Jungle!

There is a large population of tourists here who seem to only want to bargin for the best price and the most interaction with the animals, which seems to constantly drive the prices and quality down. Unfortunatly it looks as if much of the damage is being done by a single group of people, the young Israelis who have just been released from their 3 year stint in the Gaza strip conflict.

Just a sample: on the plane this morning there were 40 people; Felicia and I, an Austrailian couple, a local mother and Daughter, and 34 Israelis. It is unfortunate, but after talking with a few tour companies we found the trend was to cater to what the tourist demanded, and this group in particular is demanding it all for very little given back to the local area.

(I hate to list one group of people as the sole problem with an area, but in this case it seems to be the truth. I am not saying all Israelis are horrible, at least thanks to my experience with Nimrod in China, or that no one else takes part in this damaging system, but from my point of view on the ground here, it seems to be the case in Amazonian Bolivia.)

Felicia and I, really want to see the region but were uber concerned about how to have the least impact on the enviroment and the most possitive impact on the actual local economy. It left us having to decide to take the less of the present evils. We went to the one tour company, Bala Tours, who seemed to have the least horrible ethics and discussed with them what was availble. We weren´t extremely impressed, but it seemed to be the best choice listed in the Lonely Planet. We wandered back to our hotel discussing if we thought the $150 tour would be better then the bargin companies who seem to be wrecking this area.

Then we came across a posh looking agency, Madidi Travel, on our way home for a midday siesta, we stopped in just to see what they offered. We were invited to come in, sit down and read through their packages and the National Geographic article written about the area 8 years ago. We got to reading and before we knew it a quiet older Bolivian woman came and sat down with us and began speaking in a perfect American accent about what they do there.

This woman, it turns out, is Rosa Maria, who is written about in the article and singlehandly created Madidi national park in the face of every kind of opposition imaginable. She went on to spend the next two hours discussing with Felicia and I, all about her life in the Bolivian jungle, fights with logging companies, American politics & the upcoming election, and the problem with the other tour operators in town. She told how a few years back someone torched her jungle lodges and the local government refused to let her run her conservation programs. Rosa Maria eventually was force out of operating in the park she birthed and now helps operate a lodge on one of the other river systems nearby. She is easily one of the more interesting people I have ever met, Felicia felt the same way.

After hearing all the horror stories about what goes on with tourism in Madidi, Felicia and I signed up to take a 4 Day, 3 Night trip out to the Serene lodge, although it ended up costing significantly more then the competion but we agreed it was the only way we could morally see this area.