Travel, Photography, Life.
NKM National Park Adventure
My trip through Noel Kempff Mercado National Park in a rural part of the Santa Cruz department of Bolivia.
Lucky Ride Out
Jun 17th
May 19, 2006
Day 233
NKM Adventure Day 10
We had a few options for leaving Florida today. We were going to go with our fanged friend on his motorcycle to the intersection, but Craig, Maxime, and I all wanted to go, and with a round trip of three hours per person, it would be a long day. Later in the morning, we heard about a few people who were going to be leaving in a 4X4 truck, and suddenly all of us, including Rose and Tiere were up for leaving. The truck went south to San Ignacio, so Craig, Maxim, and I all got dropped off at the intersection, hoping to catch a ride to the north.
We all sat around the intersection, the same place where we had camped a week ago, and waited for any vehicle to show up. We passed the time by writing in our journals and watching thousands of butterflies, and Maxime discovered a large rock nearby with a great view of the surrounding jungle. The meseta was also barely visible in the distance.
Three hours went by, but still no vehicles passed us. You know you’re in a remote area when you are on the only road for 100 miles and you can write a sentence like that last one. We were getting hungry, so we decided to build a fire and cook some pasta for lunch. No sooner than the pasta had been put into the pot of boiling water, we heard a vehicle coming toward us! It was, in fact, the same bus we rode up in a week ago. We stalled the bus driver for as long as possible while the pasta finished cooking. Finally we grabbed the pot off the fire and jumped aboard. Twenty minutes later the pasta had steamed enough for us to eat it.
The rest of the day was long and boring. The bus slowly made its way north over the bumpy dirt road through the jungle. At one point, we stopped and the driver got out, walked into a house, and fell asleep for two hours. He had been driving the bus for nearly two days straight, so I guess he deserved a break. While we were waiting, we saw a single man on a bicycle ride past us. That was the strangest thing I had seen all day. The light from his bicycle was probably the only one within fifty miles of that point.
We also stopped from about 2:00 AM till dawn so the driver could sleep more. This time, he stayed on the bus. He snored so loud, he was probably the only one asleep on the whole bus.
Nothing Left In Me
Jun 17th
May 18, 2006
Day 232
NKM Adventure Day 9
This was our earliest start yet. With 40 K’s to walk back to Florida on already-fatigued legs, we wanted as much time in the cool moonlight as possible, so we started walking at 3:00. When it started to get light three hours later, we ate our breakfast and Craig took off on his bike with all our gear. Candido was lucky: he got to sleep in till 5:00.
This was probably the toughest walk I have ever done. Even though I was carrying almost nothing, the last few days had taken their toll on me physically. I could feel my feet swelling up in the sweltering jungle heat, and my blisters were ripping off my ankles, leaving just raw bloodied skin below. My pace slowed and I had to take frequent breaks. Still, every time I stopped, I got swarmed with insects after about five minutes, so I had to continue again.
By noon, I had run out of water and was getting dehydrated. “Where is the river?” was about the only thought that could cross my mind. Finally, I saw a tent in the path. It was Craig’s. He couldn’t get across the river on his own because the ferry was on the other side. Our only chance was to go across on an aluminum boat, but it was filled with water. We baled and baled and dragged the boat out, but we weren’t sure how fast it would sink into the piranha-infested waters. There didn’t seem to be any major holes in it. We decided to give it a go. There were no paddles, so we had to pull ourselves across using the ferry’s guide cable. The boat began to fill with water, but we made it before we sank.
I slurped down a grapefruit from the tree near the bank and Craig gave me the bike to ride the rest of the way back. I downed a few liters of water and collapsed on my bed. I had walked over 150 K’s in six days and could take no more. There had to be a better way to get back to the intersection where the public bus would pass tomorrow.
A few other people were at our hotel and also looking to get out. Rose form England, Maxime from France, and Tiere from La Reunion had all been in Florida and the national park for over a week and had been waiting for a car to leave town for the last several days with no luck. Rumors started flying that someone was going to San Ignacio and someone else may be going to Piso Firme, which is where we want to go, tomorrow. Nobody knows for sure, so we’ll have to wait till tomorrow to get more info. If all works out well, we’ll go to Piso Firme, explore the northern part of the park a bit, get a canoe, and paddle down the Itenez to Guayamarin, which should take 1-2 weeks.
Overall, Noel Kempff Mercado was a great experience. It seemed like every time we turned a corner, another unique animal was in our path. Craig was even luckier than I as he saw a tapir and an anaconda when we were separated. We couldn’t have asked for a better guide, either. Candido didn’t let politics get in the way of having a good time. He had a great eye for pointing out wildlife and caught enough fish for the three of us to eat four meals. Other than the problems we had with the bikes, the last few days have been an amazing adventure.
