Madidi National Park with it`s neighbour Manu Biosphere reserve in Peru is one of the world´s biggest protected areas in the world.
The Andean region of the Park is split up by a multitude of rivers that are born in the crests of the mountain range and flow through the area in a general west to east direction. The Madidi and Tuichi rivers, affluent from the Beni, are the most abundant and the main reference points when talking about the park. There are two indigenous communities that live among the park's surroundings: the "Tacana", originating from the north and living mostly in the mountain forest regions of Ixiamas and Tumupasa and at the foothills of the Tutumo mountainous region, and the "Quechua" people, widely spread throughout the Amazon Basin and that live along the shores of the Tuichi river and close to Apolo. Some "Araona" communities, originating from the Pando and Beni region like the Tacana, live in the lowland rainforests, in the heart of the Park, along the borders of Madidi, and total approximately 1700 inhabitants.
The flora and vegetation of the region is, for the most part, closely related with its varying altitudes and rugged geography. Some that are mentioned, among others, are the following types of habitats: permanent snow, Puna, cloudy forests, dry tropical forests, tropical Amazon rainforests, and savannahs or grasslands. It is estimated that 11% of all the birds in the world, a total of 1000 species, come together in these spots. Also common in this zone is a sizeable amount of mammals, rare or difficult to see in other mountainous or Amazon areas, such as the jaguar (Felis pardalis), Spectacled bear (Tremarctos ornatus), the tapir or danta (Tapirus terrestris), or other species of primates.
And with that little background on this part of the Amazon begins our adventure in the Amazon. We wake up bright and early ready to head for our adventure. And after an unsteady start we find ourselves heading on the Beni river up to Park Madidi. Not literally because the plan was to spend the first day and night at a local community, San Miguel Del Bala, situated just outside the park, only an hour upriver by a small boat. Stefan did all his farewells, given he had been doing 3 weeks of field work for his studies at this community, while i head for a couple of hours trek to a canyon nearby the community. Beautiful walk with a surreal ending when we got to the canyon, which seemed to be taken off a postcard. 
We rush back, cause that day was football night, where men, women and children all pack the full size ground for a game of soccer. And what a spectacle when we got there. We were called in on the field even though there was no such thing as lack of players. In between trying to avoid running over kids, searching for my team mates and running after the ball i have to say this was the most entertaing football match i ever played. So after an overload of excersise we had dinner at one of the families of the 40 living in this eco community and headed for a goodnight sleep, not before an encounter with a massive tarantula at the porch of our guide`s house while discussing the next 3 days.
Our guide, who yes did have a name but which i forgot, did seem dazed and confused that night and it didn`t get much better next morning. After assisting to the beginning of a schoolday at San Miguel, we headed to our destination. Apolo on the Tuichi river, a good 3 hours upriver. Upon arriving we couldn`t help but stare at the beauty of the place we happened to encounter. A Sand bank backed by primary rainforest underneath the rugged mountains. Superb.
Not so superb was our first experience of our trip. We had lunch, or more likely tried to on a camp used by Simon I takled to earlier about. Given it was a used campsite it was infested by mosquitoes and worse ants. So we gobbled lunch and headed into the Amazon, our priority wsa to find a campsite by now cause was getting late into the afternoon. We did so after a hard couple hours trek into the forest where our guide made the way and we followed carrying a good 20kg of stuff in our backpacks. We finally made it to this gorgeous spot where we set up our hammocks. Dinner consisted of rice and tuna with fried potatoes as side, served in palm leaves. Yummieee....
Not so superb was our first experience of our trip. We had lunch, or more likely tried to on a camp used by Simon I takled to earlier about. Given it was a used campsite it was infested by mosquitoes and worse ants. So we gobbled lunch and headed into the Amazon, our priority wsa to find a campsite by now cause was getting late into the afternoon. We did so after a hard couple hours trek into the forest where our guide made the way and we followed carrying a good 20kg of stuff in our backpacks. We finally made it to this gorgeous spot where we set up our hammocks. Dinner consisted of rice and tuna with fried potatoes as side, served in palm leaves. Yummieee....
After dinner we participated in the Coca ceremony led by our guide where we obviously followed. He started by offering Pachamama, mother earth some coca and then followed by chewing some coca leaves. After we were all chewing away he got some local cigarettes and rolled them in banana leaves and we all smoked away. I don t know if it was the effect of the coca and tobacco or the day`s events but I had this sense of euphoria while lying on my hammock before I got to sleep. 
You can feel nature all around you in this part of the world. We were surrounded by all sorts of sounds from birds, monkeys and other animals. All of a sudden we hear a strange sound. We obviously ask what it was and he replies calmy that it was a jaguar...hehehe He tells us that is also not more that half a kilometer away but continues to reassure us that underneath our mosquito nets we were safe due to the fact that she only attacks when she has the neck in clear vision!!! So armed with our mosquito nets we went to sleep. 
Next morning as a proof to his predictions we were shown the jaguar`s trail which turned out to have come much closer to our camp than bloody 500m, accompanied also by a puma...hehehe I am writing this story so it was all good.
Third day was similar with trekking in the junle, this time crossing a couple of rivers with very muddy banks and very poisonous stingrays we had to check for armed with our sticks..hehehe Trekking in unwalked primary forest is not as easy as it sounds. While paving the way from branches, climbing steep hills clinging only to small trees and always looking out for insects or thorns on trees, we got the feel that we were making little way into this vast area, yet we still got to see so much. 
Last day after a night of close encounter with mosquitoes, we headed off fishing . A good catch, enough for lunch for all of us and our boat captain. We stuffed the catfish in bamboo sticks sealed off with banana leaves, put straight on the fire and waited for merely ten minutes. Delicious lunch, a perfect ending to our 4 day trip in the Amazon.
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