Visiting Madidi National Park is a multi-day process once one makes it to Rurrenabaque. Wandering the streets of Rurre we passed dozens and dozens of agencies offering tours of the park. We had read online that it was best to avoid the cheapest options in order to get a responsible company that treats both the park and the animals ethically. We also heard recommendations for a number of community-run park tours: Chalalán, San Miguel de Bala and one other.
In the end we selected San Miguel de Bala. While the Chalalán eco-lodge is the best known, it is a long five-hour boat ride from Rurre and was also quite pricey at over $400 per person for a four-day inclusive tour. San Miguel de Bala’s pricing was lower ($300 per person, 4-day inclusive) and their jungle lodge is only about 2.5 hours by boat from Rurre. The specific tour that we booked allowed us to stay in their village for the first night (about an hour upriver from Rurre) and then
We departed from Rurre at about 8:30 in the morning on Day 1 and made the quick trip up to San Miguel de Bala. The lodge was actually a collection of buildings on stilts. There was a kitchen/dining building and a communal gathering building that were quite close to the banks of the river. The guest cabins, which each have their own bathroom, are further up the mountainside.
After we settled in to our nicely appointed bungalow, we headed off with our guide Simon to see his hometown – the village of San Miguel de Bala. The village is home to about 30 familes of Tacana Indians and is a short walk down the river from the eco-lodge. Simon showed us his childhood home, the homes of some of his siblings as well as the village’s church and school. At one point we stopped to squeeze some sugar cane juice which we mixed with fresh lime – exceptionally tasty!
At the end of the village tour, one of the community’s dugout canoes picked us up at the village and took us to the eco-lodge for lunch. The tourist facilities are quite large at San Miguel – I think they can host upwards of 40 or 50 guests but that day Amy and I were the only ones. Following proper Latin American procedure, we climbed in the hammocks for a short siesta after lunch.
The afternoon tour was to a rock canyon that is about 20 minutes down the river. The canyon was only about 2-3 feet wide and was filled with bats. Between the bats, the worms and the huge spiders it was definitely pretty high on my list of creepy-crawly places! We also got to see some nice birds in the boat along the way. All in all, a good first day on the tour!
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