A Hot Savanna Walk
Jun 17th
May 17, 2006
Day 231
NKM Adventure Day 8
As usual, we started our day before sunrise and began to walk back to Los Fierros. We would have liked to have started at around 3:00 AM so we could get through the savanna before the extreme heat set in. However, Candido strongly recommended against doing that because it would be too difficult for us to navigate our way through the thick jungle path in the darkness at the beginning of our walk.
When we got to the river, Candido went to town with his fishing once again and let us walk ahead of him. By the time he caught up, he had caught several large fish and couldn’t have been happier. Later, he found a place where the river had dried up to a puddle which was teeming with stranded fish. He started pulling them out so quickly he didn’t even remove them from the hook. They just flopped off onto the road. A grand feast would be in order for the night.
We got to the savanna in the middle of the day, just as the sun was beating down. Luckily, we each had several liters of water at our disposal. Vultures started circling, but we would have none of it. It was a tough few hours, but eventually we made it back into the jungle. An hour later, we were at Lost Fierros once again.
We weren’t as lucky as last time at Los Fierros as the ranger came yesterday and turned off the gas and electricity so we had to light a fire to cook and use our flashlights to see. We still had clean running water, though. We combined our remaining rice with Candido’s bounty of Fish and had a large dinner. I was too tired to do much else, though, so I basically just sat around and relaxed.
Incidentally, today was my birthday but I didn’t even realize it until it was over. I hadn’t been around a calendar for a long time and somehow I thought it was tomorrow.
To The Top Of The Jungle
Jun 17th
May 16, 2006
Day 230
NKM Adventure Day 7
With yesterday’s bicycle debacle, we decided that we would have to revise today’s goals. Craig and I decided that we would walk to the bottom of the meseta, set up camp, and attempt to walk to the top and back. There was a campsite a few hours away on top, but there would be no way we could walk there after walking 35 more K’s. Candido would leave after us and catch up on his bike.
The first hour of our walk was easy, but then we entered the savanna. Without the protection of the jungle canopy, the weather instantly became brutal. It was a tough few hours, but eventually we made it back to the jungle.
Later, Candido caught up with us and we went fishing by the river. Craig liked to brag about his mad fishing skillz, but Candido probably caught five fish before Craig reeled in his first one. After thirty minutes, we had enough fish for lunch and dinner.
The rest of the path for the day was impassible on a bicycle, so we walked the rest of the way to the campsite. When we got there, we saw the same tour group that we had seen on the way into the park. They were on their way out, and seemed to be a bit jealous that we saw a puma. One of the advantages of walking versus driving, I guess. They packed up and headed back down, and we set up our camp in their place.
After a short rest, Craig and I walked to the top of the 600 meter meseta. The view at the top was great. I could see the jungle for what seemed like hundreds of kilometers. Going to the top really gave us a perspective of the remoteness of the location. Not one human settlement was visible from any direction.
Finally we walked back down to the campsite where we had boiled fish and pasta for dinner. The campsite was about 100 K’s from where the bus dropped us off, but we were only halfway done. The next three days will be spent tracing our path back to that same spot.
The Sight Of The Trip
Jun 17th
May 15, 2006
Day 229
NKM Adventure Day 6
Candido showed up right on time at 6:30 so we could start our trip into the park early. Craig had already cooked lunch that we could eat cold on the way. We took as little as possible to make the bike riding easier: A tent, sleeping pads, sleeping bags, four day’s food, and some emergency supplies.
With all our gear ready, we walked over to Don Juan’s house to pick up our bikes. Unlike my Sajama experience last November, they were actual mountain bikes, but they didn’t appear to be in great condition. Still, we were optimistic as we set off on our journey, hoping to make it to Los Fierros, the first campsite 40 K’s away, by midday.
Before we even got to the river which marked the beginning of the park, we had our first problem. The lunch of curried pasta that Craig had so carefully prepared fell off his bike, and it was still in the cooking pot. He was behind Candido and I so nobody saw where it fell. We still probably had enough food left for the four days, though, as long as we could catch a few meals.
The entrance to the park was marked by a large hand-pulled ferry. We pulled down a large log to make a ramp for the bikes, rode up, and pulled the ferry across.
The first half hour of our ride went well, but soon we encountered a series of problems. First, Craig’s pedal fell off. We were really lucky to find the nut that came loose and screwed it back in place with a pliers. Next, Candido’s chain broke. This time we weren’t so lucky because we couldn’t find the part that fell out. Candido spent the next hour pulling an entire link off the chain and putting it back together. A few minutes later, my chain broke and my tire went flat at the same time. Once again, Candido rescued us by putting the chain together and patching the tire. Finally, my tire exploded and there was no way it could be fixed. I ditched the bike on the side of the road and walked the last two hours to camp.
