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| Ecotourism |  |
| Red-Fronted Macaw of Bolivia | |
After
leaving the Manu Wildlife Center in Peru, I went in search of suitable
property where we could return macaws to South America. I had been told
about a likely area several hours northeast of Santa Cruz, Bolivia, an
area where no large macaws have been seen in over 20 years.
This may turn out to be a very successful trip! We found the perfect property--approximately
500 acres that seemed well-suited for this project.
Having accomplished this mission it was time to go in search of the rare
Ara rubrogeny, estimated at approximately 1000 left in the wild today.
This beautiful macaw lives in the valleys at the base of the Andes in
the tropical dry forest of eastern Bolivia (see
related pictures).
Jean Paul, my guide, and I set out from Santa Cruz for the 250-km ride
in our Suzuki jeep late in the afternoon. The first 130 km were over paved
roads as we started our climb up into the Andes. After that, dirt roads
rattled our bones the rest of the way.
We arrived at our destination--the school grounds of a Catholic school
for American children--after dark. We gratefully spent the night in one
of the rooms they rent out to travelers. After only several hours of sleep
we were up at 4:30, eager to get to the nesting area before light.
Several sites in this general area are known to have red-fronted macaws.
Our site was several more miles on the main road before we were to make
a left turn onto the side road for the hour-long, 28-km trip on the perilous,
one-lane road cut into the sides of the steep mountains.
We arrived not too much the worse for wear at a small community of less
than ten homes. A walk across a bridge and up a ravine to the limestone
cliffs would lead to where the red-fronted flyers have been know to nest.
The walk took about 20 minutes, with the hiking bonus of wading through
the same stream on many occasions.
After all this, we did not see any macaws at the limestone cliffs, nor
did we see any macaws fly out while walking up through the ravine. Disappointed,
we trudged back out and spent about an hour along a road that gave us
a good view of the valley, but again, without seeing any of the macaws
we had come so far to see.
While we were sitting on the road one of the local farmers came along.
He and Jean Paul had a short talk and he told us that the macaws flew
through the valley about noon, sailing over the houses and one of the
ridges, into the trees to feed.
It was shortly after this that we spotted them. A pair flew over, then
another pair and then four more pairs! Just like the farmer had said.
Over the ridge they went and then dropped like a rocks out of sight.
Great, we had found some red-fronted macaws! But now, how to get to the
other side of the ridge? The river that cut through the valley was too
wide
and too swift to cross. But, I hadn't come this far to let a river stop
me. So off I went climbing around trees and under bushes with half-inch
spines sticking out. After about 200 feet of this torture I noticed a
clearing several feet above me. I climbed up the river bank and found
a trail. Phew.
I went back down the trail, showed Jean Paul how to get onto it and we
were off after the macaws, along the trail (see related pictures). We
walked through an absolutely beautiful area, along a rock canal that the
farmers had built to divert water from the river to farms further down
the valley, next to the large red rocks and steep cliffs. We were now
across the valley from where we saw the macaws. Now where were those macaws?
I went up the cliff to a higher vantage point while Jean Paul kept watch
from his location. About 15 minutes later we both spotted them at the
same time as they changed trees in which they were feeding. As a Macaw
Fanatic, as Charlie Munn calls me, I have seen most all of the different
species of macaws flying in the wild, but I don't think I have seen any
that are more beautiful in flight than the red-fronted macaws. All of
their vibrant colors come to light as they take flight, a truly awesome
experience of flying jewels.
Finding these beautiful macaws was an adventure, but when traveling in
South America, adventure can lurk around every corner. Like the day before,
when Jean Paul and I had gotten stuck in a sand storm on a railroad bridge
over the Rio Grande on our way back to Santa Cruz by jeep. It was now
1:30, and we had accomplished our mission, so we headed back to Santa
Cruz, E.T.A., 6:30--or so we thought.
Heading back along the 28-km road to the main road, I was amazed at how
steep the cliffs were that we had driven in the dark, and wondered how
they could keep this road open during the rainy season, with so few people
on their small farms living at the end of the road.
I had given two small children a tangerine; you would have thought it
was a $1000, the way their faces lit up as they ran off to show mom what
they had, a real treat in the Bolivian countryside. Landlocked Bolivia
has the smallest population of any country in South America, approximately
seven million, and I have read that as many as two-thirds of the population
live in sod huts. Jean Paul states that 70 percent of the children in
Bolivar schools are female and that more than 70 percent of the total
population of Bolivia is female.
Back on the main road and low on fuel we took a right turn to Comarapa.
After about ten km, we arrived in a town and pulled into the gas station.
We were too late. The only gas pump at the only gas station had broken
about noon. We were short on gas but had enough (we hoped!) to get us
back to the small town near the school where we had spent the previous
night.
So we went across the road and had a late lunch. Being a Vegan, I find
ordering food can be trying in the States let alone in South America.
Jean Paul however was getting really good at ordering food for non-Spanish-speaking
me. As it turned out here, we were out in the middle of nowhere, and yet
it was one of the easiest places to get a vegetarian diet. Along with
the restaurant, they also ran a hotel and it seems that a lot of the biologists
and botanists who have worked in the area are vegetarians, too.
After lunch we headed out to find some gas. Some of the people in this
little town go to Comarapa and buy gas in fifty-gallon drums and then
resell it at home. Luck was with us, we found a place that had some gas.
Jean Paul put two five-meter cans pumped from a hand pump into the jeep
and once again we were on our way. Or so we thought.
Just to the other side of town as it turned out, where we found the road
full of people. "Oh no! Not a sit-in," said Jean Paul. It seems
that when the people want to get the government's attention in these small
towns, they get all the local people together and sit down in the road
and block all traffic, which is mostly commercial truck traffic, as very
few people in Bolivia can afford a vehicle.
Not today though--we just happened to be in time for a road rally from
Sucre, the nominal capital of Bolivia, to LaPaz, a five-day event, and
this section was the first day of the race. The road had been closed down
for two hours when we got there and, it turned out, for three more hours
while we watched the race and waited for the road to reopen. They had
called in both the Bolivian police and the MP's to close all the excess
roads along the route.
Finally back on the road again, we made it just two km before we got to
stop again. This time to fix a flat tire. A rock had slit the side of
the tire wide open. This was to be the last event for this day. E.T.A.
6:30 pm had turned into E.T.A 10:30 pm.
Tomorrow was to be another adventure at the airport on the way back to
the States. In closing let me mention this tip. Make sure when you travel
to South America that you definitely get your passport stamped on the
way INTO the country. It will make getting OUT OF the country much easier!
To schedule your visit to Bolivia contact Jean Paul at Tropical Nature Travel, South America's only non-profit travel agency, with the net proceeds going to conservation projects in Peru, at "inatur-1@ibm.net." Your visit will help save the macaws and their home, the rainforest of Central and South America. You will have a "bon voyage."
Click here to see related photos.
