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In the Rainforest of Boliviaby Rod Lopez-Fabrega
That place is Chalalan, northwestern Bolivia's newest ecolodge and the only one in the remote and still pristine Madidi National Park . This modest but well appointed lodge is located in the same province as the country's cosmopolitan capital city of La Paz, but though the distance is not great in miles, the process of getting there is an adventure in itself. The indigenous people who live in the area are primarily Quechua-Tacana in tribal origins, now Spanish-speaking and Spanish-educated, these gentle and friendly people long ago gave up the lifestyles of their forest ancestors in favor of village life. Their village is San Jose de Uchupiamonas (population 500), an isolated community of thatched-roof, adobe houses, with dirt paths for roads, no guest accommodations and few of the comforts of "civilization" but boasting a good school and a "big-house" town hall with solar electric power. The people of San Jose subsist primarily on primitive forest agriculture and the gifts of the rainforest. They are very much aware of the fragility of their home environment and the need to protect it from exploitation as they try to make the transition and adjustment to encroaching "civilization." Isolated though they are, their unique forests are still threatened by logging, petroleum and hydroelectric dam interests. With the counsel and guidance of a dedicated team of biologists, architects, technicians and other specialists from Conservation International and a loan from the Inter-American Development Bank, the citizens of San Jose de Uchupiamonas are committed to providing much needed income to the region by developing responsible tourism as an ecologically viable alternative. Chalalan is their answer. Inaugurated on June 20, 1998, Chalalan, is a labor of love and a remarkable achievement for the indigenous people of San Jose. It is a comfortable lodge with thatched roof accommodations for 16 visitors in spacious, screened double rooms with separate, but fully modern bathrooms, and a large communal building with family-style dining facilities, library, recreation corner, managerial offices and local arts and crafts displays. Built by the people themselves, craftsmanship throughout is notable, and buildings and interior decorations are all crafted from native materials but with modern amenities for the comfort and well-being of visitors. Meal menus are amazingly sophisticated, and the food is excellent. Management of the lodge will pass totally into the hands of the local people when training and technical assistance is completed in the very near future.
Visitors to Chalalan will be fortunate if David Ricalde is there to lead excursions through the rainforest. David is a Peruvian biologist who has been instrumental in training young native staff members to take over as forest guides. He has a remarkable ear and can identify scores of tropical birds just by their songs and cries. Even more impressive is his ability to call birds to come so close to hushed visitors as to be almost within touching range. A Chalalan experience not to be missed on a moonless, cloudless night, accompanied by a nocturne of insect sounds and nightbird calls, is to sit for an hour on the lodge's dock under the crystalline Milky Way galaxy, from this vantage point spanning the heavens from horizon to horizon with a clarity you've never seen before.
Getting thereGetting to Chalalan is part of the adventure. LAB (Lloyd Aereo Boliviano) and American Airlines both have daily flights to La Paz from Miami. After landing in La Paz's John F. Kennedy Airport (truly!), travelers to the interior of Bolivia transfer to a military airport nearby for the 40-minute flight on a Bolivian military transport (actually a revitalized commercial airliner) to Rurrenabaque. This nearly unpronounceable back country town of close to 10,000 people brings to mind Mexican frontier towns of 100 years ago: unpaved streets; corner saloons; mangy dogs in the streets; dust in the air; and emporiums featuring rubberized raincoats, blue enamel cooking ware, and smelling of copra. The flight from La Paz is contingent on the weather since rain can turn Rurrenabaque airport's single dirt runway into a mud puddle. Fortunately, it dries quickly so take-off delays from the La Paz area to the interior are rarely more than two or three hours (or possibly days during rainy season.) After an overnight in Rurrenabaque--the Oriental Hotel is quite passable and is located on the town's picturesque and attractive central plaza--travelers move out the next morning before sunrise on to the Beni River. There they board a motorized river longboat, open to the sky (bring rain gear), that carries around 12-16 