We made it to camp at about 4:00 with just an hour of daylight left. The path was bumpy and there was lots of vegetation growing over it in places, but it would have been easy terrain for a good mountain bike to handle. We cursed our bad luck as with only two bikes left, someone would have to walk the rest of the way and there was almost no way we would get to see the waterfall.
Still, we saw a lot of wildlife along the way. At one point, Candido heard some rumbling and we all stopped. Suddenly, a puma emerged from the bushes about five meters away. It looked at us for a few seconds, turned around, and headed back into the jungle. Pumas are very rare animals, so it was lucky for us to have seen one. We also saw golden monkeys, martin monkeys, countless eagles, vultures, and oriels, a ton of butterflies, a fox picked out by Candido’s flashlight, and lots of other animals that I can’t even remember. The jungle has so few visitors, it remains in pristine condition, making it easy to see a ton of exotic animals.
Los Fierros was a good place to stay the night. On the way into the camp was the airplane runway that most people use when entering. The site also had a kitchen, dining room, and several cabins with beds. Solar power gave it electricity and it had a well that provided running water, two luxuries that Florida didn’t have. We cooked a meal on the gas stove and slept inside. We were all alone in the site, so when we asked Candido if we could use the facilities, his response was, “I won’t tell if you don’t tell.”
The photo album for this entry is here.
Bolivian Beurocrats
Jun 17th
May 14, 2006
Day 228
NKM Adventure Day 5
Craig and I got up once again at sunrise to walk the rest of the way to Florida. Fransisco decided to join us and led the way. We thought we still had to walk about two hours, but to our surprise, Florida was less than an hour away. It’s a tiny indigenous community of about 25 families located on the Rio Paragua. I was surprised to see that it was much more westernized than the native communities I visited in the mountains. Everyone in Florida wore western clothing, spoke Spanish, and practiced Christianity. In fact, the church was the most dominating structure in town. When we got to Fransisco’s house, he introduced us to his wife and son, but we couldn’t chat for long. We had too much work to do.
There were many questions to be answered: Was there anywhere we could sleep in Florida? Did we need a guide to enter the park? Could we rent bikes or a car? Would we need some kind of permission to enter the park? What were the main highlights to see in the park? Was the river navigable to Piso Firme with a canoe? Would we be able to buy a canoe to take down the river? If not, was there some kind of transportation back to the bus stop 35 K’s away, or would we have to walk? How often did a bus pass the stop?
We found a place to stay easy enough, a family with some extra beds called an “alojamiento.” However, we weren’t sure if we wanted to stay there for the night because maybe we could still enter the park today. We dropped off our bags and took a walk around town.
Almost immediately, we spotted some gringos and talked to them for more information. They were in the park a few days ago and said that it was beautiful, but there is a large beurocratic process to overcome in order to enter the park. Entrance is free, but permission from the ranger is needed, and that can be difficult to obtain depending on what kind of mood he is in. We would also need to hire a guide to enter the park.
With that information, we walked to the park office to get the lowdown. A friendly man told us that we had to find a guide on our own. We could probably rent bikes and ride them into the park, but he wasn’t totally sure how the road conditions were. Renting a car would be unreliable and prohibitively expensive. Also, two Hungarian volunteers were going to be returning to town from the park in the afternoon, and they could give us more info. We asked about buying a canoe, but the guy just laughed at the idea and told us that there weren’t any available. There is a Brazilian boat that stops at Florida once per month, but he wasn’t sure when. That meant we’d have to walk back to the drop off point thirty-five K’s away to catch the once-per-week bus on Friday, as it was the only bus that came anywhere near Florida. We had already obtained a lot of info from the friendly locals and weren’t sure what the tourists meant when they said the beurocracy was difficult, so we decided to relax until we could talk to the Hungarians in the afternoon.
Later when we were walking back to the office, the actual park ranger stopped us. He wanted to know who our guide was and refused to give us permission to enter the park without one. His demeanor was very rude and dominating. He let us know that we were in his world and at his mercy now. He must have been the person the other tourists had to deal with.
Back at the park office, the Hungarians told us that it would be pretty easy to ride a bike most of the way into the park as long as we could rent good ones. There was some vegetation growing over the road, but at least it was dry. This sounded promising, so we decided to try to find some bikes to rent later.
