Madidi National Park Day 4

This morning we had breakfast a little bit earlier and headed out on a short boat trip for a walk in a different part of the jungle. We followed the Cullpana trail for a bit to visit a couple of salt licks. The first one there was evidence of animals having recently visited with lots of footprints there were also some big trumpeter birds fighting when we approached. They were very loud and at first we couldn't tell that it was birds! The second salt lick is unfortunately abandoned, animals do not come to visit it anymore. Alejandro told us that it used to be popular with wild pigs and the jaguars that would follow them. The pigs moved on from this part of the forest to try and find food elsewhere, it's very sad (#climate change).

After the Cullpana trail, we joined up with the Serere Trail. This trail was longer and took us through primary and secondary forest. We didn't see any monkeys today unfortunately, and we also heard the toucans and yellow macaws, but didn't spot them. At the piraña lagoon, we saw some more lagoon birds like the ones we saw a couple days ago. The lagoon still has some water, but not really enough for the piranhas to live in anymore. Instead there are a lot of aquatic plants that sometimes allow snakes to hide and catch some small fish and birds.

We finished our walk, managed to spot a red macaw right towards the end, and then we took the short boat ride back to the lodge. We had our last lunch which was a chicken and beef kebab. Like I said before, the food here has been really great! And then it was time to pack and get the boat back down the river to Rurrenabaque. At the last minute, when I went back to check on Allan and his packing situation, there were tamarind monkeys right on the path to our cabin. It was like they'd come to say goodbye.

Our boat trip took a little bit less time because we weren't going up stream. When we arrived in Rurrenbaque, I discovered I unfortunately got a sunburn on one arm that must have been in the sun for part of the trip. So annoying! After cooling down in the office for a bit, we went next door to get some pizza before our tuk tuk at 6 and bus at 7. There was a wee girl playing with a yellow bird toy with us while we waited for our food. We'd seen her going past the doorway of the office a few times, so maybe she recognized us. When the pizza came, it was really tasty, and very hot. We were already sweating before it, but even more so while we tried to eat it quickly before the tuk tuk came. We managed just in time.

Our tuk tuk driver was very friendly. He chatted to us about our time in Bolivia during the short trip to the station. Once there, it was a short wait before we got on what's been one of the nicest night buses we've had yet. Hopefully we get some decent sleep!Baca lagi