massive teeth gauges in the pigs rear legs, a good 20cm apart.

Our jungle adventure took place in the Madidi National Park, only 10 years old it is a proactive step to conserve teh Bolivian rainforest. We also felt that it was much needed as it was sad to see as we flew out of Rurrenabaque (we chose not to go the hellish road again) the extensive land clearing. Progress, progress, progress...