The beurocracy got worse when the ranger showed up at the office. He wanted us to get our guide but we had no idea how to do that. Suddenly, at least five grown men were arguing about how to get us a guide. After about thirty seconds, they’d lose interest in us and start talking about other things until we encouraged them to take care of our situation first. They said that they’d let us know tomorrow, but we wanted to get up and leave early in the morning, not sit around and wait all day for them.
Finally, they decided to get the guide for us and promised that they’d give us permission first thing in the morning. A few minutes later, Candido walked to our hotel and told us that he could be our guide. He seemed down-to-earth, so I think it should be a good experience.
Next, we went to Don Juan’s house to take care of the bicycle situation. He promised to have three good bikes ready for morning. It should work well. We’ll have four days to go to the meseta, the gigantic mesa 600 meters above the jungle that is the main attraction of this part of the park, and back to Florida. If we have the energy, maybe we’ll even take a detour to see a waterfall along the way. Then we’ll have a day to make our way back to the intersection where the bus should hopefully pick us up. Bits and pieces of information are still missing, but everything is slowly starting to come together now.
The Long Walk
Jun 17th
May 13, 2006
Day 227
NKM Adventure Day 4
At sunrise, we got up, had a quick breakfast, and started walking. We figured we had about eleven hours of daylight left, which would give us enough time to get to Florida by dark as long as we kept a reasonable pace. We were told that the path would be flat, but still, carrying at least 25 KG each, it wouldn’t be easy. There was always the small chance that we could hitch a ride if a car passed us.
The road was barely wide enough for one car. I could see how a puma could attack us at night by watching us approach from the side of the road, but I think the paranoia of the people on the bus last night was largely exaggerated. Pumas are afraid of people, right?
Along the way we saw lots of wildlife. Toucans, macaws, and lots of other exotic bird species regularly flew overhead. We also saw giant spiders sitting in their webs ever twenty meters or so, huge butterflies everywhere, and occasional rhino beetle, and one capybara scurried across the path in front of us. We did not spot any felines, though.
Several hours into the walk, a guy on a motorcycle approached us from Florida. He wore a baseball cap, brandished a shotgun on his back (as common as wearing shoes in these parts), and had a particularly interesting pattern of tooth decay that made it look like he had fangs. He told us that he was what passed for a taxi driver for the Floridians and was looking for a mother and two daughters who were supposed to be on our bus but never showed up. We told him that we had been walking all day and hadn’t seen anyone, so he turned back. How he was going to fit three more people on his motorcycle was beyond me.
Nobody else passed us the rest of the day other than a truck of people going away from Florida and the fanged man again, who told us that the truck wouldn’t return until tomorrow, so hitching a ride was out of the question. He did give us the good news that we only had two more hours to go, though.
As the day wore on, we got more and more tired. Finally, we spotted a single house and stopped for a rest. Nobody was home, but the owner soon popped out of the jungle, after a day of hunting. He was an old man with a machete in his hand and a shotgun over his shoulder. He told us that we were close to Florida and that he had been living there for five years. He looked like an interesting character, and we were tired from walking for eight hours straight, so we asked if it’d be alright to camp at his place. He seemed excited just to have the company, so we decided to call it a day and set up camp.
The old man introduced himself as Fransisco, and we were right about him being interesting. He was married and had kids, but lived outside of Florida so he could grow his own rice and vegetables, and hunt. He had a few chickens and a pet dog in his small dirt yard. Inside his simple home was the hammock he made, another hammock he was in the process of making, a flute made out of PVC pipe, and two drums, his most prized possessions. As the story goes, one night, Fransisco was near his door, and a puma snuck up and ate his dog. He got understandably pissed off at this, so he killed the puma with his shotgun and made the drums out of its skin. His story added up because underneath one of the drums were two large bullet holes, patched with extra puma skin. He figured he’d sell them one day for $100. We’ll see about that.
After Craig and I had supper, we figured it was time for a jam session. We each took a drum to bang on and Fransisco played a war tune on his flute. Too bad there wasn’t another human being around for miles because the music we played could have earned a record contract I’m sure.
Riding To The Middle Of Nowhere
Jun 17th
May 12, 2006
Day 226
NKM Adventure Day 3
Today was spent almost entirely on a bus. It left a few hours late, so we could forget about walking during the day.
After a few hours, we stopped for lunch. Craig noticed a group of gringos getting out of a 4X4, so we went to talk to them. The six of them had signed up for an 8-day tour with a German guide in Santa Cruz. They provided us with a little information about the park, but they didn’t know too much, either. In fact, they seemed like adventurous types who only signed up for the tour because no public transportation goes near the park.