passengers and cargo on the scenic five-hour trip on the Beni River and down its tributary, the Tuichi River. It's a long ride, but distractions are plentiful with sightings of spectacular tropical birds and even, if lucky, a quick glimpse of a thirsty capybara or even the smudge of a jaguar's markings as it darts back into the jungle, startled by the motor's whine. The "port" to Chalalan is a wide sandbar with a welcome portal that leads to a jungle trail. Travelers are welcomed by the lodge's staff who will transport luggage and supplies and accompany visitors on the half-hour hike through the rainforest to the lodge. The best time to goBolivia is a complex land with as many as ten ecological zones ranging from perennially snow-covered peaks to Altiplano steppes, to savannah, to desert and dry forest to humid rainforest. There are two seasons in Bolivia: the dry and the wet. The dry season is from May to October, the winter time months. Dry season is best for travel into the rainforest. Oh yes, you ask about the meaning of the name, Chalalan. It would be interesting to report that it is derived from the ancient Inca language, but truth be told, native guides say, it represents the sound made by a load of construction supplies plunging into the river as the barge it was on over-turned accidentally during construction of the lodge. Making arrangementsCheck with your travel agent. This is one trip it's best not to try to plan yourself. In Rurrenabaque there are many suppliers of river excursions, but it is best to deal with an adventure travel company with a base in the U.S. Explore Bolivia ( www.explorebolivia.com ), with offices in Boulder, Colorado, is such a supplier of adventure travel to Bolivia, specializing in soft adventures: overland journeys, mountain biking, trekking the Inca trails, mountain climbing on world-class peaks, natural history and birdwatching, and expeditions on the Tuichi River. Check them out on the Internet at xplorbol@ix.netcom.com Four-day Chalalan land packages range in price (per person) from $835 for two people in the group to $375 for 9-10 people; 7-day Chalalan land packages range from $1,385 to $660; and 9-day land packages range from $1,880 to $845, all depending on numbers of people in the group. IMAGES BY Rosemary Ames |
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TM
So you sometimes feel like getting away from it all--as far
away as you can get--maybe to a jungle somewhere! On the other hand, you aren't really
ready to risk life and limb or
to get captured by guerrillas or to
find Dr. Livingston. Well, here's one place you can get to with relative ease,
a place that still is unspoiled by touristic over-use. What is more, you have a
real chance, just by going there, of making a direct contribution toward saving
a virginal piece of the South American rainforest and of providing an economic
life-line to the indigenous people who live there.
Best of all, Chalalan is magnificently located, two hours on
the Tuichi River from San Jose de Uchupiamonas and
a half-hour hike into the rainforest from the river (the only connection to the
outside world) on the shore of spectacular Chalalan Lake, a glittering,
secluded emerald of a pond in a lush green jungle setting filled with a
stunning variety of birds, mammals, tropical foliage and criss-crossed with
hiking trails for guided nature walks. The environs of the lodge are a Paradise
for bird-watchers, and a leisurely canoe circuit of the lake from the lodge's
dock is an excellent way to spot birds, caiman, even bats and--around 5:30 pm
every evening--the noisy bands of Capuchin and Spider monkeys that come to nest
in the high palms around the lake. Also sharing this Eden are toucans, macaws,
aracaris, trogons, mot-mots among hundreds of bird species, along with ocelots,
tapirs, jaguars, capybaras, otters and howler monkeys.
Another unique experience, if your timing is right, is to
take a day trip from Chalalan and visit San Jose de Uchupiamonas during a
religious feast day. The feast of patron Saint Joseph, is celebrated with
several days of fun including performing dance troupes of young men in
elaborate masks and costumes that combine trappings and ceremonies rooted in Pre-Columbian
traditions under a thin veneer of Catholicism. The Dance of the Old Men is performed on the last day of this
celebration. In a tradition that dates back to Inca times, troupes of masked male dancers carrying old
men's walking sticks visit every home in the village and collect from each a
special offering in the form of a wooden cross brightly decorated with colorful
paper flowers and glittery wrappings.
To the accompaniment of drums and flutes, each cross is then deposited with
much ceremony and humorous miming at the altar of the town's religious center.