We continued in the bus all day. We told a few of the locals that we were going to walk to Florida, and the consensus was that we would get eaten by pumas. I’m glad we brought the machetes.
As dusk fell and the nearly full moon began to rise, we were stopped by the Bolivian equivalent of the DEA in their military-style Hummer. They ordered everyone off the bus and began checking IDs. When I gave one of them my passport, he started firing weird questions at me like where I learned Spanish. I wasn’t sure if he wanted me to admit that I picked up some Spanish in Columbia during my stint as a mercenary with the FARC, so I just told him “school” and he lost interest. They thoroughly checked the entire bus for drugs, moreso than I had ever previously seen. When one guy opened my backpack, he pulled out a food bag, then another, and another, then gave up. Craig’s pack was bursting at the seams, so he gave up quickly rather than have to repack everything. They continued the search for about an hour, but no contraband was found.
At around 8:00, we were dropped off at an intersection in the middle of a jungle road. The sign stating “Florida 35 KM” told us that we were in the right spot. I gathered firewood while Craig set up the tent. There were a few hot coals in the clearing in the road, indicating that someone was recently there.
Suddenly we heard a vehicle approaching us from the distance. Could it have been the drug police? Or someone else up to no good? The vehicle slowed down and stopped when they saw us. It was the tour group. They had a snack and we talked to them some more. The guide seemed to like our idea to go down the river in a canoe. It must be a guide’s worst nightmare to be on an adventurous tour of the jungle and to see two tourists without a clue of what they’re doing along the way.
When the tour group left, we lit a fire to scare away any area pumas or jaguars, and went to sleep early in preparation for the big day ahead of us.
More Info In San Ignacio
Jun 16th
May 11, 2006
Day 225
NKM Adventure Day 2
We got to San Ignacio very early today and immediately started preparations for our trip to Noel Kempff Mercado National Park. From the tourism information office, we learned that tonight a bus could take us to Santa Rosa, about an hour away, and early tomorrow morning we could head toward the park. We got lucky because there is only one bus line per week and it happens to leave tonight. The bad news, however, was that no buses go to Florida, a small community on the edge of the park. Instead, we will get dropped off in the middle of nowhere and walk 35 K’s to Florida.
We walked over to the information center for the national park, but nobody was there. Nobody seemed to know much about the park because it is so remote, so we won’t know if our plan is feasible until we get there. We would like to spend around four days in the park to see the highlights which include a waterfall and a gigantic mesa. Then we want to buy a canoe and paddle down the Paragua River from Florida to Piso Firme, which should take 4-5 days. There, we will restock our supplies and continue along the Rio Itenez for a week or two before reaching our final destination of Guayamerin. I don’t know how much of the plan will be possible, but that’s why they call it an adventure, right?
We spent the afternoon buying supplies. We got about a week’s worth of food, lots of mosquito repellent, and two machetes for fending off the puma attacks. We will have to carry all of our own gear, so we limited our water supply to three liters each to cut down on weight. Once we reach the river, we will have an ample supply of water for boiling.
Tonight we found out that the bus had been delayed until tomorrow. It wasn’t a big deal because we were only going to be on the bus for an hour tomorrow anyway. We got a motel room and checked out the town a bit more. It’s a quiet, small place with a beautiful church next to the well-maintained central square and a thriving market for picking up supplies. The only problem is that the Internet is pathetically slow.
Preparing For Noel Kempff Mercado
Jun 16th
May 10, 2006
Day 224
NKM Adventure Day 1
We decided to have breakfast at the same vegetarian restaurant we ate supper at last night. They had a lot of whole grain pastas and cereals, so we started stocking up for our upcoming adventure in Noel Kempff Mercado National Park.
The next town we had to get to on our way to the park was called San Ignacio, and we were told that buses left for there at 6:00 PM. I did some work on the Internet, we made a few more preparations, including gathering all the information I could from a tour operator, and headed for the bus station at about 5:00.
The area around the bus station was really chaotic. The terminal was still closed, as it was when we arrived three days ago, because the government wants to tax more but the bus companies won’t pay. Since nobody had official-looking offices to buy tickets from, it was hard to tell who was who and where they were selling tickets to. We walked up and down the line of ticket sellers but couldn’t find a bus going to San Ignacio. We finally found the only company going there, but the 6:00 bus was sold out and we would have to wait until 8:00. No worries, though, because the ride is nine hours and I’d rather arrive at 5:00 AM than 3:00 AM anyway.
We drank a soda at a restaurant and watched the hordes of people walk past us to kill some time. We were transported in the back of a pickup truck to a yard with two buses and much less chaos. About half an hour later, we started down the long, bumpy gravel road on our way to San Ignacio.